This week, Representative Josh Harder sent a letter to White House Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja urging the administration to take the action necessary to raise pay for doctors, nurses, and other federal employees at Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities in Stanislaus County.

Though the Central Valley faces some of the highest cost of living in the nation, its VA doctors and nurses are still classified as working in the “Rest of the United States,” pay scale region meaning they don’t receive wages and benefits that reflect the high prices of rent, gas, and groceries in the community. Rep. Harder’s letter calls on the White House to appoint a Chairman of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee who can oversee an increase in wages for VA doctors and nurses.

“Our heroic veterans deserve the best care in the world, and that can only happen when our VA clinics have the best doctors and nurses on staff,” said Rep. Harder. “Today I’m calling on the White House to boost the wages we pay our VA health care workers so we can bring more doctors and nurses here to our community. We can never truly repay our veterans for keeping us safe and protecting our freedom, but we sure can make sure they have the care they need.”