House and Senate lawmakers reintroduced the FAIR Act, aiming to bring federal employees’ pay rates closer in line with private sector salaries.
Democratic lawmakers are calling for a substantially larger federal pay raise in 2027, with new legislation that would provide a 4.1% pay increase for civilian federal employees next year.
Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act this week. The lawmakers said their bill aims to keep federal salaries in line with the private sector and rising costs of living.
“Federal workers are the backbone of America, delivering the essential services and benefits that families have earned in every corner of our country,” Walkinshaw said. “They serve communities nationwide and have done so honorably even as the Trump administration has launched unprecedented attacks on the civil service.”
The proposed 4.1% pay raise combines a 3.1% across-the-board raise with an average of a 1% locality pay adjustment. It would be significantly larger than the 1% raise most civilian federal employees saw for 2026 — the smallest pay increase employees have received since 2021.
President Donald Trump’s executive order finalizing the 2026 pay increase provided a 3.8% raise for federal law enforcement personnel, bringing them in line with the raise for military members.
Prior to 2026, federal employees saw larger pay increases in the last few years under the Biden administration. They received average raises of 2% in 2025, 5.2% in 2024 and 4.6% in 2023.
Proponents of the FAIR Act seek to give federal employees a higher annual pay increase, citing a growing wage gap between the federal and private sectors. A 2024 Federal Salary Council report found that federal salaries lag 24.72% behind pay rates for comparable private sector roles.
“Our bill boosts wages to keep public service jobs competitive with those in the private sector and maintain a strong and talented federal workforce,” Schatz said.
The FAIR Act has been introduced each year for more than a decade. The legislation comes ahead of spring budget negotiations, when the White House usually tees up its initial federal pay raise proposal for the next calendar year.
The size of the proposed raise in the FAIR Act varies year to year. In recent years, the FAIR Act has called for larger raises of 4.3% in 2026, 7.4% for 2025 and 8.7% for 2024.
The bill calculates an across-the-board increase based on provisions outlined in the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA). The 1990 law allows the government to issue a base pay raise equal to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index (ECI) from the previous year, minus a half percentage point. The ECI measures how much private sector wages grow over time.
But for decades, presidents have chosen not to follow FEPCA, instead issuing alternative pay plans with smaller annual raises. Over time, that has led to increasing wage disparity with the private sector.
Despite its reintroduction each year, Congress has yet to pass any version of the FAIR Act. The actual federal pay raises employees receive fall short of what the bill has proposed most years. Prior versions of the FAIR Act were led by the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).
Federal unions expressed support for the reintroduced bill, saying it would ensure federal employees can keep up with rising costs, and help agencies better recruit and retain talent.
“Federal employees live and work in every state and congressional district across the country providing critical services for our nation and the American people,” said Doreen Greenwald, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “However, their pay falls far below that of individuals in comparable jobs in the private sector.”
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the FAIR Act “would provide a meaningful pay adjustment and help close this pay gap.”
“Fair pay isn’t just good for federal workers,” he said. “It’s also good for the quality of government services and the people we all serve.”
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