GovTrack’s Bill Summary
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H.R. 273: To eliminate the 2013 statutory pay adjustment for Federal employees.
- Introduced:
- Jan 15, 2013 (113th Congress, 2013–2015)
- Sponsor:
- Rep. Ron DeSantis [R-FL6]
- Status:
- Passed House
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
- Summary
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No summaries available.
- Text
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Last updated Feb 25, 2013.
2 pages
- Primary Source
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View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)
GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here.
- Citation
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Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
2/15/2013--Passed House without amendment.
Amends the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, as amended by the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 (P.L. 112-175), to extend through December 31, 2013:
(1) the freeze on statutory pay adjustments for federal employees and officials, and
(2) the prohibition against any member of the Senior Executive Service or any senior level employee in the executive branch from receiving an increase in his or her rate of basic pay absent a change of position that results in a substantial increase in responsibility or a promotion.
Eliminates the delayed statutory pay adjustment contained in the Resolution that was permitted to take effect with the first applicable pay period beginning after March 27, 2013.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/113/1/hr273.
Background
On December 27, 2012, the President issued Executive Order #13635 that provides an across the board pay adjustment of 0.5 percent for federal civilian employees. The executive order was issued in anticipation of the expiration of the current freeze contained in H.J.Res. 117, the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013, which will expire on March 27, 2013.[i] Because of the way federal pay adjustments are calculated, the executive order triggered an automatic pay adjustment for Members of Congress in addition to federal employees and officials.[ii] In response to its scheduled pay adjustment, Congress continued its freeze at 2009 levels through FY 2013 in H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. [iii]
Over the last decade, the average federal civilian salary has increased by 62 percent – from $51,518 to $83,679.[iv] At the same time, the average private sector salary reached $51,986 in 2010.[v] When benefits are factored in, total compensation packages for federal employees top $126,141 compared to $62,757 in the private sector.[vi] The President’s announcement, which will cost taxpayers more than $10 billion over ten years, comes at a time when automatic spending cuts are scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2013. It is also worth noting that the President is expected to include a 1.0 percent pay adjustment in his FY 2014 budget and union leaders have called on the President to increase that percentage.[vii]
[i] See PL 111-242 as amended by PL 112-175.
[ii] See CRS report, Salaries of Members of Congress: Recent Actions and Historical Tables, page2.
[iii] See PL -112-175.
[iv] See http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/overpaid-federal-workers.
[v] See id.
[vi] See id.
[vii] See http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/282089-union-head-complains-obama-pay-raise-proposal-not-enough.
Summary
H.R. 273 continues the freeze on federal employee pay adjustments through December 31, 2013. The pay adjustment freeze applies to federal employees and officials, including Members of Congress, Members of the President’s Cabinet and the Vice President.
Cost
According to CBO, H.R. 273 would save approximately $11 billion over ten years.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:
Slip Laws
Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.
- Public Law 111-242:
H.R. 3081 (111th): Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 - Public Law 112-175:
H.J.Res. 117 (112th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013
United States Code
The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)
- Title 5: GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
- Part III: EMPLOYEES
- Subpart D: Pay and Allowances
- Chapter 53: PAY RATES AND SYSTEMS
- Subchapter I: PAY COMPARABILITY SYSTEM
- Section 5303: Annual adjustments to pay schedules
Statutes at Large
The United States Statutes at Large is the compilation of all laws enacted by Congress.
- 126 Stat. 1316