NTU urges all Representatives to vote “YES” on H.R. 273, which would save taxpayers $11 billion over 10 years by blocking the Executive Order designed to give federal employees a 0.5 percent pay raise after March 27th.
Executive Order 13635 – President Obama’s pay increase action for federal employees – could hardly have come at a worse time for taxpayers. For many Americans, who are still struggling in the midst of a stubbornly anemic economy and persistently high unemployment, pay raises are a rare reward for exceptional labor – not indiscriminate swipes of a pen that dole out money for all. Adding insult to injury, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the average federal employee salary in 2010 was $83,679, with total compensation pushing that number up to approximately $100,000 per year. Members of Congress earn a salary of $174,000, while the Vice President takes in $230,700 a year.
In comparison, the average private sector employee salary in 2010 was $51,986. In 2011 the Social Security Administration pegged the national average wage index at $42,979. A January 2012 Congressional Budget Office study demonstrated that federal employees receive an average of 16 percent more in total compensation than equivalent private sector counterparts.
At a time when out-of-control spending and sky-high deficits threaten our financial future, is it imperative that Congress and federal employees make the financial sacrifices necessary during these difficult times – sacrifices with which Americans in the private sector are all too familiar. Anything less is an affront to the already cash-strapped taxpayers footing the bill.
Roll call votes on H.R. 273 will be included in our annual Rating of Congress and a “Yes” vote is considered the pro-taxpayer position.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Federal Affairs Manager Nan Swift at (703) 683-5700