Federal Managers Association
Press Release
- FMA STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BIDEN’S FY25 BUDGET REQUEST - March 11, 2024
Alexandria, VA – President Biden announced his budget request for Fiscal Year 2025 today, March 11. He is calling for a 2.0 percent pay raise for the federal workforce in 2025. The budget request outlines updates and initiatives from the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) aimed at recruitment and retention, making the federal workforce a model employer, and learning from the Covid-19 pandemic. Federal Managers Association (FMA) National President Craig Carter made the following comments on the release:
"FMA welcomes the President’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2025, noting work remains to fully fund the Department of Defense and other critical agencies for Fiscal Year 2024. Nevertheless, we urge Congress and the Administration to work together to provide agencies with budget certainty and the resources they need in time for FY25.
“FMA fully supports the 4.5 percent raise proposed for the uniformed military and urges the President and Congress to provide an equal raise for federal employees, rather than the proposed 2.0 percent. For very good reasons, pay parity has a longstanding tradition and should be honored in 2025. While feds received a bigger boost in 2024, federal pay continues to lag far behind inflation, and retention of feds remains a severe risk. The Federal Salary Council reported in November 2023 that federal workers earned more than 27 percent less than private sector counterparts, a growing disparity that will only force more of the best and brightest out of federal service. In January, FMA endorsed the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act (H.R. 7127 / S. 3688), which would provide for a 7.4 percent pay raise in 2025. We will continue to advocate for the FAIR Act this year.
“We appreciate the Administration’s focus on the federal pay ceiling cap and pay compression as they discuss federal pay issues. This issue plays a serious role in recruitment and retention to the federal workforce. If an employee is offered a promotion at a higher level, with more responsibilities, but no corresponding salary increase, will they take on the new role? Many employees who are now capped are tempted to leave the government for the private sector where there is no pay cap. We look forward to working with the Administration on the targeted pay flexibilities noted in the budget request. FMA also supports proposals to remove the cap on Federal Wage System (FWS) employees as a vital way to retain good workers through better pay and unfair caps. We are concerned by the loss of these workers, whose pay is supposed to be set according to local prevailing rates – rates which compare to the same types of jobs performed by their non-federal counterparts. The federal workforce is losing too many FWS employees to the private sector due to current compensation levels, and the pay cap on these employees must be removed.
“FMA strongly supports the goals and priorities of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), including elements including strengthening hiring systems, the recruitment pipeline to the workforce, empowering managers, and critical civil service protections. We will continue to work with the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Management and Budget, and others to shape and effectively implement many of the proposals the Administration proposes.
“We recognize the release of the President’s budget proposal is one part of the process and we look forward to taking a closer look at the President’s proposals and priorities in the days and weeks to come. We also anticipate what is to come from the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. FMA pledges to work with the Biden Administration and both chambers of Congress as they work on FY25 appropriations.”