Washington-area lawmakers are pushing back against President Obama's two-year pay freeze proposal. In a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, eight House members, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., recommended the current Congress consider only a one-year pay freeze for feds, at least for now.
"We do not believe civil servants should be unfairly targeted outside the context of a comprehensive approach to the federal budget simply because they carry out the work of the federal government," the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers contended that any decisions on proposed adjustments to federal pay beyond fiscal 2011 be left for the 112th Congress, "where federal pay can be considered in the context of a more comprehensive approach to deficit reduction."
Meanwhile, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, argues the temporary freeze on across-the-board pay increases for federal workers does not go far enough. In an interview with Federal Times, Chaffetz recommended Congress also pass a bill canceling step increases for employees on the General Schedule. Chaffetz said he may introduce a bill that would cancel step increases and also prescribe limits or cuts to the size of the federal workforce.
Which side are you on? Should changes to federal pay be taken incrementally, or should federal workers be forced to shoulder even more of the burden in the form of canceled step increases and workforce cuts?
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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