4.1% Federal Pay Raise Near House Passage
End to Cuba Travel Curbs Also Backed

July 24, 2002; Page A04
By Dan Morgan, Washington Post Staff Writer

The House last night was nearing passage of a major spending bill that would give civilian federal employees a 4.1 percent pay increase beginning Jan. 1, despite objections from the White House.

The Bush administration favors a 2.6 percent raise and has said it "strongly opposes" the higher increase. But the bigger number, which gives about 1.7 million government workers the same raise as the military, generated little controversy during House debate.

Late last night, the House voted to lift the long-standing ban on travel to Cuba and to end restrictions on private sales of food and medicine to the Communist-ruled island.

While the White House has praised the spending bill, it has said President Bush might veto it if House members from the Washington area attach a provision that could limit Bush's plan to allow outside contractors to compete for jobs now performed by an estimated 425,000 federal employees.

The Bush administration wants agencies to give private contractors a chance to bid on 15 percent of government work that is "commercial in nature" by the end of next year. Area lawmakers, representing large numbers of federal workers, were pushing an amendment to prevent such "quotas."

The 4.1 percent pay increase for federal employees matches the one the administration requested for military personnel. Leading the fight for parity was Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).

Maureen Gilman, legislative director for the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), called the raise "very important."

But Colleen M. Kelley, president of NTEU, said government workers still were far from closing the gap with the private sector. Last year's federal pay increase was 4.6 percent.

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© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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