Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act

Subjects: Government Operations and Politics


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1235 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1235

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for pay equality and 
   the more accurate computation of retirement benefits for certain 
    firefighters employed by the Federal Government, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 28, 2023

 Mr. Connolly introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
               Committee on Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for pay equality and 
   the more accurate computation of retirement benefits for certain 
    firefighters employed by the Federal Government, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSES.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Federal 
Firefighter Pay Equity Act''.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to improve pay equality between Federal firefighters, 
        other Federal employees, and municipal and other public sector 
        firefighters;
            (2) to enhance recruitment and retention of firefighters in 
        order to maintain the highest quality of Federal fire service;
            (3) to include the pay of all regularly reoccurring 
        scheduled hours during the firefighter workweek when computing 
        such retirement benefits of firefighters; and
            (4) to establish the regular workweek for Federal 
        firefighters.

SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF PAY.

    Section 5545b(c)(1)(B) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
by striking ``2756'' and inserting ``2087''.

SEC. 3. COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY BASED ON CERTAIN FIREFIGHTER SERVICE.

    (a) In General.--Section 5545b of title 5, United States Code, as 
amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(e) For purposes of any determination of `average pay' under 
section 8331(4) or 8401(3), in the case of a firefighter who is subject 
to subsection (b), the rate of basic pay in effect for such firefighter 
for a year of creditable service (or, in the case of an annuity under 
subsection (d) or (e)(1) of section 8341 or under chapter 84 based on 
less than 3 years of creditable service, for any other period of 
creditable service) shall, in addition to the amount determined under 
subsection (b) for such year (or other period), include an amount equal 
to one-half the firefighter's basic hourly rate (as computed under 
subsection (b)(1)(A)) for such year (or other period) times the number 
of overtime hours included as part of such firefighter's regular tour 
of duty during such year (or other period).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Sections 8331(4) and 8401(3) of title 
5, United States Code, are amended by striking the semicolon at the end 
and inserting ``, subject to section 5545b(e);''.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A MAXIMUM HOURS OF FEDERAL FIREFIGHTERS' 
              REGULAR WORKWEEK.

    Section 5545b of title 5, United States Code, as amended by section 
3, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Not later than one year after the date of enactment of the 
Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act, the Office of Personnel Management 
shall prescribe regulations establishing the maximum number of 
regularly reoccurring hours which comprise a workweek for a firefighter 
covered by this section. The maximum number of such hours shall not 
exceed an average of 60 hours per week.''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to any 
annuity entitlement to which is based on a separation from service 
occurring after the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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