The House Appropriations Committee voted on June 11 to approve a spending package that includes a 3.1 percent pay increase for civilian Federal employees for FY2020. The increase would include a 2.6 percent increase for civilian Federal workers and 0.5 percent average increase in locality pay.
The spending package will still have to be approved by the Senate, but if approved, would be a $1.4 billion increase in spending over the current fiscal year budget. It would also be $355.5 million over President Trump’s budget request for FY2020.
The House-approved bill would also increase the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) budget to $339 million – a $43.3 million increase – and also block the administration’s proposal to merge OPM with the General Services Administration. The bill would require OPM to provide Congress with quarterly updates on the agency’s reorganization, and the OPM Inspector General will review the report.
The pay raise was proposed last week in contrast to the White House’s Federal pay freeze for the fiscal 2020 budget.
“This bill is about protecting hardworking American families and workers, who have been shortchanged by the Trump administration since day one,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said at the time.
