NEWS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                        CONTACT: Todd Wells

September 27, 2008                                                                                         TEL.: (703) 683-8700

 

FMA APPLAUDS 3.9% PAY RAISE FOR FEDS, DISAPPOINTED

BY LONG TERM CONTINUING RESOLUTION

Social Security Administration hit hardest by stopgap funding measure

 

Alexandria, VA - The Federal Managers Association (FMA) lauds Congress' passage of a civilian federal employees pay raise of 3.9 percent for fiscal year 2009 as part of the Continuing Resolution (H.R. 2638) which funds the government through March 6, 2009. The increase is on par with the raise authorized for military personnel as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

 

Last year, the President's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget for the United States Government, marked only the second time that this Administration proposed an equal pay raise for military and civilian personnel. In the five years prior to FY07, the President recommended disparate average annual pay raises for federal civilian employees and military personnel, favoring higher pay increases for the Armed Forces on each occasion.  This year was no different. In his FY09 budget, the President proposed a 3.4 percent pay raise for the military and 2.9 percent for the civil service.

 

Congress, however, followed legislative precedent in ensuring that parity is maintained between the civil service and the military. In fact, Congress has approved the same average annual pay raise for the military and civilian workforce in 24 of the last 27 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there currently exists a 30 percent pay deficit for public-sector employees versus their private-sector counterparts. The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act sought to bridge this gap in 1990 and the annual pay raise for federal employees has become the key mechanism to do so. Unfortunately, the public sector continues to lag behind the private sector in the area of compensation.

 

"I applaud Congress for approving a fair and adequate pay raise for federal employees in 2009," commented FMA National President Darryl Perkinson. "The 3.9 percent raise sends the message that the work they do for our nation is to be valued and rewarded."

 

Regrettably, the Social Security Administration and the American citizens it serves did not receive the same message in the Continuing Resolution. Along with nearly 40 other organizations, FMA urged Congress to increase funding for SSA's salaries and expenses over the fiscal year 2008 level in the CR. Funding the agency at FY08 levels, as opposed to the President's budget request of $10.327 billion, continues the chronic underfunding of an agency that provides benefits to 60 million people annually. Due to an unprecedented backlog of over 767,000 requests for a hearing, an increase in funding to hire additional staff is necessary to bring processing times below 500 days. Even with the President's proposal for FY09, the agency does not expect the hearings backlog to be eliminated until 2013.  If SSA's funding is frozen at the FY08 level for an extended period of time, it will only exacerbate this problem.

 

Between 2001 and 2007, Congress has appropriated, on average, $180 million less than the President has requested each year for SSA's administrative expenses.  The value of this differential is equivalent to processing an additional 177,000 initial claims and 454,000 hearings. In the ten years prior to fiscal year 2008, Congress appropriated nearly $1.3 billion less than the President requested. Without a doubt, this has had a devastating effect on the services provided to the American public, as evidenced by the situation we are in today.

 

"As FMA recently said in testimony before the House, the ongoing lack of adequate staffing levels and resources have directly contributed to the backlog," commented Perkinson. "For the next six months, and possibly for the remainder of fiscal year 2009, SSA will be forced to take a step backwards, instead of moving forward. Simply put, the American people deserve better service."

 

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The Federal Managers Association, established in 1913, is the oldest, largest, most influential association representing the interests of 200,000 executives, managers, and supervisors serving in today's federal government.