Bush signs 4.1 percent pay raise into law

Despite reservations about its allotment for homeland security first responders, President Bush signed into law Thursday evening a $397.4 billion fiscal 2003 omnibus spending bill that included a 4.1 percent civil service pay raise for 2003.

The long-awaited 4.1 percent raise for white-collar civil servants will be retroactive to the first pay period of 2003, though employees won't immediately see the extra money in their paychecks. The President's Pay Agent-a group consisting of representatives of the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Management and Budget, and Labor Department-must first decide how to divide up the funds and make a recommendation to the president.

The legislation also included language supporting military-civilian pay parity. Congress gave military service members a 4.1 percent average pay raise for this year in the fiscal 2003 Defense Authorization Act approved in November.

To further encourage telework programs, lawmakers added $500,000 to the omnibus legislation to create training programs for managers at agencies where less than 2 percent of employees telecommute. An American Federation of Government Employees official at the Education Department applauded the measure.

"This employee benefit is most critical to many Department of Education workers whose jobs are appropriate for a telework assignment," said Jerry Doyle, executive vice president of AFGE Council 252, which helps coordinate the work of all the local AFGE units at Education. "Education workers are balancing delicate issues of work, family obligations of child-care, elder care, spousal care and disability issues for themselves and family members."

White House officials said President Bush was concerned about homeland security funding issues, but decided to sign the bill anyway. While the president asked that $3.5 billion in fiscal 2003 funds be earmarked for state and local first responders, who would use the money to develop and implement local emergency response plans, the bill allocated only $1.3 billion for that purpose.

"He requested $3.5 billion, and Congress approved $1.3 billion for first responders, with the $2.2 billion balance being put toward grant programs that, while meritorious, are not directly linked to the war on terrorism," said White House spokesman Taylor Griffin. "These are good programs, but unrelated to homeland security, and the president is disappointed because of that."

The administration's fiscal 2004 budget proposal released earlier this month included another $3.5 billion request for first responders. Griffin said President Bush plans to work closely with Congress to get that money.