Federal Judicial Fairness Act of 2006

Federal Judicial Fairness Act of 2006 - Repeals a requirement of federal law limiting salary increases for federal judges or Supreme Court Justices to those specifically authorized by Act of Congress.

Amends the federal judicial code to make the cost of living adjustments in judicial salaries effective in the first pay period beginning on or after January 1 each year. (Currently, such adjustments are triggered by General Schedule adjustments.) Prohibits the percentage adjustment taking effect in a calendar year, in any salary rate, from exceeding the adjustment taking effect in such year under General Schedule pay rate requirements.

Increases the rate of basic pay for: (1) the Chief Justice of the United States; (2) an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; (3) a judge of a U.S. circuit court, a district court, and the U.S. Court of International Trade; (4) a bankruptcy judge; and (5) a full-time magistrate judge.

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5014 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5014

           To provide for fairness for the Federal judiciary.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2006

  Mr. Schiff (for himself and Mrs. Biggert) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To provide for fairness for the Federal judiciary.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Judicial Fairness Act of 
2006''.

SEC. 2. JUDICIAL COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.

    (a) Repeal of Statutory Requirement Relating to Judicial 
Salaries.--Section 140 of the resolution entitled ``A Joint Resolution 
making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 1982, and 
for other purposes.'', approved December 15, 1981 (Public Law 97-92; 95 
Stat. 1200; 28 U.S.C. 461 note), is repealed.
    (b) Automatic Annual Increases.--Section 461(a) of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), effective on the first day of 
the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1 of each 
calendar year, each salary rate which is subject to adjustment under 
this section shall be adjusted by an amount, rounded to the nearest 
multiple of $100 (or if midway between multiples of $100, to the next 
higher multiple of $100) equal to the percentage of such salary rate 
which corresponds to the most recent percentage change in the ECI 
(relative to the date described in the next sentence), as determined 
under section 704(a)(1) of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989. The 
appropriate date under this sentence is the first day of the fiscal 
year that begins in the preceding calendar year.
    ``(2) In no event shall the percentage adjustment taking effect 
under paragraph (1) in any calendar year (before rounding), in any 
salary rate, exceed the percentage adjustment taking effect in such 
calendar year under section 5303 of title 5 in the rates of pay under 
the General Schedule.''.
    (c) Judicial Salary Increases.--Effective on the first day of the 
first applicable pay period that begins on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the rate of basic pay for the Chief Justice of 
the United States, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, a judge of a United States circuit court, a judge of a 
district court of the United States, a judge of the United States Court 
of International Trade, a bankruptcy judge, and a full-time magistrate 
judge shall be increased in the amount of 16.5 percent of their 
respective rates (as last in effect before the increase), rounded to 
the nearest multiple of $100 (or, if midway between multiples of $100, 
to the next higher multiple of $100).

SEC. 3. COORDINATION RULE.

    If a pay adjustment under section 2 is to be made for an office or 
position as of the same date as any other pay adjustment affecting such 
office or position, the adjustment under section 2 shall be made first.
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