washington scene LEGISLATIVE NEWS THAT AFFECTS YOU
Troop Pay Cap
President Barack Obama sent a letter to Congress in late August stating he will use his authority under the law to cap the active duty military pay raise at 1 percent.
On Aug. 30, President Barack Obama sent a letter to Congress stating he plans to use his authority under law to cap the active duty military pay raise at 1 percent.
The president has the authority to notify Congress of an alternative pay adjustment affecting active duty military pay if he determines the adjustment necessary because of a national emergency or economic concerns. He is required to do so by Sept. 1 before the implementation year.
The 2004 National Defense Authorization Act tied future military pay raises to growth in private-sector pay, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index (ECI). Accordingly, the FY 2014 active duty pay raise would be 1.8 percent.
Over the past 12 years, Congress has worked hard to eliminate a 13.5-percent pay gap caused by repeatedly capping military raises below private-sector pay growth in the 1980s and ’90s.
Earlier this year, the House rejected the administration’s pay cap and authorized a 1.8-percent raise, while the Senate Armed Services Committee supported the cap of 1 percent.
MOAA President Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret), responded to the president’s pay-cap announcement in a video* imploring Congress to maintain the 1.8-percent pay raise established under law.
Pay comparability can’t work unless it’s sustained through both good and bad times.
MOAA will continue to push Congress to support a 1.8-percent raise that keeps military pay on pace with private-sector wage growth.
In the Know
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www.moaa.org/email.
Sequestration Update
Personnel could bear the brunt of budget cuts.
Congress must act soon to stop sequestration or the Pentagon will be faced with another installment of $52 billion in cuts for FY 2014 as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011.
However, the chances of Congress repealing sequestration any time soon are slim to none. Congress returned from its August recess with a hefty workload: possible combat intervention in Syria, the enactment of a FY 2014 budget, a continuing resolution to keep the government funded after Sept. 30, and the government’s debt ceiling approaching shortly thereafter.
When sequestration went into effect March 1, 2013, DoD had to juggle military readiness and combat operations and sustain the all-volunteer force — all while executing the FY 2013 budget.
DoD planners have jumped through hoops over the past several years to keep the budget books balanced. Now they face FY 2014 without a budget and are planning three separate FY 2015 budgets.
*online: Visit
www.moaa.org/2014pay to watch MOAA’s video response to the pay-cap announcement.
NOVEMBER 2013 MILITARY OFFICER 33
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