U.S. Congressman Fred Upton

Washington, DC, Feb 15 - Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) voted today (H.R. 273) to extend the current freeze on federal employee pay through year’s end.  The pay adjustment freeze applies to federal employees and officials, including Members of Congress, Members of the President’s Cabinet, and the Vice President.  In late December 2012, President Obama issued an Executive Order that provides for an across-the-board 0.5 percent pay increase for all federal civilian employees, regardless of merit, beginning when the current freeze expires on March 27, 2013.  The current employee pay adjustment freeze was part of last year’s six-month extension to fund the federal government through early spring 2013.  According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), H.R. 273 would save taxpayers approximately $11 billion during the next decade.  H.R. 273 passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 261 to 154 and soon heads to the Senate for consideration.

“Southwest Michigan families should not be asked to shoulder the extra cost so the President can give the federal government an across-the-board pay raise,” said Upton.  “Of all possible times, the idea of a federal pay hike in the midst of our fiscal crisis is nothing short of reckless.  Rather than saddling future generations with greater debt, we should be looking for ways to reduce federal spending in a real and meaningful way.”

While the President has missed the statutory deadline to submit his budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, it is expected that it will include an additional 1.0 percent pay adjustment.

With passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (H.R. 8) in January, Congress continued its pay adjustment freeze at 2009 levels through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2013, which ends on September 30, 2013.  H.R. 273 would further extend the freeze on congressional salaries for three months, through the remainder of the 2013 calendar year.