SEC pay raise proposal limited to certain employees

The Securities and Exchange Commission signaled Wednesday it views as unsatisfactory an agreement reached late Tuesday that would limit special pay increases to certain groups of employees.

"We will continue our effort to work toward the goal of pay parity," an SEC spokesman told CongressDaily.

The agreement between House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, and Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., marked the conclusion of week-long negotiations between the two offices, which had squared off over a provision in pending securities legislation providing a pay raise for SEC employees commensurate with those of other financial regulatory agencies.

The legislation is scheduled for floor action Thursday.

The SEC had endorsed the bill as reported by the Financial Services Committee, as well as a Senate-passed bill that providing pay increases for all SEC employees.

However, the House compromise provides targeted relief for some categories of SEC employees, including accountants, lawyers and securities examiners. Moreover, it does not apply to anyone employed with the agency for less than two years.

Burton had argued that the blanket pay raise advocated in the original House was not justified. A Government Reform spokesman today said Burton is "satisfied" with the compromise, which also gives the SEC authority to petition the Office of Personnel Management for pay raises for the balance of employees not covered by the agreement.

However, the proposal has angered other members, including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm, R-Texas, whose committee approved more comprehensive relief.

"Members of the Senate Banking Committee think there should be top-to-bottom pay parity for SEC employees," a Gramm spokeswoman said today. "There shouldn't be this attempt to peel out certain professions and classes of employees."

An Oxley spokeswoman defended the agreement, saying it was targeted to address the SEC's concern that it is losing its top personnel to better paying jobs.

A Democratic source criticized the deal, saying: "There were ... solutions out there that made sense. What Oxley came up with is completely unworkable."

Sources on both sides of the aisle said the changes to the House bill likely would require a conference committee be convened to reconcile the differences.