House Appropriations Committee approves 4.1 percent pay raise

The House Appropriations Committee approved an $18.5 billion fiscal 2003 spending bill for Treasury, Postal Service and General Government appropriations Tuesday, including a 4.1 percent pay raise for civilian federal employees next year.

The bill would provide civilian employees with the same percentage increase as military service members. The Bush administration had proposed a 2.6 percent raise for civilian workers.

"This completes one more step in the process of assuring a fair pay adjustment for federal employees," said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "As we were all well aware during the Fourth of July holiday, America remains on alert against a terrorist attack and our federal employees continue to work diligently to make sure that we are prepared for any event. This pay adjustment thanks them for all their hard work."

Nearly a quarter of the funds in the measure--$4.2 billion--will go to beef up homeland security, including $439.3 million to modernize Customs Service information systems that considered critical for border security.

The committee rejected a proposal offered by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., to remove a requirement established by the Office of Management and Budget that agencies put 15 percent of their jobs up for competition with the private sector. The measure failed by a vote of 26-30.

The panel also defeated an amendment by Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., to take $2.5 million from funds earmarked for support of Customs agents involved in enforcing steel industry anti-dumping laws and direct the money toward modernization of Customs Service information systems.

The panel approved the following proposals:

• An amendment providing the Secret Service Uniformed Division and the United States Park Police with the same locality pay adjustments as those for other federal employees.
• Language encouraging flexible spending accounts, which allow federal employees to set aside money out of pre-tax dollars for health expenditures.
• An amendment by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., including language urging the Treasury Department to request more funds for explosives enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service to increase compliance with tax laws. In the subcommittee version, the IRS language was directed specifically at fraud problems in the Earned Income Tax Credit. The broader language represents a compromise aimed broadly at tax errors and fraud.
• A Hoyer amendment directing OMB to report within 30 days on how a proposal on revised printing procedures for executive branch agencies would save money and increase public access to information.
• An amendment by Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., urging the resumption of public tours of the White House.
• An amendment by Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., to bar funds from the bill from going toward alterations in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms database policies that could permit the public release, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), of information on criminal investigations of firearms, arson or explosives offenses.

Among the highlights of the Treasury Postal spending bill:

• $246.4 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program.
• Nearly $2.5 billion for Customs Service salaries and expenses, including increases of $21.6 million for northern border staffing, $27.3 million for maritime port staffing, $8.6 million for Southwest border staffing and technology, $35.6 million for enhanced infrastructure and physical security on the northern border, and $47.7 million in non-intrusive inspection technology.
• $2.9 million for programs to identify, disrupt and seize financing for terrorist organizations and activities ($2.5 million of this will come from forfeiture funds).
• $646 million for the General Services Administration's construction program, including $309 million for site acquisition, design and/or construction of 11 courthouses.
• $436 million for continued upgrades to the Internal Revenue Service's information technology systems.
• $978 million for repairs to federal buildings.
• $500,000 for a training program to address managerial barriers to telecommuting.