A bipartisan group of congressional representatives has introduced legislation to increase wages for nearly 31,000 federal civilian employees in Tampa Bay, who earn significantly less than their South Florida counterparts.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14) announced Nov. 6 that she and fellow Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-12) and Darren Soto (D-09) partnered on H.R.10898, the Locality Pay Adjustment Act. The goal is to address a persistent salary deficit driven by an outdated federal designation that lumps Central Florida into the generic “Rest of the United States” pay scale.
The bill directs the President’s Pay Agent to establish dedicated pay localities for both the Tampa Bay and Orlando metropolitan regions. Castor and Bilirakis, the two local lawmakers, argued that soaring living costs have created a recruitment and retention crisis.
“Tampa’s current lack of a unique locality pay designation, which determines compensation, fails to acknowledge the high cost of living and is harming the ability to hire and retain talent in the public and private sectors,” Castor said in a statement.
“Congress can help fix this, so I am introducing bipartisan legislation with Reps. Soto and Bilirakis to stand up for our hardworking neighbors and proper compensation.”
Castor, who now represents Hillsborough County in a redrawn District 14, credited the region’s air traffic controllers, TSA agents, Social Security Administration employees and over 8,000 civilians “working in critical missions at MacDill Air Force Base” for their “incredible commitment to service.”
According to Federal Reserve data, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area is home to approximately 30,900 federal employees. Bilirakis, whose District 12 encompasses parts of Pasco and Hillsborough Counties, said those civilian workers “serve our veterans, support our military and help protect our nation.”
As such, Bilirakis believes the outdated pay designation has national security implications. He said the legislation will ensure “relevant factors, including cost of living, traffic and commute times, are updated to reflect the true cost of living in our region.”
Represented by Soto, the Orlando region has approximately 16,300 civilian federal employees. They also have a “Rest of the United States” pay designation from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) despite residing in an increasingly expensive metropolitan area.
Federal employees in South Florida receive the Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale locality designation. That carries a premium pay rate of 24.67%.
OPM has also established a Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville locality pay area. Those employees receive a 17.93% premium rate, slightly above the rest of Florida.
Tampa Bay and Orlando’s rate is 17.06%. The 7.61% premium gap translates to thousands of dollars in lost annual earnings for federal employees with identical jobs and pay grades as their South Florida colleagues.
For example, entry-level workers earn $43,384 in Miami compared to $40,732 in Tampa. At senior tiers, such as GS-14, the divergence widens to $135,166 in Port St. Lucie against $126,903 in St. Petersburg.
Furthermore, Tatishka Thomas, National Vice President of the American Federation of Government Employees, District 5, noted that federal workers nationwide are “substantially underpaid relative to their counterparts in the private sector and state and local government.”
“AFGE appreciates the bipartisan bill from Representatives Soto, Castor and Bilirakis to improve pay for federal employees in Orlando and Tampa,” Thomas said. Local business advocates, who believe fair pay is essential to maintaining a competitive regional economy, also enthusiastically support the legislation.
“From MacDill Air Force Base to our veterans’ healthcare facilities and other federal agencies, these employees play a vital role in our economy, national security, and quality of life,” said Bob Rohrlack, CEO of the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.
“Establishing locality pay is an important step toward strengthening workforce competitiveness, attracting and retaining skilled talent and supporting the long-term success of our region’s federal institutions.”
If enacted, the legislation imposes a one-year deadline to overhaul the region’s federal compensation structure. Under the bill’s provisions, the federal pay agent must study the economic conditions in the Tampa and Orlando metropolitan areas and submit a formal report to Congress.
The initiative does not leave the outcome to bureaucratic discretion. It compels the government to officially establish the new pay localities within that same 12-month window, a swift resolution to a wage gap federal employees have spent years fighting to close.
