No deal yet on SEC request for pay hike

Notwithstanding reports of a deal, staff for both the House Financial Services and Government Reform committees Monday said no agreement had been reached in the stalemate over a salary increase request by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A bill is slated to come before the House Wednesday that would reduce the fees investors must pay to the SEC, while also increasing the salaries paid to agency employees.

House Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., has balked at the latter provision, claiming the SEC had failed to justify its need for a raise.

The bill is under the primary jurisdiction of the Financial Services Committee, which has been championing the SEC's "pay parity" cause.

Early last week, Burton's staff reported a deal was in the offing among the two committees, that involved the SEC coming before Congress and the Office of Personnel Management to make their case for a raise, but Financial Services Committee staff quickly denied that was the case.

A Financial Services Committee spokeswoman today said there are "a couple of options, a permutation of those options" still on the table.