Congress mandates 3.1% federal pay raise, but title claims 4.1%

What it does

This bill mandates a 3.1% pay raise for federal civilian employees under statutory pay systems and prevailing-wage workers in fiscal year 2027, plus a separate 1% increase to locality pay adjustments. The bill title promises 4.1% but the operative text delivers 3.1% base plus 1% locality, which compounds to approximately 4.1% total. Federal workers and their families benefit from higher wages; taxpayers bear the cost of increased federal payroll.

Why we flagged it

The bill's sole operative mechanism is a statutory override of federal pay-setting formulas to mandate specific percentage increases for civilian federal employees and prevailing-wage workers in a single fiscal/calendar year.

What the text implies

• The bill title advertises 4.1% but the text specifies 3.1% base + 1% locality pay separately; the compounding effect approximates 4.1%, but the split structure may create ambiguity in implementation or allow agencies to apply only one component.
• The bill overrides wage-survey requirements for prevailing-rate employees (section 5343(b)), potentially freezing market-based wage adjustments and replacing them with a flat statutory percentage regardless of local labor-market conditions.
• No appropriations or revenue offset is stated; the cost of the raise is not identified as coming from a specific fund, reallocation, or revenue source, leaving the fiscal impact implicit.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Federal employees and their families gain direct income security and purchasing power from guaranteed raises; however, the cost is borne by all taxpayers through increased federal spending, and the bill does not identify offsetting cuts or revenue sources, potentially adding to the deficit or crowding out other public investments.

Who stands to gain

• federal civilian employees (statutory pay systems)
• prevailing-wage federal employees

Named in the bill

5 U.S.C. § 5302 (statutory pay systems definition), 5 U.S.C. § 5303 (pay adjustment formula), 5 U.S.C. § 5304 (locality pay adjustment), 5 U.S.C. § 5343 (prevailing-rate employee pay), 5 U.S.C. § 5348, 5349 (prevailing-rate pay schedules), House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Where it stands

38 cosponsors: 37 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Feb 10, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 10, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $172,452 in lobbying spend. A filing names 24 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

James Walkinshaw, the sponsor, reported $964,818 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Professional Aviation Safety Specialists — $142,452 on 1 filing
• National Council of Social Security Management Associations — $30,000 on 1 filing
• Federal Managers Association — $0 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.