[House Report 110-588]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 110-588
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PROVIDING THAT THE USUAL DAY FOR PAYING SALARIES IN OR UNDER THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY BE ESTABLISHED BY REGULATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
_______
April 14, 2008.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on House Administration,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 5493]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on House Administration, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 5493) to provide that the usual day for paying
salaries in or under the House of Representatives may be
established by regulations of the Committee on House
Administration, having considered the same, report favorably
thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
Committee Action
On April 2, 2008, the Committee, a quorum being present and
by voice vote, agreed to a motion to report H.R. 5493 favorably
to the House.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee states that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are as follows: The
Committee believes that the prevalence of bi-weekly and semi-
monthly pay periods throughout the Federal Government and the
private sector, requires the House to consider adjusting to its
current practice. In addition, the Committee's oversight
experience with the procurement of off-the-shelf payroll
software to support a once-a-month payroll system, suggests
that adopting a mainstream approach to House staff pay policy
will save money and reduce the need for customization, and the
inevitable complexity that follows. The House will incur a one-
time cost at the startup of any payroll period change, and the
Committee expects it to be provided by appropriation.
Statement of Budget Authority and Related Items
The bill does not provide new budget authority, new
spending authority, new credit authority, or an increase or
decrease in revenues or tax expenditures and a statement under
clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974 is not required.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House, the Committee states, with respect to the bill,
that the Director of the Congressional Budget Office provided a
cost estimate and comparison under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, which is contained herein.
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, April 8, 2008.
Hon. Robert A. Brady,
Chairman, Committee on House Administration,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5493, a bill to
provide that the usual day for paying salaries in or under the
House of Representatives may be established by regulations of
the Committee on House Administration.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Sunshine
(For Peter R. Orszag, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 5493--A bill to provide that the usual day for paying salaries in
or under the House of Representatives may be established by
regulations of the Committee on House Administration
H.R. 5493 would authorize the Committee on House
Administration to change the pay cycle for employees of the
House of Representatives. Assuming that the committee would
promulgate regulations to pay some or all House staff members,
who are currently paid on a monthly basis, on some other
schedule (most likely bi-weekly or semi-monthly), CBO estimates
that one-time costs to purchase required computer systems would
total about $1 million over the next two years, subject to the
availability of appropriations.
Paying staff salaries more often than monthly also could
result in a one-time shift in outlays from one fiscal year to
the next, but CBO estimates that any such change would be small
and would not affect spending significantly in fiscal year
2008. Enacting H.R. 5493 would not affect direct spending or
revenues. The bill would only apply to employees paid by the
House; payments to Members would not be affected.
H.R. 5493 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states, with respect to clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House, that the general
discussion section of this report includes a statement of the
general performance goals and objectives, including outcome-
related goals and objectives, for which H.R. 5493 authorizes a
pay-cycle change and any attendant requirement for funding.
Record Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House, with respect to each record vote on a motion to
report H.R. 5493, and on any amendment offered to the
resolution, there were no record votes on the motion to report
the bill or on any amendment offered to the bill.
Earmark Provisions
H.R. 5493 does not include any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.
General Discussion
On April 2, 2008, the Committee by voice vote, with a
quorum present, ordered H.R. 5493 favorably reported to the
House.
The Committee has received and reviewed recommendations
from both the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the House
Inspector General (IG). The IG listed various advantages of
converting to a bi-weekly staff pay cycle with a lag as
follows:
Adoption of standardized processes
Consistent revenue stream (about 50% of
current monthly salary up to 2 weeks earlier)
Deferred taxes
Earlier benefits coverage
$57,000 reduction in payroll accounts
receivable (CY2006)
Earlier W-2 processing and year-end balancing
possible
Overtime arrears could be eliminated
Disadvantages included:
Implementation costs
One-time employee resubmission of forms
regarding tax withholding, TSP loans, additional W-4
withholdings, and direct deposit allocations
One-time employee rescheduling of EFT
deductions
Continued general ledger reconciliation
monthly requirement
Bi-weekly pay frequency with a lag appears to have the
greater number of long-term advantages, including the reduction
or elimination of custom reports, optimal data entry and error
corrections periods, reduction in labor intensive retroactive
transactions, and distribution of personnel actions more evenly
throughout the month. The IG estimates that the process of
business process engineering will take between a year and 15
months, including the design, testing, and implementation of a
bi-weekly staff pay cycle.
A one-time implementation cost will likely be offset by
future operational savings in the Finance Office, including the
reduction of errors and the remedial costs of corrections.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
SECTION 116 OF THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002
Sec. 116. (a) Day for Paying Salaries of the House of
Representatives.--The usual day for paying salaries in or under
the House of Representatives shall be the last day of each
month, except that if the last day of a month falls on a
Saturday, Sunday, or a legal public holiday, the Chief
Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives shall
pay such salaries on the first weekday which precedes the last
day. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, the Committee on
House Administration may by regulation provide for the payment
of salaries with respect to a month on a date other than the
date provided under the previous sentence as may be necessary
to conform to generally accepted accounting practices.
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