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Budget Blueprint Contains ‘Sense of the House’ Language Backing Equal Pay Adjustments for Military and Civilian Workers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC -Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) applauded the House Budget Committee, and in particular Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) and Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), for including a strong statement of support for federal employee pay parity in the Democratic House budget proposal unveiled today. The Committee will vote on a final budget this evening and is expected to approve the pay parity language. The full House will vote on the budget next week. The included language is as follows: It is the sense of the House that rates of 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. "This budget language makes absolutely clear that this Congress is committed to federal employee pay parity and that we intend to approve adjustments this year that are equal across all sectors of the government workforce," stated Rep. Hoyer. "As we fight two wars abroad and confront significant challenges here at home, both the armed services and the federal civilian workforce are critical to carrying out the responsibility of government to protect our nation and serve our citizens. Pay parity ensures that compensation adjustments reflect the equally valuable contributions civilian employees and military personnel make in service to this nation." "Pay parity is an important issue for the talented men and women in my district and across the nation who work for the federal government," stated Congressman Connolly. "Just as our military men and women have distinguished themselves throughout history and particularly during this time of war, our civilian federal employees also perform critically important work on essential government functions and services. We are grateful that this budget resolution supports the equitable treatment of our military and our civilian federal employees." Including the pay parity language in the House budget proposal follows a strategy of establishing a clear and strong position of support for equal adjustments for both federal civilian and military employees. In the next step of the budget process, the pay adjustment for federal employees will be considered by the House Appropriations Committee. In President Obama's budget outline released last month, military employees receive a pay increase of 2.9 percent; civilian employees receive an increase of 2.0 percent. Rep. Hoyer said he intends to work with the Washington-area delegation, members of the House Armed Services Committee, Government Reform Committee, and representatives of the military and federal civilian workforce to review next year's proposed adjustment and fight to ensure that the pay levels for both the military and civilian federal workforces are equal. ###
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