Judges Receive Retroactive ECI

Federal judges will see a 3.1 increase in their pay checks thanks to just-signed legislation. Members of Congress received their Employment Cost Index (ECI) adjustment of 3.1 percent with the beginning of 2003, and for a time it appeared federal judges would be over-looked for a similar increase. The judges’ ECI is retroactive to January 1, 2003.

Legislation waiving Section 140 of P.L. 97-92, was introduced by Representative F. James Sensen-brenner Jr. (R-WI) as H.R. 16 and passed by the House the day after the 108th Congress convened. The waiver is necessary to allow judges to receive a cost-of-living increase that, by statute, Members receive automatically. H.R. 16, was held up in the Senate for several weeks over provisions unrelated to the Judiciary. Under the leadership of Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the Senate finally passed the bill on January 30. AO legislative staff and Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham worked closely with congressional staff on the bill. President Bush signed the bill, H.R. 16, on February 13, 2003.

The waiver of Section 140 typically is included in an appropriations bill, but with the expectation that Congress will not pass a fiscal year 2003 omnibus appropriations bill until mid-February, other legislative solutions were sought.

Revised Pay Rates as of January 1, 2003
Chief Justice	$198,600
Associate Justices	$190,100
Circuit Judges	$164,000
District Court, Court of International Trade, Court of Federal Claims Judges	$154,700
Bankruptcy Judges	$142,324
Magistrate Judges	$142,324