Lawmakers question homeland chief about pay and benefits report

Two lawmakers with oversight of civil service and agency management issues are concerned that they haven't yet seen the Homeland Security Department's plan for consolidating pay and benefits systems. The plan was due to Congress on Feb. 24.

In a March 3 letter, Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Va., and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, asked Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to update them on the status of the report and provide details about efforts to integrate the 22 agencies now under the new department's oversight.

The legislation creating Homeland Security required the department to submit the report to Congress within 90 days after the law took effect.

Davis is chairwoman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization and Voinovich heads the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia.

"As the date provided in the law for tendering the report has passed, we are inquiring about the status of the report and request a combined briefing of our subcommittees at the earliest possible time to review the report contents," the letter said.

Under the law, the plan must describe options for simplifying the 80 different personnel systems inherited by the new department. Officials at the Office of Personnel Management, which was charged with providing information for the plan, said their portion of the project was completed and delivered to Homeland Security officials on Jan. 28.

"We did work with the Department of Homeland Security and we did supply information to them as they requested," said one senior OPM official. "They had the information that they needed quite some time ago."

While OPM would not provide specifics on the information they gave Homeland Security officials, agency officials did note that the report would likely not provide specifics about how the new department will address disparities in pay and benefits.

Voinovich and Davis also asked Ridge to describe the methods department officials are using to fuse the various agencies. "We are interested specifically in the problems you may encounter that could hamper your ability to organize and manage the department," the letter said. "We remain concerned that the department be shaped into a cohesive and efficient organization, and not merely import outdated practices and cultures from its component agencies."

The two lawmakers also told Ridge they were open to considering any new legislation needed to simplify management procedures at the new department.

The Homeland Security Department did not respond to an inquiry about the status of the report.