Friday, September 7, 2018
After President Trump ordered a pay freeze for FY 2019—and then said he needed more time to think about it—two groups of House lawmakers sent two separate letters demanding that Trump support a 1.9% pay increase for federal employees in FY 2019. On September 5, 2018, Democrats representing the DC-Virginia-Maryland delegation sent a letter acknowledging that while a 2.1% increase is more appropriate given the current public-private pay gap at 33%, the 1.9% passed by the Senate deserves presidential support.
NFFE encouraged Republican lawmakers to take a stand by signing a second letter to the president, echoing support for the 1.9% increase that is contained in the Senate version of H.R. 6147, an appropriation “minibus” bill covering several federal departments. The bipartisan letter states that if the president did not support the increase, the signers of the letter will work with House and Senate appropriators to pass the increase through Congress. The letter is still open for signatures.
How you can help:
- Tell your Representative in the U.S. House to contact the office of Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Va) to sign on to the bipartisan letter supporting a 1.9% pay increase. Thus far, the following have signed: Scott Taylor (R-Va), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), Barbara Comstock (R-Va), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Peter King (R-N.Y.), Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla), and Del. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam).
- Send a pre-written letter to your Senators and Representative HERE.
- This link is also available on the NFFE Legislative page under Action Alerts (#5).