Legislation proposed to upgrade federal officers' status
Officers in more than 24 agencies would receive the full benefits of law enforcement officers.
A bill pending in Congress would upgrade the status of about 30,000 federal officers in more than two dozen agencies, allowing them to receive full law enforcement benefits and retirement.
The primary beneficiaries of the bill would be inspectors and officers in the Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureaus, whose duties include investigating and apprehending people and who are authorized to carry a gun. Internal Revenue Service revenue officers and police officers in the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments and the U.S. Mint would also be covered by the legislation.
The intent of the legislation is to allow federal officers with law enforcement responsibilities to receive the same retirement benefits as law enforcement officers. A law enforcement officer can retire after 20 years of service if they are 50 years old, or at any time if they have served for at least 25 years.
The Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act (H.R. 1002) is awaiting action in the House Government Reform Committee with the support of 109 co-sponsors.
Spokesman Drew Crockett said the committee is working on a broad reform measure for law enforcement officer pay and classification. No action has been taken on the Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act, because the committee's chairman, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., and committee member Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., plan to introduce a bill incorporating various aspects of the legislation by the end of the year.
The legislation revises the definition of law enforcement officer under provisions in the Federal Employees Retirement System and the Civil Service Retirement System. Officers covered by the legislation would receive higher pay and be eligible for retirement earlier.
When similar legislation was first announced in 2003, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., said on the House floor that many of the inspectors and officers are called law enforcement officers only when "they are killed in the line of duty … and that is a tragic irony."
Filner was referring to the fact that federal officers killed in the line of duty have their names engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington.
Charles Showalter, president of the American Federation of Government Employees' National Homeland Security Council said the bill was necessary for CBP and ICE to continue to recruiting officers. He estimated that about 18,000 CBP inspectors would be affected by the legislation.
"They wear the uniform, they carry the gun, they make the arrest, they testify in court, they put [themselves] in harm's way and protect the public interest," Showalter said. "These guys put their butts on the line every day."
Showalter said an agency might spend $200,000 training officers at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, only to see them leave for the U.S. Marshals Service or state and local agencies so they can receive full law enforcement benefits.
A spokesperson for CBP and ICE said they could not comment on pending legislation.