91ST CONGRESS 1st Session

}

SENATE

{

REPORT No. 91-629

AMENDING THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA POLICE AND FIREMEN'S SALARY ACT OF 1958 AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TEACHERS' SALARY ACT OF 1955 TO INCREASE SALARIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

DECEMBER 20, 1969.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. EAGLETON, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2694]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to which was referred the bill (S. 2694) to amend the District of Columbia Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1958 and the District of Columbia Teachers' Salary Act of 1955 to increase salaries, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendment (s) and recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.

The amendments are as follows:

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof new language as a substitute.

Amend the title to read as follows:

An act to amend the District of Columbia Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1958 and the District of Columbia Teachers' Salary Act of 1955 to increase salaries, and for other

purposes.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The bill, as amended by the committee, is divided into three titles: Title I amends the Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1958, as amended, to provide increased salaries and other benefits for officers and members of the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Park Police, the White House Police, and the District of Columbia Fire Department.

Title II amends the act approved August 5, 1955, to fix and regulate the salaries of teachers and other employees of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia.

38-500 0-69

Title III authorizes a special Federal payment to the District of Columbia to partially finance the cost of the legislation through the remainder of fiscal year 1970. The District government has proposed new revenue sources which, if approved by the Congress, would make it possible for it to share part of the fiscal year 1970 costs of the increases and to bear the full cost in fiscal year 1971 and thereafter.

HEARINGS

On August 11, 1969, the Subcommittee on Fiscal Affairs held a public hearing on S. 2694, to increase salaries for District police and firemen. The Commissioner of the District of Columbia appeared with the Assistant Commissioner to propose a substitute bill which provided somewhat smaller increases in the higher grades than S. 2694 and which made the effective date of the raises January 1, 1970, rather than July 1, 1969. Representatives of Local 36, Fire Fighters' Association, representatives of the Policemen's Association of the District of Columbia and the President of the Greater Washington Labor Council, AFL-CIO, testified in favor of the salary schedule contained in S. 2694, as introduced.

A second hearing was held on November 19, 1969, to consider the District government's recommendations on salary increases for teachers and other school employees. Representatives of the District of Columbia Board of Education and the District of Columbia City Council testified in support of the District government's proposal. Washington Teachers' Union representatives appeared in behalf of other legislation (H.R. 14313) which would provide an increase to $8.500 this school year and to $9,500 for the 1970-71 school year.

Following a longstanding practice, the committee has consolidated these proposals into a single salary bill and has added a provision for financing the increases.

TITLE I-POLICE AND FIREMEN SALARY INCREASES

Title I of the reported bill provides:

1. An overall average increase of 12 percent in the salaries of officers and members of the Metropolitan Police Force and the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, the U.S. Park Police and the White House Police. The new schedule would be effective retroactive to the first pay period beginning on or after July 1, 1969.

2. Greater career incentives for employees in salary schedule class 1 by increasing the range between minimum and maximum salaries from the present 16 to 29 percent.

3. A revision of technician ratings by the elimination of technician I and technician II designations as provided by subclasses 1(b) and 1(c) and 2(b) and 2(c) and creation of a single technician rating in new subclasses 1(b) and 2(b). No employee stands to suffer financially from the change but in combining the subclasses, the lower level technician will benefit.

4. Repeal of a provision of Public Law 88-275 which allows a deputy chief to advance to the top longevity step of his classes upon completion of 30 years of continuous service. In making this change, the salaries of individuals who are drawing additional pay under present law are protected.

5. A realinement of the salary schedule by establishing the rank of assistant chief as a separate rank (class 10) rather than a subclass in the same class as the deputy chief, and creation of a single salary class (class 11) for chief of police and fire chief.

6. An increase to $595 in the additional compensation for dog handlers (other than private) in line with the additional compensation granted privates assigned as technicians but working as dog handlers.

7. Continuation of the present method of determining step placement on promotions of technicians and other subclasses other than subclass (a) of a salary class.

NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The effectiveness of any salary schedule is its capacity to recruit qualified individuals in the labor market, retain employees who are giving quality performance and provide a salary which gives employees relative economic security. For the purpose of salary setting for the District of Columbia policemen and firemen, the committee takes the view that:

1. Rates of pay for policemen and firemen must compete favorably with other cities having over 500,000 population and especially with those cities in the eastern half of the United States. In the past, this area has constituted the primary labor market for recruitment of District of Columbia policemen and firemen. In addition, Washington, D.C., by reason of its national and international prominence and the goal of making it a model city, should rank at least in the top quarter among other major cities in salaries paid policemen and firemen.

2. Rates of pay for policemen and firemen should be in reasonable alinement with rates of pay for classified employees of the Federal and District governments who received salary increases averaging 9.1 percent effective July 1, 1969.

3. Rates of pay for District of Columbia policemen and firemen should exceed rates of pay for policemen and firemen in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. This is essential if the District Government is to compete successfully with surrounding jurisdictions which have fewer of the difficulties and hazards of service with the District of Columbia departments.

The committee noted that S. 2694, as introduced, and the District. government's proposal were in agreement with respect to the major areas of pay. However, the District's substitute proposal offers somewhat lower levels in salary classes 4 through 11.

The difference lies in the District's use of comparability with like police and fire jobs in the area and in cities over 500,000 population. By contrast, S. 2694 related salaries to grade levels of the General Schedule for Federal and District civilian employees. The District government advised the committee that it is not opposed to that procedure; however, it did not feel sufficient study had been made of the relationships to justify the higher increases proposed in S. 2694 at this time.

The committee has urged that such a study be made by the District government as soon as possible to determine whether the General Schedule would provide a more suitable guide for setting these salaries than the concept of comparability to like jobs in other major cities.

The last major increase for District of Columbia policemen and firemen was in October 1967 when police and fire entrance salaries were raised from $6,700 to $7,800, and the overall schedule was increased by an average of 9.2 percent. In July 1968, an increase averaging less than 1 percent increased the entrance rate to $8,000 and brought the total average increase for the 1967-68 period to 10.1 percent.

Table 1, which shows the change in annual salaries by region and size of city, indicates that this 10.1 percent increase was generally consistent with the average given in other major cities. It was below the average for the Northeastern region for the same period and above the average of increases given by cities in the Southern region. The period of major change in minimum salaries, however, was 1968-69, when increases ranged from 9.5 percent to 12.2 percent. During this period, District of Columbia police and firemen were granted no increases.

TABLE 1. PERCENT CHANGES IN MINIMUM ANNUAL SALARIES OF FIREMEN AND POLICEMEN BY CITY SIZE AND REGION,1 1964-69

1 Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. Source: Study published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, 1969.

COMPARISON WITH OTHER JURISDICTIONS

The committee has incorporated in this report tables which compare minimum and maximum salaries of 20 other cities of 500,000 population and of the surrounding jurisdictions.

A. National comparisons

As can be seen in table 2, the District ranks in a tie with Detroit for seventh place in the minimum salary paid police and tied for eighth place with Detroit for the minimum salary paid firefighters. With respect to maximum salaries, the District police stand ninth and firemen eighth.

With salaries currently at or near the median, the District is poorly placed as a competitive employer. Lack of adequate salary opportunities further discourage those who would like to make their careers in public safety.