House approves pay parity resolution

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly endorsed equal pay raises for military and civilian federal workers Wednesday in a nonbinding "Sense of Congress" resolution.

House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., sponsored H. Res. 581, which states that in the fiscal 2005 budget, "compensation for civilian employees of the United States should be adjusted at the same time, and in the same proportion, as are rates of compensation for members of the uniformed services." The House passed the resolution by a vote of 299-126.

President Bush and a bloc of Republican lawmakers in the House, led by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., have strongly opposed the push for equal pay raises. Bush instead proposed a 3.5 percent raise for military personnel and a 1.5 percent raise for civilian federal workers in fiscal 2005, saying uniformed personnel deserve a higher raise because of ongoing military engagements overseas.

The GOP congressional bloc said the federal government cannot afford the additional $2.2 billion that equal pay raises would cost. Istook told colleagues that the raises would draw money away from other federal programs, but pay parity backers dismissed Istook's allegations.

There would be no budgetary impact "involved with the pay parity issue, nor would there be any impact on member projects, despite Mr. Istook's scare tactics," said one Republican aide. "Agencies would just have to find the additional funds within their existing salaries and expenses accounts, something they've done for the vast majority of the last two decades."

Supporters of equal pay adjustments have argued that the federal government needs the higher civilian pay raise for recruitment and retention efforts. Some lawmakers have criticized Bush's justification of the higher military raise, saying that many civilian and military personnel work side by side, performing the same tasks.

Davis arranged to have the issue brought to the full House after the House Budget Committee refused to include pay parity in its fiscal 2005 budget resolution. That resolution traditionally is used to guide spending in the coming fiscal year. The Senate Budget Committee included pay parity in its fiscal 2005 resolution.

Earlier this week, Istook's office described Wednesday's House vote as a "showdown".

With the showdown now over, pay parity supporters are hoping the successful resolution will shape the appropriations process, where the pay raises ultimately will be decided.

On Wednesday, 203 Democratic lawmakers supported the resolution. On the Republican side of the aisle, 95 lawmakers supported the pay parity effort and 126 voted against it. The lone independent representative, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, voted for the resolution.

After the final vote was tallied, Istook accused pay parity supporters of ignoring recent federal budget shortfalls.

"The clear majority of Republicans agreed that we shouldn't give oversized raises to federal civil service employees during this time of huge deficits," Istook said. "If only an equal portion of Democrats would agree, then we'd have a chance to get spending under control."

Davis, the resolution sponsor, applauded the vote and criticized arguments made by pay parity opponents.

"I am extremely pleased that my colleagues recognized the important role our federal civilian employees play in protecting the homeland, fighting crime, battling disease and otherwise providing critical services to the American people … You don't get top talent on the cheap," Davis said. "We were able to separate fact from fiction by emphasizing some important points: There is no cost associated with the resolution, and the resolution mirrors language and policy approved by Congress every year for almost two decades. In the end, common sense and equity prevailed."