House panel Dems, GOP: 3.4 percent raise - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

House panel Dems, GOP: 3.4 percent raise

Chances for troops to get a 3.4 percent pay raise in January — more than the 2.9 percent proposed by President Barack Obama — have improved now that Democrats and Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee are both calling for the larger increase.

A 3.4 percent increase would be 0.5 percentage points more than the average private-sector pay raise last year, and continue a nine-year trend slowly closing the gap that grew between military and private-sector pay in the 1980s and early 1990s when military raises were capped.

Over the last two days, Democrats and Republicans on the armed services committee have released letters sent to the House Budget Committee projecting expenses they expect to face on the 2010 defense budget. The budget letters help to shape the 2010 budget resolution that will set revenue goals and spending caps for various federal agencies.

In addition to the size of the 2010 raise, Democrats and Republicans also agree they will try to block any attempt by the Defense Department to increase health insurance enrollment fees, deductibles or co-payments for military beneficiaries, something that could require them to find elsewhere the $1 billion-plus in savings that Pentagon officials assume would result from the fee increases. Congress has blocked fee increases proposed by the Bush administration for three consecutive years.

In the case of the military raise, the difference between the 2.9 percent and 3.4 percent raises requires finding about $340 million for additional military payroll costs in the 2010 budget. Total costs would be even larger if the 3.4 percent raise were to also apply to federal civilian workers, who are slated to get a 2 percent increase under the Obama budget. The armed services committee does not play a role in setting federal civilian pay raises, so it is not mentioned in either the Democrat or Republican budget estimates.

With agreement on the amount, it seems almost certain that the House Armed Services Committee will approve a 2010 defense policy bill later this year — probably in June — that includes the a 3.4 percent increase. That would just be the start of a long legislative process expected to last until fall where Congress must both authorize and fund the pay raise for it to take effect.

While change is possible, congressional aides said it becomes very difficult for lawmakers to end up approving a smaller military raise once a committee approves a bigger one.

There has been no word from the Senate Armed Services Committee about its views on the 2010 defense budget.