Clinton Approves Pay Raise

THE DAILY FED

Clinton Approves Pay Raise

President Clinton has approved a 2.3 percent raise for about 2 million white-collar executive branch employees next year.

The President had until midnight on Aug. 31 to propose an alternative to the 2.3 percent increase that is mandated by current law. Since he did not, the raise will go into effect next year unless Congress objects. That seems unlikely, since congressional leaders have yet to voice opposition to the raise.

In his budget request to Congress earlier this year, President Clinton called for a 3 percent raise for federal workers. Lawrence J. Haas, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, said that by the end of November, Clinton was likely to propose a 0.7 percent average hike in the "locality pay" that federal employees receive in addition to their base salaries. The total average raise of 3 percent, Haas said, would result in the largest overall pay increase for federal employees since 1993.