Lawmaker kicks off fight for 2004 military-civilian pay parity

With the fate of the 2003 civilian pay raise still undetermined, one lawmaker has already begun his quest to insure pay parity for civilian and military workers in 2004.

In a statement Thursday, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he and House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., would soon introduce legislation on military-civilian pay parity. Hoyer is the house minority whip.

The lawmaker's move was prompted by reports in the syndicated column Military Update that President Bush plans to give military personnel a 4.1 percent average pay raise in 2004. Federal employees would get a 2.7 percent across-the-board pay raise in 2004, under the formula used to determine annual civilian pay raises.

The president usually recommends a federal pay raise in his annual budget. An Office of Management and Budget spokesman said he could not confirm the 2004 pay raise before the fiscal 2004 budget proposal's release.

"I am very pleased that the president has decided to support our deserving troops by providing them with a fair pay increase in 2004," Hoyer said. "I would hope that the president would follow this action by adhering to the long-standing principle of pay parity between military and civilian forces by proposing the same adjustment for civilian federal employees. I will be very disappointed if the administration proposes a lower pay adjustment for federal employees that is tied to inflation, and I will fight to implement the pay parity principle again this year."

Under federal law (5 U.S.C. 5303(a)), the across-the-board pay raise for civilian workers in 2004 is based on the change in the Labor Department's Employment Cost Index (ECI) for private sector wages and salaries from September 2001 to September 2002, minus half a percentage point. Military raises are determined by adding half of a percentage point to the ECI.

Though military and civilian pay increases have been the same for 14 of the last 17 years, the Bush administration broke with tradition last year and decided to give federal employees a 2.6 percent pay raise in 2003 while at the same time giving military workers a 4.1 percent pay increase for 2003.

The House and a Senate panel approved a 4.1 percent pay raise last summer, but Congress failed to set that figure in law before it adjourned. In November, the administration announced it would give federal employees a 3.1 percent increase with no additional pay for workers based on labor costs in the areas where they work. Hoyer and several other lawmakers vowed to get a retroactive raise of 4.1 percent included in the $390 billion fiscal 2003 omnibus appropriations bill currently on the Senate floor.

"It is important to remember that our federal employees play a vital role in the war against terrorism abroad and defense of our communities here at home," Hoyer said. "This year offers an opportunity for the president to reach out to those hardworking people with more than just rhetoric and show them that he values their service and commitment."