De-Linking Civil, Military Pay

THE DAILY FED

De-Linking Civil, Military Pay

The Clinton administration is opposing a provision in the House-passed Defense Department authorization bill that would give federal military employees higher annual pay increases than federal civilian employees, Federal Times reported this week.

Currently, both federal employees' and military members' annual pay raises are equal to one-half a percentage point less than the amount of the increase in the Employment Cost Index, which measures private-sector salary increases each year.

The House bill, though, would allow military raises to equal the full amount of the ECI. The House National Security Committee argued that the change was necessary for military workers because "the current pay formula systematically fails to provide the protection against inflation needed to retain quality people."

The administration, however, is concerned that the "delinking of civilian and military pay rasies could create significant equity and budget issues, especially in an era of declining resources."

The Senate Armed Services Committee did not include a provision severing military pay from federal pay in its version of the Defense bill.

House and Senate appropriations subcommittess with jurisdiction over the pay raise have not yet acted on the issue.