Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he has joined Senate colleagues to introduce legislation that would provide federal employees with a 4.1 percent pay increase in calendar year 2027.
“The work that federal employees do day-in and day-out keeps Americans safer and healthier,” Wyden said. ”These workers have dedicated their lives to public service, but are shortchanged far too often. The FAIR Act would do just what its title says – ensure hard-working public employees in Oregon and across the nation are paid fairly. ”
For more than a decade, federal employees have endured government shutdowns, pay freezes, hiring freezes, and lost pay as a result of sequestration-related furloughs. The Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act (FAIR) would adjust wages to restore years of lost pay increases by ensuring that federal employees earn an average pay increase of 4.1 percent.
Despite recent pay increases for federal employees under the Biden administration, wages continue to lag behind the rising cost of living. In 2023, federal employees earned roughly 27 percent less on average than employees in the private sector, according to the Federal Salary Council.
The legislation was led by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and U.S. Representative James Walkinsha, D-Va. In addition to Wyden, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawai‘i, Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Mark Warner, D-Va.
Text of the bill is here.