Pay raise for federal workers proposed
Southern Maryland News
By Sarah Fleischman
Federal legislation has been introduced in Congress that would provide a pay hike of 3.8 percent to all federal employees in 2016, which would affect the thousands of employees in Southern Maryland who work at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Naval Support Facility Indian Head and other federal government entities.
The Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act was introduced by Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) and has 30 additional cosponsors, including Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th). A companion bill in the Senate was sponsored by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).
In a statement, Hoyer said the bill could provide much-needed relief to federal workers, who have contributed $138 billion toward deficit reduction as a result of a three-year pay freeze.
"It's fair to say that local government and federal government [employees] don't make salaries that are comparable to people working in private industry," said Robin Finnacom, acting director of the St. Mary's County Department of Economic Development. However, Finnacom said the 3.8 percent increase likely could result in a net loss due to income tax rates.
The number of people who would receive that 3.8 percent increase would increase over time, Finnacom said, as the U.S. Navy is downsizing contracts while increasing the number of civil servants.
St. Mary's County is home to 71 percent of the 22,000 people employed at Pax River, but not all of those would get the 3.8 percent increase, Finnacom said, because not all of them are federal employees. Calvert County is home to 13 percent of Pax River workers, while 5 percent reside in Charles County, according to a presentation provided by Finnacom.
"So many of the public functions we often take for granted are the purview of the hard-working men and women who constitute our federal workforce, and they deserve fair pay and benefits. Advancing the FAIR Act will help the government recruit and retain the top-quality workforce the American people need and deserve," Hoyer said in a statement.
"No other group in our country has been demonized, demoralized and asked to sacrifice more than our federal workforce," Connolly said in a statement. "They have been disparaged and belittled. This bill is a down payment in trying to help restore some of the losses that have been incurred by federal employees. They have endured a three-year wage freeze, four years without locality pay, higher retirement contributions for certain employees, wage-reducing work furloughs, cuts from sequestration and a government shutdown."
Federal employee groups, including the American Federation of Government Employees, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, National Treasury Employees Union and Federal-Postal Coalition, came out in support of the FAIR Act.