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[House Report 110-588]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     110-588

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PROVIDING THAT THE USUAL DAY FOR PAYING SALARIES IN OR UNDER THE HOUSE 
 OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY BE ESTABLISHED BY REGULATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE 
                        ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION

                                _______
                                

 April 14, 2008.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on House Administration, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5493]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on House Administration, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 5493) to provide that the usual day for paying 
salaries in or under the House of Representatives may be 
established by regulations of the Committee on House 
Administration, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                            Committee Action

    On April 2, 2008, the Committee, a quorum being present and 
by voice vote, agreed to a motion to report H.R. 5493 favorably 
to the House.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee states that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are as follows: The 
Committee believes that the prevalence of bi-weekly and semi-
monthly pay periods throughout the Federal Government and the 
private sector, requires the House to consider adjusting to its 
current practice. In addition, the Committee's oversight 
experience with the procurement of off-the-shelf payroll 
software to support a once-a-month payroll system, suggests 
that adopting a mainstream approach to House staff pay policy 
will save money and reduce the need for customization, and the 
inevitable complexity that follows. The House will incur a one-
time cost at the startup of any payroll period change, and the 
Committee expects it to be provided by appropriation.

            Statement of Budget Authority and Related Items

    The bill does not provide new budget authority, new 
spending authority, new credit authority, or an increase or 
decrease in revenues or tax expenditures and a statement under 
clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 is not required.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House, the Committee states, with respect to the bill, 
that the Director of the Congressional Budget Office provided a 
cost estimate and comparison under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, which is contained herein.

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, April 8, 2008.
Hon. Robert A. Brady,
Chairman, Committee on House Administration,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5493, a bill to 
provide that the usual day for paying salaries in or under the 
House of Representatives may be established by regulations of 
the Committee on House Administration.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                         Robert A. Sunshine
                                   (For Peter R. Orszag, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 5493--A bill to provide that the usual day for paying salaries in 
        or under the House of Representatives may be established by 
        regulations of the Committee on House Administration

    H.R. 5493 would authorize the Committee on House 
Administration to change the pay cycle for employees of the 
House of Representatives. Assuming that the committee would 
promulgate regulations to pay some or all House staff members, 
who are currently paid on a monthly basis, on some other 
schedule (most likely bi-weekly or semi-monthly), CBO estimates 
that one-time costs to purchase required computer systems would 
total about $1 million over the next two years, subject to the 
availability of appropriations.
    Paying staff salaries more often than monthly also could 
result in a one-time shift in outlays from one fiscal year to 
the next, but CBO estimates that any such change would be small 
and would not affect spending significantly in fiscal year 
2008. Enacting H.R. 5493 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues. The bill would only apply to employees paid by the 
House; payments to Members would not be affected.
    H.R. 5493 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

         Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states, with respect to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House, that the general 
discussion section of this report includes a statement of the 
general performance goals and objectives, including outcome-
related goals and objectives, for which H.R. 5493 authorizes a 
pay-cycle change and any attendant requirement for funding.

                              Record Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House, with respect to each record vote on a motion to 
report H.R. 5493, and on any amendment offered to the 
resolution, there were no record votes on the motion to report 
the bill or on any amendment offered to the bill.

                           Earmark Provisions

    H.R. 5493 does not include any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.

                           General Discussion

    On April 2, 2008, the Committee by voice vote, with a 
quorum present, ordered H.R. 5493 favorably reported to the 
House.
    The Committee has received and reviewed recommendations 
from both the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the House 
Inspector General (IG). The IG listed various advantages of 
converting to a bi-weekly staff pay cycle with a lag as 
follows:
         Adoption of standardized processes
         Consistent revenue stream (about 50% of 
        current monthly salary up to 2 weeks earlier)
         Deferred taxes
         Earlier benefits coverage
         $57,000 reduction in payroll accounts 
        receivable (CY2006)
         Earlier W-2 processing and year-end balancing 
        possible
         Overtime arrears could be eliminated
    Disadvantages included:
         Implementation costs
         One-time employee resubmission of forms 
        regarding tax withholding, TSP loans, additional W-4 
        withholdings, and direct deposit allocations
         One-time employee rescheduling of EFT 
        deductions
         Continued general ledger reconciliation 
        monthly requirement
    Bi-weekly pay frequency with a lag appears to have the 
greater number of long-term advantages, including the reduction 
or elimination of custom reports, optimal data entry and error 
corrections periods, reduction in labor intensive retroactive 
transactions, and distribution of personnel actions more evenly 
throughout the month. The IG estimates that the process of 
business process engineering will take between a year and 15 
months, including the design, testing, and implementation of a 
bi-weekly staff pay cycle.
    A one-time implementation cost will likely be offset by 
future operational savings in the Finance Office, including the 
reduction of errors and the remedial costs of corrections.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

     SECTION 116 OF THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

  Sec. 116. (a) Day for Paying Salaries of the House of 
Representatives.--The usual day for paying salaries in or under 
the House of Representatives shall be the last day of each 
month, except that if the last day of a month falls on a 
Saturday, Sunday, or a legal public holiday, the Chief 
Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives shall 
pay such salaries on the first weekday which precedes the last 
day. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, the Committee on 
House Administration may by regulation provide for the payment 
of salaries with respect to a month on a date other than the 
date provided under the previous sentence as may be necessary 
to conform to generally accepted accounting practices.

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