FOP Washington Watch: Legislative Update For the Week of 19 October 2009
I. LEGISLATIVE NEWS AND ACTIVITY
National President Chuck Canterbury was in Washington, DC this week. He and Executive Director Jim Pasco met in the FOP's office with R. Gil Kerlikowski, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to discuss pending legislation addressing the sentencing for powder and crack cocaine offenders, changes to marijuana enforcement guidelines and the nation's overall anti-drug strategy.
National President Canterbury and Executive Director Pasco met with Walter BM Redman, Senior Police Advisor at the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement at the U,.S. State Department to discuss standards for contracted law enforcement at the Department.
Executive Director Pasco and Legislative Liaison Jon Gentile attended a meeting of the Federal Salary Council.
Senior Legislative Liaison Tim Richardson and Legislative Liaison Gentile attended a meeting between law enforcement stakeholder groups and staff from several members of the majority on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary regarding S. 714, the "National Criminal Justice Commission Act."
Senior Legislative Liaison Richardson and Legislative Liaison Gentile met with Doug Ierley, counsel to Senator James H. Webb, Jr. (D-VA) to discuss the FOP's concerns with S. 714.
Senior Legislative Liaison Richardson and Legislative Liaison Gentile participated in a meeting between law enforcement stakeholder groups and staff with the Office of the Vice President and the Domestic Policy Council to discuss the collective concerns regarding S. 714.
II. THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS
Both the House and Senate were in session this week.
Action in the House
The House considered and passed H.R. 3585, the “Solar Technology Roadmap Act,” on a 307-114 vote. This legislation would guide and provide for U.S. research, development and demonstration of solar energy technologies.
The House considered and pass H.R. 3619, the “Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010,” on a 385 to 11 vote. This legislation would authorize appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010 for the United States Coast Guard.
Action in the Senate
The Senate adopted the conference report on H.R. 2647, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010,” on a 68-29 vote. The report includes a provision the FOP strongly supports which would stop the expansion of and eventually rollback the Department of Defense’s National Security Personnel System (NSPS). The report also contains a provision which would expand the definition of Federal hate crimes to cover attacks based on gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. The FOP did not support this provision.
The Senate considered and passed H.R. 2892, a bill making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending 30 September 2010, on a 79-19 vote. The measure is expected to be signed by the president.
Action in Senate Committees
The Committee on the Judiciary approved S. 1340, the “Crime Victims Fund Preservation Act,” by voice vote. This bill would establish minimum funding levels in fiscal 2010 through 2014 for programs funded by the Crime Victims Fund.
The Committee on the Judiciary unanimously reported out the nomination of Laurie O. Robinson to be the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice. The FOP supports this nominee.
The Committee on the Judiciary was also scheduled to mark-up S. 714, but action on that bill was postponed for a later date.
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing on H1N1 flu response, with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
III. UPDATE ON FOP TOP LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
For the complete list of cosponsors for all of our top legislative priorities, or to find out if your Representative and Senators are cosponsors of specific bills, check out http://thomas.loc.gov .
A. Social Security Issues
(1) Support H.R. 235/S. 484, the "Social Security Fairness Act"
We added one (1) cosponsor to H.R. 235, bringing our current total to three hundred and seven (307) cosponsors--more than a House majority! Please note that this total differs slightly from THOMAS, as we are not including in our count Delegates Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam) and Gregorio Sablan (D-MP), who have limited voting rights on the floor.
We currently have thirty (30) cosponsors on S. 484
(2) Opposing any legislation that would require the participation of public employees in Social Security
The FOP will continue to lobby against this scheme and oppose any legislation which would mandate participation in Social Security.
B. Support H.R. 413/S. 1611, the "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act"
We currently have one hundred and sixty-three (163) cosponsors on H.R. 413.
We currently have eight (8) cosponsors on S. 1611.
C. Support H.R. 1972, the "Law Enforcement Officer’s Procedural Bill of Rights Act"
We currently have two (2) cosponsors on H.R. 1972.
The Senate companion bill has not yet been introduced.
IV. UPDATE ON LEGISLATION AMENDING LEOSA
We added one (1) cosponsor to H.R. 3752. The bill, which was a result of a long collaboration with the staff in the National Legislative Office, is similar in most respects to the Senate companion bill, S. 1132. The House bill includes language that would also clarify the status of Federal Reserve Police as well as retired military personnel that served as law enforcement officers in their respective branch of service. We will continue to work with Rep. Forbes' office to get this bill moved through subcommittee.
We have three (3) cosponsors on S. 1132.
V. FOP NEWS: FOP Victory: Congress Passes Repeal of NSPS
Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, is pleased that language which prohibits the expansion of and eventually repeals the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) was included in the conference report for H.R. 2647, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010,” which passed the Senate this week on a 68-29 vote. The measure passed the House earlier this month and is expected to be signed by the President.
“We have been fighting NSPS since 2003,” Canterbury said. “This employee management scheme, which has a pay-for-performance system based on subjective criteria, is inconsistent with the mission of law enforcement officers and better suited for door-to-door salesman.”
Since the NSPS was passed into law in 2003, the FOP has been fighting the implementation because the system does not work for law enforcement. The NSPS sought to eliminate the General Schedule System and replace it with a pay-for-performance system for law enforcement officers and other civilian employees within the Department of Defense (DoD). The system also entailed a reduction in the collective bargaining rights of our officers on issues such as overtime, flextime, and transfers by empowering the Secretary of Defense to remove any subject from the bargaining table. The FOP scored a victory in 2007 when the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008,” restored collective bargaining rights, but the troubling pay-for-performance aspect remained.
The new law prohibits any further reclassification of employees into NSPS, and all employees currently under NSPS must be reclassified by 1 January 2012.
“I am pleased that Congress has stepped up and repealed NSPS; this is not only a victory for law enforcement officers within the DoD, but all Federal officers.” Canterbury said. “Congress has sent a message that future attempts to reform Federal law enforcement shall not include any pay-for-performance system.”
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