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House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., is confident his colleagues will vote next week to support equal pay adjustments for military and civilian federal employees in 2005, his spokesman said Friday.

As part of a deal with the House Republican leadership, Davis will likely introduce a resolution early next week to support pay parity language in the fiscal 2005 budget. As part of the arrangement, Davis voted Thursday for a House budget resolution that does not include pay parity language.

Although the pay parity resolution would not be binding and would only express the sense of the Congress, supporters believe a successful vote will pave the way for future inclusion of equal pay adjustments.

"We're feeling pretty optimistic," said Davis spokesman David Marin.

A bipartisan roster of lawmakers has been pushing for equal pay raises and attempting to include them in the House and Senate budget resolutions, which guide the appropriations process. The White House has opposed the pay parity effort. President Bush proposed a 3.5 percent average raise for uniformed military personnel and a 1.5 percent average raise for federal civilian workers in his fiscal 2005 budget proposal. Bush has said service members deserve larger raises because overseas deployments have put them in harm's way.

In his fiscal 2004 budget proposal, Bush also proposed different increases for the military and the civil service, but Congress granted all federal employees a 4.1 percent average pay raise.

Earlier this month, the Senate Budget Committee included language supporting pay parity in its fiscal 2005 budget resolution. An effort to include pay parity language in the House budget resolution was rejected last week by Republicans who were concerned about the additional costs of such a measure. A bloc of Republican House lawmakers, led by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., have said the equal pay adjustments will add an unreasonable $2 billion onto next year's budget.

Davis reached an agreement with the House Republican leadership, however, to bring the pay parity issue to the full House in a separate resolution. Recent history indicates the effort will succeed, according to Marin.

"The vast majority of the House supported pay parity in February of this year," he said.

Marin said lawmakers recognize pay parity is needed to maintain an effective, competitive federal workforce. If the vote fails, however, pay parity supporters will still have another chance to ensure pay parity in the appropriations process.

"The final step is the appropriations," Marin said. "That's the last bite of the apple."

COMMENTS

• I find it incredibly ironic that a representative from Oklahoma would fail to acknowledge that federal employees have also been targeted by terroists. How insulting to those who lost family April 19, 1995 in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, in addition to those who lost their lives in New York and at the Pentagon on September 11. If the gentleman from Oklahoma feels federal employees are overcompensated, I can't imagine what he must think about his hefty salary and benefits, but I can bet you he won't introduce a bill to limit those raises. GovExec.com reader Posted March 30, 2004 9:27 AM
• Why does this pay parity fiasco not continue to surprise me? We civilians continue to get the bum rap yet are told we have these "Extremely High" wages and benefits. Last time I looked I could barely afford to live in this part of the country. Who do the President and the others opposing this think does the job while the military member is deployed, TDY, at school or otherwise involved in appointments etc? They receive -- and rightly so -- combat pay, hazardous duty and etc in addition to housing allowances, food, clothing allowances, free medical, dental and etc to include "cosmetic" surgery, something no civilian has access to on our wonderful health benefits. Believe me I support our troops 1,000% but give me credit for doing my part in this war also. Sarah T. Posted March 29, 2004 6:13 PM
• Funny how the billions only count some of the time. Federal workers deserve better from their lawmakers, but nothing this administration has done suprises me (shame on them)..... GovExec.com reader Posted March 29, 2004 6:08 PM