White House To Propose Biggest Pay Raise For Federal Employees in 15 Years

Reports indicate that the Biden administration is looking to give federal workers the biggest pay raise seen in 15 years. 

The White House will propose a 4.6% pay bump for federal employees as part of its 2023 fiscal budget request, which will go to Congress after the State of the Union address at the beginning of March. 

The administration and Congress recently pushed through a 2.7% pay increase for this year, but the new proposal is the largest in decades.  

In January, House and Senate Democrats introduced a new bill, the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, that would provide federal workers with a 5.1% raise as well as a 4.1% across-the-board raise. 

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is also making an effort to prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) efforts, as well as other environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives and Justice40 efforts, which focuses on providing disadvantaged communities access to clean energy, water, affordable housing, and more. 

For instance, OMB is requesting that agencies submit a “detailed explanation of what resources the agency will dedicate from within fiscal 2023 Passback levels to coordinate implementation of the Justice40 Initiative.” 

In terms of DEIA initiatives, OMB informed agencies that they should use funding to hire experts that will help support Equity Action Plans, which should include an equity team that is solely dedicated to making these efforts a reality. 

The White House’s suggestions seen in its annual “passback” guidance encompass much of what the future of work will entail: overdue pay raises for workers, creating an equitable workplace, and identifying concrete solutions to address the climate crisis.