District of Columbia Chief Financial Officer Salary Home Rule Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1204) to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to permit the District of Columbia to establish the rate of pay of the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1204

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 ``District of Columbia Chief Financial Officer Salary Home Rule Act''. SEC. 2. PERMITTING DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TO ESTABLISH RATE OF PAY OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Section 424(b)(2)(E) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1-204.24b(b)(5), D.C. Official Code) is amended to read as follows:

``(E) Pay.--The Chief Financial Officer shall be paid at the greater of--

``(i) a rate such that the total amount of compensation paid during any calendar year is equal to the limit on total pay which is applicable during the year under section 5307 of title 5, United States Code, to an employee described in section 5307(d) of such title; or

``(ii) a rate established in law by the District of Columbia, except that any rate established under this clause which is applicable to any individual serving as the Chief Financial Officer shall not be reduced during any period of the individual's service as Chief Financial Officer.''.
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Ms. NORTON.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will give the District of Columbia the authority to increase the pay of the D.C. chief financial officer. D.C. requested that I introduce this bill so that it can retain and recruit the best CFOs. At the outset, I want to emphasize that the CFO is paid exclusively with local D.C. funds, not Federal funds.

Under the D.C. Home Rule Act, Congress established a maximum rate of pay for the CFO, and the D.C. council has no authority to increase that rate. Congress does not cap, or otherwise establish, the pay of any other D.C. employee. Under this bill, the CFO would be paid at the greater of a rate equal to the maximum rate of pay of the CFO in current law or at a rate established in law by the District of Columbia.

The CFO was established by Congress in 1995. Congress vested the CFO with extraordinary powers and designed the CFO to be independent of the D.C. Mayor and council. The CFO may be removed only for cause by the Mayor, subject to the approval of two-thirds of the council and a 30- day congressional review and comment period. This bill would maintain the independence of the CFO by establishing a permanent floor on the CFO's pay and by prohibiting the council from reducing the CFO's pay during the CFO's term.

The D.C. CFO is unique in the United States. D.C. cannot obligate or expend funds without the CFO's certification that available funds exist. The CFO manages a $17 billion budget that consists of State, county, and city functions, and the CFO has more than 1,700 employees.

D.C. is currently searching for a permanent CFO. Although the CFO is the most important non-elected official in the district, more than 20 D.C. employees are paid more than the CFO. D.C. must compete with both the private and public sectors for high-quality CFOs, and there are many private- and public-sector CFOs who are paid more than the D.C. CFO.

I thank Chairwoman Maloney for her support of this bill, and I thank Ranking Member Comer for his support of this bill in committee.

This bill is critical to the financial operations of the District of Columbia. I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 1204, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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