Bill Summary
The Locality Pay Equity Act of 2019 is a bill that aims to amend title 5 of the United States Code to limit the number of local wage areas within a General Schedule pay locality. This means that the Office of Personnel Management will only be allowed to define a maximum of one local wage area within a pay locality, with the exception of the "Rest of United States" pay locality. The bill also includes a definition for the term "pay locality" and requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to create necessary regulations to ensure that this bill does not reduce the basic pay of any individual serving as a prevailing rate employee. The amendments made by this bill will go into effect 180 days after its enactment.
Possible Impacts
1. The Locality Pay Equity Act of 2019 could affect federal employees by limiting the number of local wage areas within a General Schedule pay locality. This could potentially result in lower wages for some employees who previously received higher wages due to being in a separate local wage area.
2. The Act could also affect federal agencies and their budgets, as they may need to adjust their pay scales and budgets to accommodate the new limitations on local wage areas.
3. The regulations prescribed by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management could affect individuals serving as prevailing rate employees by ensuring that their wages are not reduced as a result of the Act. This could potentially protect the wages of these employees and prevent any negative impact on their livelihoods.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3015 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3015
To amend title 5, United States Code, to limit the number of local wage
areas allowable within a General Schedule pay locality.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 11, 2019
Mr. Casey introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to limit the number of local wage
areas allowable within a General Schedule pay locality.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Locality Pay Equity Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. LIMITING THE NUMBER OF LOCAL WAGE AREAS DEFINED WITHIN A
GENERAL SCHEDULE PAY LOCALITY.
(a) Local Wage Area Limitation.--Section 5343(a) of title 5, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking ``(but such'' and
all that follows through ``are employed)'';
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(3) in paragraph (5), by striking the period after
``Islands'' and inserting ``; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) the Office of Personnel Management shall define not
more than 1 local wage area within a pay locality, except that
this paragraph shall not apply to the pay locality designated
as `Rest of United States'.''.
(b) General Schedule Pay Locality Defined.--Section 5342(a) of
title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period after
``employee'' and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) `pay locality' has the meaning given that term under
section 5302.''.
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe
any regulations necessary to carry out the purpose of this Act,
including regulations to ensure that the enactment of this Act shall
not have the effect of reducing any rate of basic pay payable to any
individual who is serving as a prevailing rate employee (as defined
under section 5342(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code).
SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply on and after the first
day of the first full pay period beginning at least 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act.
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