Senate committee agrees to 1.4% pay raise - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Senate committee agrees to 1.4% pay raise

The Senate Armed Services Committee has sided with the Pentagon by providing a 1.4 percent military raise for 2011, committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., announced Friday.

That is the amount requested by the Obama administration and Defense Department, but it is less than the 1.9 percent raise approved by the House Armed Services Committee. Differences between the House and Senate versions of the 2011 defense authorization bill must be worked out before a final bill passes.

Defense and White House officials have made clear they support the smaller raise, which matches the average private-sector pay increase last year. But it is unclear how hard they might fight for it.

Levin said the Senate will consider an amendment to the bill that would provide a bigger targeted increase for some service members that would make the average raise 1.9 percent or more.

Levin said it would be a “creative” pay initiative sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., chairman of the armed services personnel subcommittee, that will be drawn up in consultation with the Pentagon.

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For more on the dueling pay plans — plus a full pay chart to see how each raise would affect you — look for Monday’s issues of Air Force Times, Army Times, Marine Corps Times and Navy Times.