Poll: Feds see politics in pay raise decisions

President Obama on Monday blamed the burgeoning budget deficit for his decision to freeze federal civilian pay for the next two years, invoking the importance of sacrifice on the part of all Americans. But according to a Government Executive online poll, the overwhelming majority of federal employees believe politics is the primary force behind such pay decisions.

As of Nov. 29, the day Obama announced the two-year pay freeze, more than 90 percent of those who responded to a question about what motivates federal pay decisions said politics frames the discussion of what traditionally has been an annual pay raise for federal employees. The same poll, launched in June, also found that nearly 70 percent of respondents to a question about pay parity between civilian and military personnel believed service members should not receive a larger pay raise than what their civilian colleagues get. That question drew nearly 5,000 responses.

Obama said the 2011 and 2012 pay freezes, which do not affect members of the military, would save the government $28 billion during the next five years.

"I did not reach this decision easily," Obama said in an address from the White House. "This is not just a line item on a ledger; these are people's lives."

But the poll results from Government Executive's informal survey indicate respondents are more cynical about how such pay decisions are reached, perhaps because of the increased news media exposure the issue has received during the past year. The pay debate -- focusing on compensation for public and private sector employees -- has moved front and center as the government figures out how to tackle spending and a record deficit. Thinks tanks such as the Heritage Foundation argue that compensation for federal employees is more generous than that of their private sector counterparts, while unions hotly dispute that claim.

Despite the fact that most respondents said they did not believe military service members should receive a bigger pay boost than civilians do, nearly 70 percent of those who weighed in on a separate question in the poll believe soldiers in combat should receive a higher salary increase than do noncombat service members. Respondents were split almost evenly in response to a question on whether other forms of compensation and benefits afforded to military members and their families were enough to make up for a smaller annual pay boost. Fifty-two percent said "no," while 48 percent responded "yes."

Earlier this year, Obama proposed a 1.4 percent pay boost, for both military members and civilian employees in fiscal 2011. On the military side, the Senate Appropriations Committee in September approved legislation granting a 1.4 percent pay raise for service members, matching the figure included in the Senate Armed Services Committee's Defense authorization bill. The House Appropriations Committee has not released the figure to be included in its Defense legislation, but the House in late May passed its Defense authorization bill with a 1.9 percent pay raise for service members.