The latest legislation

Since the second session of the 107th Congress kicked off last month, members of the House and Senate have introduced six bills affecting federal pay and benefits. The bills, dealing with everything from employee shuttle buses to compensation for the victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, join several dozen pieces of pay and benefits legislation already proposed. Most pay and benefits bills don't make it into law the first time they are proposed. Many languish for years without any action. But eventually, some make it through into law, such as the frequent flier miles benefit that Congress bestowed on federal employees last year. Here are summaries of the six new bills that have entered the legislative fray.

• H.R. 3779 would allow federal agencies to provide shuttle bus services for employees who need transportation between mass transit facilities and agency buildings. Many agencies have shuttles that travel between government facilities, but current law prevents the shuttles from taking employees to and from subway stations and other mass transit stops. The bill's sponsors are Rep. Connie Morella, R-Md., Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.
• S. 1934 would restore annual cost-of-living increases to the pensions of U.S. Park Police and Secret Service retirees who lost the increases in 2000. About 1,100 retirees would be affected. The bill's sponsors are Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
• S. 1935 would provide law enforcement benefits to inspectors and canine enforcement officers at the Customs Service and Immigration and Naturalization Service and to revenue officers at the Internal Revenue Service. A key benefit is the right to retire after 20 years of service. The bill's sponsors are Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
• H.R. 3722 would include more outlying counties in the definitions of metropolitan areas used by the Office of Personnel Management to determine locality pay. If federal employees work in counties that become part of the metropolitan areas that receive special locality pay rates, the employees would be eligible for locality pay rates rather than the lower pay rate available to employees outside key metropolitan areas. The bill's sponsor is Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa.
• S. 1913 would create an exchange program for federal information technology managers. The managers would be permitted to work for private sector firms for one year without losing their federal status. Private sector managers could also work for federal agencies. The exchange would improve federal technology management, according to its sponsor, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.
• H.R. 3633 would provide compensation to the victims of the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City under the same rules used to compensate the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The bill is sponsored by Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio.