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[House Document 111-78]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

111th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 111-78

 
             AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN FOR LOCALITY PAY INCREASES

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                     THEPRESIDENTOFTHEUNITEDSTATES

                              transmitting

  AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN FOR LOCALITY PAY INCREASES PAYABLE TO CIVILIAN 
  FEDERAL EMPLOYEES COVERED BY THE GENERAL SCHEDULE (GS) AND CERTAIN 
   OTHER PAY SYSTEMS IN JANUARY 2010, PURSUANT TO 5 U.S.C. 5305(a)(3)

     December 1, 2009.--Referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
              Government Reform and ordered to be printed
                                           The White House,
                                     Washington, November 30, 2009.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Madam Speaker: I am transmitting an alternative plan 
for locality pay increases for civilian Federal employees 
covered by the General Schedule (GS) and certain other pay 
systems in January 2010.
    Under title 5, United States Code, civilian Federal 
employees covered by the GS and certain other pay systems would 
receive a two-part pay increase in January 2010: (1) a 2.4 
percent across-the-board adjustment in scheduled rates of basic 
pay derived from Employment Cost Index data on changes in the 
wages and salaries of private industry workers, and (2) 
locality pay adjustments averaging 16.5 percent based on Bureau 
of Labor Statistics salary surveys of non-Federal employers in 
each locality pay area. According to the statutory formula, for 
Federal employees covered by the locality pay system, the 
overall average pay increase would be about 18.9 percent. This 
total Federal employee pay increase would cost about $22.6 
billion in fiscal year 2010 alone.
    Title 5, United States Code, authorizes me to implement an 
alternative pay plan if I view the adjustments that would 
otherwise take effect as inappropriate due to ``national 
emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general 
welfare.'' As in August, when I submitted an alternative plan 
under 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) to limit the across-the-board increase 
in 2010 to 2.0 percent, I have determined that it is 
appropriate to exercise my statutory alternative plan authority 
under 5 U.S.C. 5304a to set alternative January 2010 locality 
pay rates.
    A national emergency, within the meaning of chapter 53 of 
title 5, has existed since September 11, 2001. Likewise, our 
country continues to face serious economic conditions affecting 
the general welfare and most Americans would not understand or 
accept that Federal employees should receive an average pay 
increase of 18.9 percent while many of their fellow citizens 
are facing employment cutbacks or unemployment. Such an 
increase would cost $19.9 billion more than the 2.0 percent 
overall Federal civilian pay increase that I proposed in my 
2010 Budget and would build in later years.
    Accordingly, I have determined that under the authority of 
section 5304a of title 5, United States Code, the locality pay 
percentages currently in effect as shown in the attachment 
shall remain in effect in 2010.
    The law requires that I include in this report an 
assessment of the impact of my decision on the Government's 
ability to recruit and retain well-qualified employees. As I 
said in August, I do not believe this decision will materially 
affect our ability to continue to attract and retain a quality 
Federal workforce. Since any pay raise above the amount 
proposed in this alternative plan would likely be unfunded, 
agencies would have to absorb the additional cost and could 
have to reduce hiring to pay the higher rates. Moreover, the GS 
``quit'' rate continues to be very low (2.1 percent on an 
annual basis), well below the overall average ``quit'' rate in 
private enterprise.
            Sincerely,
                                                      Barack Obama.

     ALTERNATIVE PLAN FOR 2010 LOCALITY-BASED COMPARABILITY PAYMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Locality payment
                  Locality pay area                        (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL.............              18.55
Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH-RI-ME.............              23.98
Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY......................              16.39
Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI...........              24.47
Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN...........              18.28
Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH...........................              18.16
Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH......................              16.62
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX................................              19.95
Dayton-Springfield-Greenville, OH....................              15.90
Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO............................              22.03
Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI.............................              23.56
Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, CT-MA............              25.08
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX.......................              28.28
Huntsville-Decatur, AL...............................              15.46
Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, IN...................              14.23
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA.................              26.51
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL..............              20.21
Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI........................              17.65
Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI................              20.36
New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA..............              27.96
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD............              21.25
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ..........................              16.08
Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA............................              15.86
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA..................              19.71
Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC..............................              17.38
Richmond, VA.........................................              16.10
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Yuba City, CA-NV...........              21.53
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA....................              23.44
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA...................              34.35
Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA...........................              21.06
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV-               23.10
 PA..................................................
Rest of U.S..........................................              13.86
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                  
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