I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3272 

To provide for a demonstration project under which a basic housing allowance 

will be afforded to Federal law enforcement officers serving in highcost areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 13, 2005 

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Government Reform 

A BILL 

To provide for a demonstration project under which a basic 

housing allowance will be afforded to Federal law enforcement officers serving in high-cost areas, and for 

other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Project to Protect 

5 America Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 
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1 (1) the current system of compensation for 

2 Federal law enforcement officers (hereinafter in this 

3 section referred to as ‘‘FLEOs’’) must be reformed 

4 in order to deal with recruitment, retention, and mo5 rale problems associated with assignments to high6 cost areas; 

7 (2) as the Office of Personnel Management has 

8 confirmed, limitations on premium pay are contrib9 uting to the pay compression problem which, in 

10 turn, may be undermining the efficacy of incentives 

11 designed to encourage FLEOs to assume greater su12 pervisory and managerial duties; 

13 (3) the security of the Nation, as the 9–11 

14 Commission Report confirmed, depends on effective 

15 Federal law enforcement; this is particularly true of 

16 large metropolitan areas, which should be staffed 

17 with FLEOs who are fairly compensated for their 

18 services; 

19 (4) the combination of rising living costs and 

20 lagging compensation threatens to worsen the sig21 nificant recruitment and retention problems already 

22 facing Federal law enforcement agencies; 

23 (5) the problems described in paragraph (4) are 

24 especially serious among law enforcement officers of 

25 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who are re-
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1 cruited and subject to assignment nationwide, and, 

2 upon assignment, are expected to adjust rapidly; but 

3 who, particularly in the case of those assigned to 

4 high-cost areas, often experience significant difficul5 ties in finding adequate and affordable housing; and 

6 (6) the Office of Personnel Management should 

7 experiment with innovative approaches to addressing 

8 compensation problems in the Federal workforce 

9 and, in the case of FLEOs, should look to the De10 partment of Defense as a model for providing a rea11 sonable housing allowance to assist those assigned to 

12 high-cost areas. 

13 SEC. 3. HOUSING ALLOWANCE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Personnel Manage15 ment shall provide for a demonstration project under 

16 which eligible employees will be paid a basic housing allow17 ance. 

18 (b) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of this 

19 Act, the term ‘‘eligible employee’’ means an employee who 

20 holds a position that— 

21 (1) is in or under the Federal Bureau of Inves22 tigation; 

23 (2)(A) is classified under chapter 51 of title 5, 

24 United States Code, as a GS–1811 position; or 
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1 (B) if the GS–1811 classification is redesig2 nated or abolished or the qualification requirements 

3 for the GS–1811 classification are modified after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, meets the qualifica5 tion requirements for the GS–1811 classification ei6 ther as then currently in effect or as in effect on 

7 such date of enactment; and 

8 (3) is within a high-cost area. 

9 Such term does not include an employee who is serving 

10 on a temporary basis or a part-time career employment 

11 basis (within the meaning of section 3401 of such title 

12 5) or who is a reemployed annuitant (within the meaning 

13 of section 8344 or 8468 of such title 5). 

14 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH-COST AREAS.— 

15 (1) CRITERIA.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—An area shall, with re17 spect to any calendar year, be considered to be 

18 a high-cost area for purposes of this Act if, 

19 with respect to the calendar year last ending 

20 before the start of such fiscal year— 

21 (i) the average monthly housing costs 

22 for that area exceeded the average monthly 

23 housing costs for the continental United 

24 States by at least 10 percent (the dollar 

25 amount of that difference hereinafter in 
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1 this Act referred to as the ‘‘housing cost 

2 differential’’); or 

3 (ii) such area was one of the 10 areas 

4 within the continental United States hav5 ing the highest cost of living (identified in 

6 such manner as the Office of Personnel 

7 Management shall determine) and for 

8 which average monthly housing costs ex9 ceeded the average monthly housing costs 

10 for the continental United States. 

11 (B) SAME DIFFERENTIAL COMPUTATION

12 RULE APPLIES.—The housing cost differential 

13 for any area identified under subparagraph 

14 (A)(ii) shall be determined in the same manner 

15 as described in subparagraph (A)(i), but dis16 regarding the 10-percent requirement. 

17 (2) ANNUAL DETERMINATIONS.—In order to 

18 carry out this subsection, the Office of Personnel 

19 Management shall (for each fiscal year during which 

20 the demonstration project remains in operation) 

21 identify which areas satisfy paragraph (1). 

22 (3) COSTS OF ADEQUATE HOUSING.—Deter23 minations of monthly housing costs under this sub24 section shall be based on the costs of renting ade25 quate housing typically borne by individuals residing 
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1 within the area involved who have income levels com2 parable to those of eligible employees within the 

3 same area (taking into account, with respect to eligi4 ble employees, only amounts payable to such employ5 ees under title 5, United States Code). 

6 (4) DEFINITION OF AN AREA.—For purposes of 

7 this section, the term ‘‘area’’ means a metropolitan 

8 statistical area within the continental United States. 

9 (d) BASIC HOUSING ALLOWANCE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Personnel 

11 Management shall prescribe the basic housing allow12 ance payable to eligible employees within each area 

13 that has been identified under subsection (c) as a 

14 high-cost area for purposes of the fiscal year in15 volved. 

16 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of the basic hous17 ing allowance for each high-cost area shall be equal 

18 to such amount as the Office of Personnel Manage19 ment shall determine, except that— 

20 (A) determinations under this paragraph 

21 shall be made in a manner based on section 

22 403(b) of title 37, United States Code (relating 

23 to basic allowance for housing for members of 

24 the uniformed services); and 
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1 (B) in no event may any such amount be 

2 less than the housing cost differential deter3 mined under subsection (c) for the area and fis4 cal year involved. 

5 (3) MANNER OF PAYMENT.—A basic housing 

6 allowance shall be payable at the same time and in 

7 the same manner as basic pay. 

8 (4) NONREDUCTION RULE.—Notwithstanding 

9 any other provision of this Act, the basic housing al10 lowance payable to an individual who continuously 

11 remains an eligible employee within the same high12 cost area may not be reduced by reason of any fluc13 tuations in housing costs. 

14 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

15 Act shall be considered to permit or require any re16 duction in basic pay by reason of an individual’s eli17 gibility for or receipt of a basic housing allowance. 

18 (e) APPLICABILITY OF PROVISIONS GOVERNING

19 DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS GENERALLY.—The dem20 onstration project shall be conducted in accordance with 

21 section 4703 of title 5, United States Code, except that 

22 such project shall not be subject to the provisions of sub23 section (d)(1) thereof and shall not be taken into account 

24 for purposes of applying the numerical limitation under 

25 subsection (d)(2) thereof. 
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1 (f) DURATION.—The demonstration project— 

2 (1) shall be conducted over the 5-year period 

3 beginning on the first day of the first fiscal year be4 ginning at least 30 days after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act; and 

6 (2) may, subject to the availability of appropria7 tions, be extended for one or more additional 12- 

8 month periods after the end of the 5-year period re9 ferred to in paragraph (1). 

10 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 

11 days after the date on which the demonstration project 

12 terminates, the Office of Personnel Management shall sub13 mit to Congress a report on such project, together with 

14 recommendations for any legislation that the Office con15 siders appropriate. Such report shall specifically address 

16 the effect of the housing allowance on employee retention, 

17 recruitment, and morale, and shall be based on appro18 priate data as well as comments received from manage19 ment officials, employees, and other interested persons (in20 cluding professional associations representing employees). 

21 (h) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec22 tion— 

23 (1) the term ‘‘employee’’ has the meaning given 

24 such term by section 2105 of title 5, United States 

25 Code; 
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1 (2) the term ‘‘management official’’ has the 

2 meaning given such term by section 7103 of such 

3 title 5; and 

4 (3) the term ‘‘continental United States’’ means 

5 the several States and the District of Columbia, but 

6 does not include Alaska or Hawaii. 

7 SEC. 4. EXCLUSION FROM LIMITATION ON PREMIUM PAY. 

8 Section 5547 of title 5, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘5545a,’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘or 5545a,’’; 

12 and 

13 (3) in subsection (d), by striking the period and 

14 inserting ‘‘or a criminal investigator who is paid 

15 availability pay under section 5545a.’’. 

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