On January 30, Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act (FAIR Act) (H.R. 7127 / S. 3688, which would provide for an average 7.4 percent pay raise for the federal workforce in 2025. The bill would provide for a 4.0 percent boost in base pay and 3.4 percent in locality pay. H.R. 7127 has 78 cosponsors and S. 3688 currently has 16.

The Federal Managers Association (FMA) endorsed the legislation and National President Craig Carter was quoted in a joint press release from Connolly and Schatz upon introduction. “Federal managers deserve to be treated with respect for their efforts and the work they have performed over many years,” Carter said. “Every job they hold and perform daily is because of a congressional mandate. It is not too much to ask that, in return, feds be given the ability to maintain a living wage that provides for them and their families. We are grateful for Congressman Connolly and Senator Schatz’s continued leadership on behalf of the entire federal community with the introduction of the FAIR Act. They are steadfast supporters of the workforce and FMA enthusiastically endorses the FAIR Act. We look forward to working with Congressman Connolly and Senator Schatz to build support for this important bill.”

While feds received the largest pay raise since 1980 in 2024 (5.2 percent), Connolly and Schatz further laid out the reality of federal pay in their joint statement. “The federal government has a history of chronic underinvestment in its most valuable asset: the federal workforce,” the legislators wrote. “Federal employees have had to endure government shutdowns, pay freezes, hiring freezes, and lost pay as a result of sequestration-related furloughs. According to the Federal Salary Council, Federal employees on average earned 27.54 percent less in 2023 than their counterparts in the private sector. In addition, the 2023 Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey governmentwide management report found that over the last three years, pay satisfaction declined from 67 percent to 57 percent. A lack of competitive pay hurts the recruitment, retention, and quality of the civil service.”

FMA is proud to support this legislation and will work to provide federal managers with the best possible raise for 2025.