Thanks to unrelenting efforts by U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA), the U.S. House and Senate have reached a tentative agreement to increase pay for the nation’s 2.1 million civilian federal workers.
“I am pleased that an agreement has been reached to provide our federal employees with the raises they have earned and deserve,” said Rep. Comstock on Oct. 4. “This is an important complement to our providing the largest pay raise to our military in almost a decade and it is a strong sign of our respect and support for the essential work done by our federal employees.”
Roughly 15 percent of America’s 2.1 million federal workers live in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, which includes Comstock’s northern Virginia district.
The House and Senate proposal, which would run counter to a 2019 pay freeze ordered by President Donald Trump, would bump civilian federal workers’ pay by 1.9 percent, according to the congresswoman’s office.
“With our strong, booming economy, it is essential that we keep our federal salaries competitive so we attract the talent in the civilian workforce that is needed for our national security, homeland security, law enforcement, and medical research jobs and more,” the lawmaker said.
Rep. Comstock noted that the pay freezes during the Obama administration that lasted for three years “hurt our federal employees.”
On Aug. 30, when the Trump administration also proposed a 2019 pay freeze for civilian federal employees, Comstock said she immediately contacted the White House “to let them know of my strong opposition and relayed my concerns about how this negatively impacted our quality federal workforce.”
“I was the first member of Congress in the local delegation to oppose this proposed pay freeze,” she said. “I spoke with the Appropriations Committee and House leadership to have the House agree to the Senate increase in pay if the White House does not reverse their decision.”
While President Trump said on Aug. 31 that he’d reportedly reconsider his pay-freeze decision – and then didn’t – Rep. Comstock on Sept. 7 joined a bipartisan coalition of congressional members that requested Trump “reiterate on behalf of our collective constituencies to reconsider canceling the federal civilian employee pay raise,” she said.
“We will continue fighting for competitive compensation and work with the coalition of members throughout the country who represent our federal employees – 5 out of 6 of whom live outside the Washington metropolitan area,” said Rep. Comstock.
Richard Thissen, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), said the organization appreciates Rep. Comstock’s hard work and dedication “to advance a modest pay raise for federal employees in 2019.”
“While her efforts were supported by a bipartisan group of members of Congress, Representative Comstock’s leadership on this issue should be commended,” Thissen said. “A modest increase in pay not only acknowledges America’s hard-working, middle-class federal employees, but also serves as an investment that will help maintain and strengthen the federal workforce and align it more competitively with the private sector.”
House members, who have adjourned through the midterm elections, will resume negotiations on the pending deal after the elections.