Legislation would narrow the double-digit pay gap between federal and private-sector workers, end disparity in cost-of-living adjustments for federal retirees, prevent politicization of civil service
WASHINGTON – The American Federation of Government Employees strongly supports a trio of bills supporting the federal workforce that were introduced Thursday in Congress.
“These bills will strengthen federal programs and services benefiting the American public by supporting the federal employees who deliver them,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
“Helping to narrow the double-digit pay gap between federal workers and their private-sector counterparts will make it easier for federal agencies to recruit and retain the high-quality workforce needed to carry out the government’s complex programs. Providing newer federal employees with the same annual adjustments to their retirement pensions as their predecessors ensures a level playing field for all workers. Preventing non-partisan civil service jobs from being politicized ensures that employees are judged solely on their ability to do the work and not on any partisan or political considerations,” Kelley said.
The three bills are:
- The Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act of 2025, which would help narrow the nearly 25% pay gap between federal and non-federal workers by providing a 4.3% pay raise in January 2026. The increase would be divided between a 3.3% across-the-board increase and a 1% locality increase that would vary geographically. The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, with original cosponsors Don Beyer of Virginia, Eleanor Holmes-Norton of the District of Columbia, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia. The Senate companion was introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, with 11 original cosponsors: Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Alex Padilla of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Adam Schiff of California, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
- The Equal Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2025, which would end the disparity in annual cost-of-living adjustments for employees under the older Civil Service Retirement System and the newer Federal Employees Retirement System. Current law allows CSRS retirees to receive the full increase each year, while FERS employees have their annual increase capped or reduced depending on the amount. This can result in thousands of dollars in lost income over an employee’s lifetime. The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, with 27 original cosponsors: Julia Brownley of California, Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, Greg Casar of Texas, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, Emmanuel Cleaver of Missouri, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Danny Davis of Illinois, Don Davis of North Carolina, Suzan DelBene of Washington, Maxwell Frost of Florida, John Garamendi of California, Daniel Goldman of New York, Val Hoyle of Oregon, Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, Lucy McBath of Georgia, Jennifer McClellan of Virginia, Frank Mrvan of Indiana, Kevin Mullin of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Lucy McBath of Georgia, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Andrea Salinas of Oregon, Mark Takano of California, Shri Thanedar of Michigan, and Dina Titus of Nevada.
- The Saving the Civil Service Act, which would prevent the politicization of the non-partisan civil service by limiting the conversion of federal jobs from the competitive service to the excepted service without congressional approval. The bipartisan bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, with original cosponsors Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Kweisi Mfume of Maryland. The Senate companion was introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.