Congressional appropriators reached an agreement Monday for a 2020 fiscal year spending package that would give federal employees the largest pay raise in a decade.
The government funding package, which would also avert a government shutdown if passed by Dec. 20, contains a 3.1% federal pay increase. The pay proposal includes an across-the-board 2.6% pay increase to civilian employees, plus an average 0.5% increase in locality pay.
The spending package is headed to the House and Senate for final approval in both chambers this week. It would also need to be signed by President Trump. The White House would then also need to issue an Executive Order so that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) can develop the official pay tables in late December.
If passed, the 3.1% raise would be the largest increase for federal employees since 2009. In 2009, the pay raise was 3.9%. The average pay raise in 2019 was 1.9%.
Earlier this year the Trump administration recommended a 2.6% across-the-board base pay raise, however locality pay levels would have remained the same.
“Federal employees have many allies in Congress and we commend all of them for their persistence in getting House and Senate negotiators to include the average 3.1 percent raise in their final compromise spending agreement,” National Treasury Employees Union National President Tony Reardon said in a statement Monday.
