Average Adjusted Basic Salaries and Full Time Employment by Pay System and State

As of March 31, 2001

State                       Total                  General Schedule  Fed Wage Sys          Other Acts

                          Emp      Avg Sal     Emp       Avg Sal    Emp     Avg Sal    Emp     Avg Sal

Washington      42,105    $51,442    27,980    $50,647    9,823    $45,580     4,302    $70,003

Oregon             17,270     $50,282    13,542    $49,710    2,144    $42,904    1,584    $65,160

California       137,376      $53,457    97,198   $50,865   16,822   $39,575    23,356   $74,245

Alaska             11,223       $49,365     7,390    $44,831     2,184   $52,955     1,649    $54,928

Idaho                  7,490      $47,785     5,997     $48,115        978   $36,611        515    $65,172

Federal Employees, Employee

Annuitants and Survivor Annuitants in Washington

As of March 31, 2003

Federal Employees:        84,210

Employee Annuitants & Survivor Annuitants:  60,072

Federal Employees in Washington

by Congressional District

109th Congress

Congressional District 1        11,547    (Jay Inslee)

Congressional District 2         7,343     (Rick Larson)

Congressional District 3         7,149     (Brian Baird)

Congressional District 4         9,393     (Doc Hastings)

Congressional District 5         9,255     (Cathy McMorris)

Congressional District 6        17,333     (Norm Dicks)

Congressional District 7         7,670      (Jim McDermott)

Congressional District 8         6,697      (Dave Reichert) 

Congressional District 9        12,766      (Adam Smith)

Breakout of Federal Employees in Washington by Congressional District, County, and Federal Agency, maintained by Federally Employed Women:

Civil Service COLA History

 Until 1962, the law did not provide for automatic cost-of-living increases (COLAs) in civil service annuities.  However, Congress did provide occasional annuity increases to reflect changes in economic conditions.  Laws that increased annuities prior to 1962 are: 

   *P.L. 87-793, October 11, 1962, established a 5% increase in all annuities, and established an automatic annuity increase effective April 1 of each year if the CPI rose at least 3% during the previous calendar year.  No COLAs were triggered by this formula.

   * P.L. 89-205, September 27, 1965 (effective December 1, 1965) provided an increase of 6.1% for all post-October 2, 1956 retirees; 11.1% for those who retired before October 2, 1956; and amended October 11, 1962 Act to establish a permanent and automatic COLA formula based on a more sensitive Consumer Price Index gain, so that if the CPI increased by 3%, then held or continued to increase during the next three months, the highest percentage reached would become effective as a COLA on the first day of the third month following the three month holding period.

   January 1, 1967, the first automatic adjustment based on the above formula became effective.  Under that law, the following increases occurred: 

   *  P.L. 91-93, October 20, 1969, amended the law to add an additional 1% to each COLA to compensate for the 5-month period, which elapsed between the month in which the COLA was triggered and the month in which it was reflected in annuity checks.  Under that provision, the following increases occurred: 

11/01/69	5.0%
08/01/70	5.6%
06/01/71	4.5%
07/01/72	4.8%
07/01/73	6.1%
01/01/74	5.5%
07/01/74	6.4%
01/01/75	7.4%
08/01/75	5.1%
03/01/76	5.4%

   * P.L. 94-440, Effective in 1977, the 1% add-on was eliminated and a new formula was enacted.  The new law provided for a semi-annual adjustment (Each March and September) based on the actual percentage increase in the CPI over a previous six-month period.  That formula produced the following increases: 

   * P.L. 97.35, effective July 31, the twice a year COLA, was eliminated and replaced with an annual adjustment to be effective each March 1, and reflected in annuity checks received each April 1.  The amount of that ajustment was to be determined by the percentage change in the CPIU-W during the preceding calendar year.  Under that Act, the following increase occurred: 

   *P.L. 97-270, effective April 18, 1984, delayed the cost-of-living adjustment scheduled to be effective May 1, 1984 for seven months, setting the next COLA effective date as December 1, 1984, with the payment reflected in annuity checks received the 1^st of January 1985.  This new law set the December 1 effective date for all future COLAs, and provided for a change in the period used for computing them from a calendar year basis.  This shift in the period of time used for measuring inflation resulted in a once and permanent loss of 2.6 percent which occurred during the first 7 months of 1983. 

      *Permanently denied by Gramm-Rudman-Hollings sequestration order.

   * P.L. 103-66, enacted August 10, 1993 delayed the effective date of the COLA for three months, from December 1 to March 1, in fiscal years 1994, 1995, and 1996.  The provisions of this Act, changed neither the time period nor the formula used for computing civil service COLAs, only the effective date. 

   * Both the FY ’96 and FY’97 Budgets proposed continuing the 3 month COLA delay through 2002, but legislation to effect further delay was not enacted, and the COLA returned to a December effective date.