Bush Admin: Opposing Pay Hikes and Benefits

Who: Bush Administration
Source: Army Times
Quotes: From article titled, "White House: 3.5 percent pay hike unnecessary"

Troops don’t need bigger pay raises, White House budget officials said Wednesday in a statement of administration policy laying out objections to the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill.

The Bush administration had asked for a 3 percent military raise for Jan. 1, 2008, enough to match last year’s average pay increase in the private sector. The House Armed Services Committee recommends a 3.5 percent pay increase for 2008, and increases in 2009 through 2012 that also are 0.5 percentage point greater than private-sector pay raises.

The slightly bigger military raises are intended to reduce the gap between military and civilian pay that stands at about 3.9 percent today. Under the bill, HR 1585, the pay gap would be reduced to 1.4 percent after the Jan. 1, 2012, pay increase.

Bush budget officials said the administration “strongly opposes” both the 3.5 percent raise for 2008 and the follow-on increases, calling extra pay increases “unnecessary.”

“When combined with the overall military benefit package, the president’s proposal provides a good quality of life for service members and their families,” the policy statement says. “While we agree military pay must be kept competitive, the 3 percent raise, equal to the increase in the Employment Cost Index, will do that.”

In addition to the pay raise, there are other personnel initiatives in the bill that the White House opposes.

A death gratuity for federal civilian employees who die in support of military operations, and new benefits for disabled retirees and the survivors of military retirees also drew complaints.

This includes the transfer of the GI Bill benefits program for reservists from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a step that GI Bill supporters said is needed to set the stage for increases in reserve benefits that have been kept low by the military because it views the program as a retention incentive rather than a post-service education program.

Refusal by lawmakers to approve Tricare fees for beneficiaries, something administration officials view as an important step in holding down health care cost, also drew opposition, along with a provision imposing price controls on prescription drugs dispensed to Tricare users.

Democratic Effort: Block Bonuses of Top VA Officials Based Upon Benefit Backlog

Who: Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y
Source: Army Times
Quotes: From article titled, "Bill would block bonuses for top VA officials"

The House of Representatives could vote as early as May 16 on a bill that would freeze 2007 bonuses for senior Department of Veterans Affairs employees until the backlog of veterans’ benefits claims is reduced below 100,000.

Called the Pay Veterans First Act, the bill, HR 2292, is sponsored by Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs disability assistance subcommittee. It is a response to the recent revelation that senior executive at the VA received $3.8 million in performance bonuses in 2006.

“It is shocking and scandalous even by the VA’s own low standards that top officials at the VA would be getting the most lucrative performance bonuses in government when there is a backlog of over 600,000 benefits claims,” Hall said in a statement.