FBI agents push for separate law enforcement pay system

A professional association that includes nearly 10,000 FBI agents is aggressively pushing for a separate pay system for federal law enforcement officers, according to the group's president. Pay compression within the Senior Executive Service and "out-of-whack" locality pay rates for FBI agents are reviving the effort to create a separate pay structure for federal law enforcement officers, according to Nancy Savage, president of the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) and John Sennett, the association's outgoing president. The idea of creating a separate pay system for law enforcement officers originated in the late 1980s and gained strong support in the last years of the first Bush administration. In 1993, OPM recommended creating a law enforcement job evaluation and pay system that was separate, but still linked to the General Schedule. The proposal was put on the back burner during the government downsizing of the 1990s. According to Sennett, FBIAA is again taking up the cause. The group is seeking a new pay structure for those law enforcement officials with "badges and guns," including FBI section chiefs, special agents in charge, and anyone else who falls under the General Schedule's 1811 job series. That series includes criminal investigators at various federal agencies. Savage and Sennett said that the FBIAA has been working over the past year to gather support for a separate law enforcement pay system within the executive branch, meeting with officials from the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management. Savage and Sennett both said OMB had been receptive to reviving the idea of establishing a separate pay system for law enforcement officials. According to Savage and Sennett, the growing problems with the federal pay system and with pay compression at the upper levels of government show the need for a new system. "There are problems with the federal personnel system and pay in general across government," said Savage. "But a lot of people believe that law enforcement does not meet the normal parameters of civil service in terms of pay and retirement." Federal law enforcement officers, and FBI agents in particular, are often called upon to put their lives in danger and transfer to different locations throughout their careers-factors that do not apply to the majority of federal employees, Savage said. A pay system that does not match the needs of law enforcement does not provide much incentive for agents to stay with the FBI for the better part of their careers, she said. The prevailing locality pay rates for FBI agents have not kept pace with the standard of living in many cities, according to Savage. For example, under the current federal pay system, law enforcement officers living in Houston and San Francisco make roughly the same salary, even though the cost of living in San Francisco is much higher. A GS-13, Step 1 in Houston makes $66,899, while an employee at the same grade in San Francisco receives $67,082-a difference of $183. Sennett said FBI personnel are "astonished" at the locality pay rates between the two cities. FBI officials have repeatedly asked Congress over the past decade for more flexibility and authority in setting pay for FBI agents. But Sennett and Savage said establishing a separate pay structure just for the FBI would not effectively address the inequities in locality pay, and would give FBI directors too much authority to adjust pay on an ad hoc basis. Sennett said including other federal law enforcement officers in a separate pay system for federal law enforcement officers would strengthen their case for better locality pay. "We think it would be hard politically if we tried to create a more generous pay system for the FBI, while leaving behind the Secret Service and the [Bureau of] Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, for example," he said. "Our chances are much better if other law enforcement components are included."