FAIR Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill directs a 3.1 percent basic pay adjustment in calendar year 2027 under title 5 statutory pay systems. It also overrides the normal wage-survey requirement for fiscal year 2027 to raise prevailing-rate employee pay by 3.1 percent, including pay under sections 5348 and 5349. A separate section sets the 2027 locality pay adjustment at 1 percent.
Who Benefits and How
Federal employees under statutory pay systems, prevailing-rate employees, wage-grade workers, and federal employee unions benefit from specified pay increases rather than leaving the amount entirely to the annual adjustment process. Locality pay recipients receive an additional 1 percent adjustment for 2027. Agencies may benefit from better recruitment and retention if pay keeps closer pace with labor markets.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal agencies, OPM, payroll offices, and appropriators must implement the 3.1 percent basic-pay and prevailing-rate increases plus the 1 percent locality adjustment. Federal budgets bear higher salary costs in 2027. Agency payroll systems must update statutory schedules, prevailing-rate pay, and locality payments.
Key Provisions
- Provides a 3.1 percent 2027 basic pay increase for federal statutory pay systems.
- Requires a 3.1 percent 2027 increase for prevailing-rate employees notwithstanding wage-survey rules.
- Provides a 1 percent 2027 locality pay adjustment under title 5.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Sets federal civilian pay increases for 2027 by raising statutory pay-system and prevailing-rate basic pay by 3.1 percent and adding a 1 percent locality pay adjustment for calendar year 2027.
Key Policy Areas
labor, federal_workforce, appropriations
Primary Purpose
Sets federal civilian pay increases for 2027 by raising statutory pay-system and prevailing-rate basic pay by 3.1 percent and adding a 1 percent locality pay adjustment for calendar year 2027.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Federal employees
- Prevailing-rate employees
- Wage-grade workers
- Federal employee unions
Identified Costs
- OPM
- Federal agencies
- Agency payroll offices
- Congressional appropriators
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Mr. Walkinshaw (for himself, Ms. Chu, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Subramanyam, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "agencies"
- → ['OPM', 'Federal agencies', 'Agency payroll offices']
- "beneficiaries"
- → ['Federal employees', 'Prevailing-rate employees']
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology