House approves 3.1 percent pay increase
Senate likely to follow suit, but White House raises objections.
The House voted Thursday to approve a 3.1 percent average pay increase for white-collar civilian federal workers next year.
The pay raise measure was included in the fiscal 2006 appropriations legislation covering the Transportation and Treasury departments and other federal agencies. The bill (H.R. 3058) passed on a 405-18 vote.
The legislation would ensure that civilian workers would receive the same pay increase as military service members. The Bush administration had proposed a 2.3 percent increase for civilians in 2006.
The Senate is likely to follow the House's lead in approving the 3.1 percent increase when it takes up the Transportation-Treasury measure.
The White House, however, issued a statement Wednesday objecting to the raise. The 3.1 percent increase would exceed President Bush's proposal by about $1 billion. By applying the raise across government, Congress would limit the Homeland Security and Defense departments' ability to "design and implement a modern personnel and pay system that best fits their needs," OMB stated.
"Any recruitment or retention problems facing the government are limited to a few areas and occupations, and do not warrant such an arbitrary across-the-board increase," the policy statement argued.
National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen M. Kelley issued a statement supporting the House action. "Approval of the 3.1 percent pay raise clearly shows that the House understands the value of the work that federal employees do every day," she said, "something the administration does not seem willing to acknowledge."