II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1399

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide that pay adjustments

for nurses and certain other health-care professionals employed by the

Department of Veterans Affairs shall be made in the manner applicable

to Federal employees generally and to revise the authority for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make further locality pay adjustments

for those professionals.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 20, 1999

Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. DODD, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. REID,

Mrs. BOXER, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr.

WELLSTONE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide that

pay adjustments for nurses and certain other healthcare professionals employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs shall be made in the manner applicable

to Federal employees generally and to revise the authority for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make further

locality pay adjustments for those professionals.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet3 erans Affairs Nurses Appreciation Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. REVISED AUTHORITY FOR ADJUSTMENT OF BASIC

5 PAY FOR NURSES AND CERTAIN OTHER

6 HEALTH-CARE PROFESSIONALS OF THE DE7 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

8 (a) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS UNDER TITLE 5.—Sec9 tion 7451 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

10 (1) by striking subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g);

11 and

12 (2) by adding after subsection (c) the following

13 new subsection (d):

14 ‘‘(d) The rates of basic pay for each grade in a cov15 ered position shall (notwithstanding subsection (a)(3)(A))

16 be adjusted annually by the same percentages as the rates

17 of pay under the General Schedule are adjusted pursuant

18 to sections 5303 and 5304 of title 5. Adjustments under

19 this subsection shall be effective on the same date as the

20 annual adjustments made in accordance with such sections

21 5303 and 5304.’’.

22 (b) REVISED TITLE 38 LOCALITY PAY AUTHOR23 ITY.—Such section is further amended by adding after

24 subsection (d), as added by subsection (a) of this section,

25 the following new subsection (e):
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1 ‘‘(e)(1) Whenever after October 1, 2002, the Sec2 retary determines that the rates of basic pay in effect for

3 a grade of a covered position, as most recently adjusted

4 under subsection (d), at a given Department health-care

5 facility are inadequate to recruit or retain high-quality

6 personnel in that grade at that facility, the Secretary shall

7 in accordance with this subsection adjust the rates of basic

8 pay for that grade at that facility.

9 ‘‘(2) An adjustment in rates of basic pay for a grade

10 under this subsection shall be made by determining a min11 imum rate of basic pay for the grade and then adjusting

12 the other rates of basic pay for the grade to conform to

13 the requirements of subsection (c).

14 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary shall determine a minimum

15 rate of basic pay for a grade for purposes of paragraph

16 (2) so as to achieve consistency between the rates of basic

17 pay for the grade at the facility concerned and the rates

18 of compensation in the Bureau of Labor Statistics labor

19 market in which the facility is located for non-Department

20 health-care positions requiring education, training, and ex21 perience that is equivalent or similar to the education,

22 training, and experience required for Department per23 sonnel in the grade at the facility.

24 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall utilize the most current in25 dustry-wage survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for
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1 a labor market in meeting the objective specified in sub2 paragraph (A).

3 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘rate

4 of compensation’, with respect to health-care positions in

5 non-Department health-care facilities, means the sum of—

6 ‘‘(i) the rate of pay for personnel in such posi7 tions; and

8 ‘‘(ii) any employee benefits (other than benefits

9 similar to benefits received by employees in the cov10 ered position concerned) for those health-care posi11 tions to the extent that such employee benefits are

12 reasonably quantifiable.

13 ‘‘(4) An adjustment under this subsection may not

14 reduce any rate of basic pay.

15 ‘‘(5) An adjustment in rates of basic pay under this

16 subsection shall take effect on the first day of the first

17 pay period beginning after the date on which the adjust18 ment is made.

19 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations pro20 viding for the adjustment of rates of basic pay for employ21 ees in covered positions in the Central and Regional Of22 fices in order to assure the recruitment and retention of

23 high-quality personnel in such positions in such offices.

24 The regulations shall provide for such adjustment in a
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1 manner similar to the adjustment of rates of basic pay

2 under this subsection.’’.

3 (c) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS IN INCREASED RATES OF

4 BASIC PAY.—Section 7455 of such title is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘and (d)’’

6 and inserting ‘‘(d), and (e)’’; and

7 (2) by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(e) Whenever an annual adjustment in rates of basic

9 pay under sections 5303 and 5304 of title 5 becomes effec10 tive on or after the effective date of an increase in rates

11 of basic pay under this section, the rates of basic pay as

12 so increased under this section shall be adjusted in accord13 ance with appropriate conversion rules prescribed under

14 section 5305(f) of title 5, effective as of the effective date

15 of such annual adjustment in rates of basic pay.’’.

16 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (c)(1)

17 of section 7451 of such title is amended by striking the

18 third sentence.

19 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

20 this section shall take effect on October 1, 1999.

21 SEC. 3. SAVINGS PROVISION.

22 In the case of an employee of the Veterans Health

23 Administration who on the day before the effective date

24 of the amendment made by section 2(a) is receiving a rate

25 of pay by reason of the second sentence of section 7451(e)
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1 of title 38, United States Code, as in effect on that day,

2 the provisions of the second and third sentences of that

3 section, as in effect on that day, shall continue to apply

4 to that employee, notwithstanding the amendment made

5 by section 2(a).

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