Congress mandates 3.1% federal pay raise, but title claims 4.1%
H.R. 7480 — FAIR Act · Filed by James Walkinshaw (D-VA) · 31 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 10, 2026 · Referred to committee
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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.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
federal civilian employees (statutory pay systems); prevailing-wage federal employees