POLICE RETIREMENT

Mr. CONTE. When are they eligible for retirement?

Chief POWELL. The Capitol Police are employees of the legislative branch of the government. They are the same as other legislative employees.

Mr. MICHEL. And are their retirement benefits calculated the same as ours?

Chief POWELL. Yes, sir.

LAUNDRY AND DRY CLEANING

Mr. CONTE. Chief, I see an item here of $20,000 for laundry and dry cleaning, and it says this increase is directly related to the cost to launder uniforms, and that this has risen over 30 percent during the past fiscal year. Has it gone up that much in one year?

Chief POWELL. That is a little bit erroneous. We had previously $20,000 for this item. It used to be approximately $44 per man, per year. However, many of the men have their dry-cleaning and laundry done at their expense, and at the $20,000 figure it was about right. However, we thought it was going down, and the year before last we reduced it by $4,800. Since then, I have checked, and there was an increase in price of around 25 percent in actual increased amount, but it has been brought about mostly by that change. Some of it was brought about by our erroneous estimate on what it should have been in the first place.

Mr. CONTE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BENJAMIN. Thank you, Chief. You have a number of submissions to get to the subcommittee, and we would appreciate that at the earliest convenience.

Chief POWELL. Yes, sir.

CAPITOL GUIDE SERVICE

Mr. BENJAMIN. Mr. Harding, on the Capitol Guide Service, I want to discuss that.

Before we leave the Sergeant at Arms accounts, although you are not submitting that, since it apparently is inserted in the Senate, the request for the Capitol Guide Service for fiscal year 1980 is $610,000, an increase of $66,000 over the amount appropriated in fiscal year 1979. Would you be kind enough to justify that increase, if you know?

Mr. HARDING. Mr. Chairman, first of all, let me state that while the Capitol Guide force is actually financed through the Senate Finance Office through a historical quirk, we still feel responsible for half of it, because half the appointments come from the House. So, as a result of that feeling and attitude, any change that comes in the number of authorized guides or any of their working conditions, I feel compelled to run that through and have the approval of the Subcommittee on Libraries and Memorials, chaired by Lucien Nedzi, of the House Administration Committee.

The increases here reflect additional costs which came about through the additional summer guides, and, if I may, I would like to quote from a letter from the Chief Guide to Nordy Hoffmann, under date of October 2, 1978, Mr. Hoffmann being Sergeant at

Arms of the Senate. "Enclosed is the estimated budget for the Capitol Guide Service for fiscal year 1980 in the amount of $610,000. While this is $66,000 more than the 1979 appropriation, there are no increases in the fiscal year 1979 employment rates. The majority of the increase, $59,024.97, is mandated by pay comparability and longevity increases effective October 1, 1978. There is an increase of $6,975.03 to replace the present uniforms which were ordered in 1976." It goes on from there, but that is the pertinent part.

Mr. BENJAMIN. Would you submit that for the record?

Mr. HARDING. Yes, sir.

[The information follows:]

TO:

FROM:

Honorable Kenneth R. Harding, Chairman, Guide Board
Honorable George M. White, Member, Guide Board

Honorable F. Nordy Hoffmann, Member, Guide Board

fiti

In compliance with the new budget preparation procedures mandated by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, we are preparing to submit our preliminary budget request for fiscal year 1980 to be included in the President's budget.

Inasmuch as all salaries and related expenses of the U. S. Capitol Guide Service are included in our budget, I have requested the Guide Service supervisory personnel to prepare and submit their recommendations following the procedures I have used for all departments and agencies which have a budgetary reporting relationship to our office. The Guide Service administrative personnel have submitted a budget which includes no increases in positions or salary increases for existing personnel except as required for longevity or cost of living increases which are given to all employees. The Guide Service has requested funds for new uniforms for fiscal year 1980.

To assure that the budget of the U. S. Capitol Guide Service is in compliance with the wishes of the U. S. Capitol Guide Board, I am forwarding a copy of this preliminary request for your review and consideration. If you wish to meet on this I will be pleased to do so. However, since no increases are requested for personnel, unless you specifically request a formal meeting, I will include these figures in our preliminary budget request which we plan to submit to the Appropriations Committee in the very near future. Please call me at your convenience if you wish to discuss this in any further detail.