Federal Managers Association

Press Release

• FMA HEARTENED BY AVERSION OF PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN - September 28, 2018
• Optimistic for federal employee pay raise in 2019
  
  
  Alexandria, VA – President Donald Trump signed a spending bill into law on Friday, September 28, 2018, that averts a partial government shutdown. This follows the recent congressional action passing the “minibus” – plus a continuing resolution bill (H.R. 6157), by a vote of 93-7 in the U.S. Senate and 361-61 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill includes full funding for the Departments of Defense, Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services for Fiscal Year 2019, and provides temporary funding through December 7, 2018, via a continuing resolution, for agencies that do not yet have appropriations for FY 2019. Federal Managers Association (FMA) National President Renee Johnson made the following comments on the passage of the legislation:
  
  
  "FMA praises both Congress and President Trump for setting aside their differences in order to ensure funding for federal agencies does not lapse as we close out Fiscal Year 2018. We are grateful for full funding for the Departments of Defense, Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services – joining the action taken earlier this month to fund the Departments of Energy, Veterans Affairs, and the legislative branch. While we would certainly prefer the remaining agencies had full funding for all of FY 2019, we prefer a continuing resolution to a shutdown of those agencies and departments. I am hopeful the reasonable, responsible action President Trump and Congress took on this ‘minibus’ will extend to the ongoing negotiations.
  
  
  “We applaud and fully support the 2.6 percent pay raise the uniformed military will receive as part of this spending bill, and recognize the 1.9 percent increase the bill budgets for the civilian federal workforce in 2019. While we believe pay parity with the military is in order, we join the many members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, in urging the 1.9 percent pay raise in lieu of a pay freeze. The Senate showed strong bipartisan support for a pay raise for federal employees, and we have seen many positive signs from the House in support of this modest increase.      
  
  
  “FMA is thankful that all federal employees will be able to report for duty at the start of the new fiscal year. As my region continues to assess the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, I pay special thanks to the public servants at the National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and other federal agencies and departments helping with the recovery. These public servants, along with all who protect our national security, care for our veterans, process tax returns and Social Security payments, and protect our environment, deserve reliable and reasonable funding to accomplish their congressionally-mandated missions.”
  
  

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