Letter to Nita Lowey, Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee; Mike Quigley, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government; Kay Granger, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee; and Tom Graves, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government - Wexton Joins Bipartisan Letter in Support of Pay Parity for Federal Employees

Letter

Dear Chairwoman Lowey, Chairman Quigley, Ranking Member Granger, and Ranking Member Graves:

Included in the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a 3.0 percentage pay increase for our service men and women. As in previous years, we support the biggest pay increase possible for our military members. We also want to note that with very few exceptions Congress has maintained pay parity with respect to pay raises for military and civilian federal employees. We write to ask that this pay parity continue -- particularly in light of the continued work of our federal employees throughout a global pandemic.

We write to respectfully urge you to include a 3% pay increase for the civilian workforce to ensure continued pay parity between military and civilian employees.

The federal civilian workforce is comprised of dedicated individuals who have demonstrated their critical value to this nation each day throughout this pandemic. During this global crisis, our federal government never shut down. Instead, its civilian workforce ramped up: delivering mail, providing healthcare to veterans, inspecting meat and poultry facilities, and researching cures for COVID-19. We should not take these dedicated employees for granted.

Throughout this Administration, federal civilian employees have been vilified. Public sector unions have been attacked. Just last year these civilian employees endured the longest government shutdown in this nation's history.

In January 2019, the House passed the bipartisan Federal Civilian Workforce Pay Raise Fairness Act. And in the bipartisan funding deal reached last December, Congress once again provided for pay parity between our federal civilian employees and service members.

We feel strongly that federal employees have demonstrated they are invaluable to this nation and that they deserve parity with respect to pay increases provided by the federal government. The pay increase equates to less than one-tenth of one percent of the federal discretionary budget -- spread across 12 appropriations bills. And Congress has historically maintained this pay parity. This year, in particular, our federal civilian workforce has served this nation at the time when services were most needed. Congress must step up and ensure that the federal workforce is treated with the respect it deserves.

Sincerely,