CQ Today: Bilbray, Bipartisan Support for Responsible Federal Funding

CQ - June 28, 2010 - 

CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
June 28, 2010 – 6:55 p.m.

House Passes Bill to Address Pay for Uniformed Secret Service

By Emma Dumain, CQ Staff

The House on Monday passed a bill that would give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to oversee pay and work hours for the 1,300 members of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division.

The measure (S 1510), which passed by voice vote, would transfer this authority away from the District of Columbia for the first time since the early 1900s, when the Uniformed Division was established and charged with protecting the president, White House officials and foreign dignitaries.

The bill is designed to address concerns that Uniformed Division employees are not as well-compensated as other federal government employees, because they are governed by District of Columbia standards.

Bill supporters say this has resulted in recruiting and retaining difficulties, as potential and current members of the Uniformed Division seek out more-lucrative opportunities with other federal security forces.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said the bill would represent “a long overdue change.”

Offsets

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cost $46 million to implement. To offset those costs, the legislation was merged with language from another bill (HR 2495) that would instruct the General Services Administration to help federal agencies identify and sell excess federal properties. The revenue accrued through the sales would help offset the costs of the underlying bill.

“The government has $18 billion worth of real property it does not need, and rather than selling this property . . . we usually give it away one way or the other, to local government, states or nonprofits rather than getting the fair market value,” said Rep. Brian P. Bilbray, R-Calif. “We need to keep this money in the federal family . . . to enhance the compensation of some very critical public servants.”

The bill now heads back to the Senate.