Pay Raises, Pensions, Contracting Rules and the Kitchen Sink

It is something of a surprise that the bill includes a provision that would grant law enforcement retirement benefits to the more than 17,000 officers at Customs and Border Protection. The officers have not been eligible for the more generous pensions that other federal law enforcement officers receive, even though they carry weapons, make arrests and can be called upon to help capture criminal suspects.

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The issue has been a sore point for years with the officers, who have been repeatedly told that law enforcement retirement would be too costly for the government. But Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CBP officers, said efforts to find a remedy intensified during the past 18 months.

Starting in July, CBP officers would be eligible to retire with 20 years of service at age 50 or after 25 years of service at any age. In addition, the officers would be able to qualify for the more generous law enforcement pension based on every year worked after July 1. Many current officers will be eligible for a hybrid pension, based on their regular civil service retirement credits and their law enforcement credits.

On the issue of outsourcing federal work, the bill would take some previous restrictions that have had to be renewed on an annual basis and make them permanent.

The bill, for example, would require contractors to show a savings of at least 10 percent or $10 million over the federal cost to win a competition. Federal employees also would get the right to ask the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress, to review a contracting decision if the employees thought it was unfair or biased.

Diary associate Eric Yoder contributed to this column. Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.