I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5171 

To remove cost-of-living adjustments and locality adjustment payments from 

the calculation of certain limits on the pay of Federal employees, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 8, 2023 

Ms. NORTON (for herself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. IVEY, Mr. RASKIN, and Mr. 

TRONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and in addition to the Committee 

on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To remove cost-of-living adjustments and locality adjustment 

payments from the calculation of certain limits on the 

pay of Federal employees, 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 ‘‘Federal Employee Pay 

5 Compression Relief Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL EMPLOYEE COLA AND LOCALITY ADJUST2 MENT PAY CAP REMOVAL. 

3 (a) TITLE 5.—Title 5, United States Code, is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in section 5303, by amending subsection (f) 

6 to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(f) Adjustments to the basic pay of an employee or 

8 for a position under this section shall be disregarded when 

9 determining if the pay of such employee or for such posi10 tion exceeds a limit established under this title on the total 

11 or maximum of such pay.’’; 

12 (2) in section 5304— 

13 (A) by striking subsection (g); and 

14 (B) by redesignating subsections (h) and 

15 (i) as subsections (g) and (h), respectively; 

16 (3) in section 5305(g)— 

17 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘(1) The benefit’’ and in19 serting ‘‘The benefit’’; and 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2) and’’; 

21 (4) in section 5306, by striking subsection (e); 

22 (5) in section 5307(a)(2)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; 

24 or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

25 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

26 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’ ; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

2 subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(D) section 5304.’’; 

4 (6) in section 5372(b)(4)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘Subject to paragraph (1)’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘(A) Subject to paragraph (1) 

7 and except as provided by subparagraph (B)’’; 

8 and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

10 subparagraph: 

11 ‘‘(B) For the purposes of determining whether 

12 the rate of basic pay for an administrative law judge 

13 meets the maximum rate of basic pay payable under 

14 paragraph (1), any adjustments under subparagraph 

15 (A) and any locality-based comparability payment 

16 under section 5304 or similar payment shall be ex17 cluded from the rate of basic pay of the administra18 tive law judge.’’; 

19 (7) in section 5373— 

20 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(includ21 ing any portion of such pay attributable to com22 parability with private-sector pay in a locality)’’; 

23 and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

25 subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) Any annual pay adjustment under section 5303 

2 or similar adjustment and any locality-based comparability 

3 payment under section 5304 or similar payment shall be 

4 excluded from— 

5 ‘‘(1) the annual rate of basic pay for a position 

6 or employee for the purposes of subsection (a); and 

7 ‘‘(2) the pay of a civilian employee paid from 

8 nonappropriated funds for the purposes of sub9 section (b).’’; 

10 (8) in section 5376(b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

13 after ‘‘Executive Schedule’’ the following: 

14 ‘‘, except that for the purpose of applying 

15 such limitation, the rate of basic pay for a 

16 position to which this section applies does 

17 not include any adjustments under para18 graph (2) or any locality-based com19 parability payment under section 5304 or 

20 similar payment’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘5306(e) or’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Subject 

23 to paragraph (1), effective’’ and inserting ‘‘Ef24 fective’’; 

25 (9) in section 5377(d)(2) is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Basic pay’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(A) Basic pay’’; and 

3 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

4 subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(B) For the purposes of subparagraph 

6 (A), the rate of basic pay fixed under this sec7 tion shall exclude any annual pay adjustment 

8 under section 5303 or similar adjustment and 

9 any locality-based comparability payment under 

10 section 5304 or similar payment, including any 

11 changes in the basic rate of pay for a position 

12 made under the authority of this section to ac13 count for such an adjustment or payment that 

14 would have applied to such position if this sec15 tion had never been enacted.’’; and 

16 (10) in section 5382— 

17 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘5306(e) 

18 or’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

20 subsection: 

21 ‘‘(d) For the purposes of determining the highest rate 

22 of basic pay payable for a position under this section, the 

23 rate of basic pay for such position shall exclude the per24 centage of the pay of such position that is equal to the 

25 percentage by which the pay of such position would inVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Aug 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5171.IH H5171

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1 crease if, without regard to any limitation on the max2 imum rate of basic pay for such position, such position 

3 was eligible for a locality-based comparability payment 

4 under section 5304 in the same manner as a position 

5 under the General Schedule that is in the same locality 

6 and eligible for such a payment.’’. 

7 (b) MILITARY PERSONNEL.—Section 203(a) of title 

8 37, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of determining the high11 est rate of basic pay payable for an officer or en12 listed member under paragraph (2), the rate of basic 

13 pay for such officer or enlisted member shall ex14 clude— 

15 ‘‘(A) any annual pay adjustment under 

16 section 1009 or similar adjustment; and 

17 ‘‘(B) any locality-based comparability pay18 ment under section 5304 of title 5 or similar 

19 payment.’’. 

20 (c) OTHER PAY AUTHORITIES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro22 vided in paragraph (2) and notwithstanding any 

23 other provision of law, when determining if the pay 

24 of the employee meets a Federal pay limit, the fol25 lowing shall be disregarded: 


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1 (A) Any portion of the basic pay of the 

2 employee that is attributable to an annual pay 

3 adjustment under section 5303 of title 5, 

4 United States Code, or a similar adjustment. 

5 (B) Any portion of the basic pay of the 

6 employee that is attributable to a locality-based 

7 comparability payment under section 5304 of 

8 title 5, United States Code, or a similar pay9 ment. 

10 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) does not 

11 apply with respect to a Federal pay limit to the ex12 tent otherwise provided in— 

13 (A) this Act; 

14 (B) the amendments made by this Act; or 

15 (C) a law that excludes the applicability of 

16 paragraph (1) with respect to such Federal pay 

17 limit by specific reference to this subsection. 

18 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 (A) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ 

20 means an individual holding an appointive posi21 tion in the executive branch, other than a posi22 tion in a uniformed service (as such term is de23 fined in section 2101 of title 5, United States 

24 Code). 


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1 (B) FEDERAL PAY LIMIT.—The term 

2 ‘‘Federal pay limit’’ means a limit on the max3 imum or total pay payable to an employee that 

4 is— 

5 (i) determined based on— 

6 (I) a rate of pay, including a 

7 maximum rate of pay, or pay scale es8 tablished by or under title 5, United 

9 States Code; or 

10 (II) the rate of pay established 

11 under section 104 of title 3, United 

12 States Code; and 

13 (ii) established by or pursuant to a 

14 law or regulation. 

15 (C) PAY.—The term ‘‘pay’’ means 

16 amounts paid by the Federal Government to an 

17 employee as compensation for services per18 formed as an employee. 

19 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) Section 733(a)(3)(A) of title 31, United 

21 States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘of title 

22 5’’ the following: ‘‘, except that for the purpose of 

23 applying such limitation on the maximum rate, sub24 section (d) of such section does not apply’’; 


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1 (2) Section 3(b) of title 35, United States Code, 

2 is amended— 

3 (A) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘, in4 cluding any applicable locality-based com5 parability payment that may be authorized 

6 under section 5304(h)(2)(C) of title 5’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘section 

8 5306(e) or’’. 

9 (3) Section 14306(a)(2) of title 40, United 

10 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘, including any 

11 applicable locality-based comparability payment that 

12 may be authorized under section 5304(h)(2)(C) of 

13 title 5)’’. 

14 (4) Section 15301(d)(1) of title 40, United 

15 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘, including any 

16 applicable locality-based comparability payment that 

17 may be authorized under section 5304(h)(2)(C) of 

18 that title’’. 

19 (5) Section 382B(h)(5)(A)(ii) of the Consoli20 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

21 2009aa–1(h)(5)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘, in22 cluding any applicable locality-based comparability 

23 payment that may be authorized under section 

24 5304(h)(2)(C) of that title’’. 


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1 (6) Section 383A(h)(5)(A)(ii) of the Consoli2 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

3 2009bb–1(h)(5)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘, in4 cluding any applicable locality-based comparability 

5 payment that may be authorized under section 

6 5304(h)(2)(C) of that title’’. 

7 (7) Section 141 of the Higher Education Act of 

8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018) is amended— 

9 (A) in subsection (d)(5)(A), by striking ‘‘, 

10 including any applicable locality-based com11 parability payment that may be authorized 

12 under section 5304(h)(2)(B) of such title’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (e)(3)— 

14 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘, 

15 including any applicable locality-based 

16 comparability payment that may be au17 thorized under section 5304(h)(2)(C) of 

18 such title’’; and 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

20 ‘‘, including any applicable locality-based 

21 comparability payment,’’. 

22 (8) Section 436(b) of the Energy Independence 

23 and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17092(b)) is 

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1 cality-based comparability payment that may be au2 thorized under section 5304(h)(2)(C) of that title’’. 

3 (e) ANNUITY SHORTFALLS.—The Secretary of the 

4 Treasury shall pay from the General Fund of the Treasury 

5 into the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund es6 tablished under section 8348 of title 5, United States 

7 Code, the amount determined by the Director of the Office 

8 of Personnel Management to be necessary to reimburse 

9 the Fund for any estimated increase resulting from this 

10 Act or the amendments made by this Act in— 

11 (1) the unfunded liability of the Civil Service 

12 Retirement and Disability Fund (as defined in sec13 tion 8331 of title 5, United States Code); and 

14 (2) the supplemental liability of such Fund (as 

15 defined in section 8401 of title 5, United States 

16 Code). 

Æ 


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