THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1964. PERSONAL SERVICES, WAGE SCALE EMPLOYEES WITNESS HENRY P. HUBBARD, PERSONNEL OFFICER Mr. NATCHER. We take up next, "personal services, wage scale employees," totaling $485,900. We are pleased to again have before the committee Dr. Henry Hubbard. We shall at this time place in the record pages 18 through 20. (The pages follow:) PERSONAL SERVICES, WAGE SCALE EMPLOYEES For an additional amount, fiscal year 1964, “Personal services, wage scale employees," $485,900 This amount is required in order to pay an average increase of $0.07 per hour for District regular, $0.02 per hour for laundry wage scale employees, which was approved by the Board of Commissioners effective the beginning of the first pay period after December 26, 1963. Included in this supplemental request are funds required to pay Federal wage scale employees at the Washington Aqueduct, National Park Service, and the National Zoological Park for services provided the District of Columbia government. The regular wage scale group comprised of trades, craft, laboring, and materialhandling-type jobs is the largest of the four wage scale groups and numbers approximately 6,200 employees of a total of over 6,800. The increase for these employees ranges from $0.03 per hour at grade WBR-1 to $0.12 per hour at grade WBR-18, averaging $0.07 per hour. Laundry rates increased an average of $0.02 per hour for 116 employees. The preceding increases are based on surveys ordered in the area on October 1, 1963, by the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Department of the Army conducted the laundry wage scale survey. Legal authority to conduct such area wage surveys is contained in section 202 (7) of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended; legal authority to incur a deficiency to pay wage scale increases is contained in section 210, Public Law 8548, 85th Congress. Congress has also legislated with respect to the effective dates such wage scale increases must be placed into effect (Public Law 85-872, 85th Cong.). These public laws are authoritative requirements of Congress to conduct such wage surveys and, when justified, pay such wage increases within a specified time. The method used for setting wage scale pay is closely geared to the system used by industry. It is sensitive to increases given by industry and as may be negotiated by unions. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that in the first 9 months of 1963 the median increase covering 1.7 million workers was 3.5 percent. Further, median union wage settlements in the Middle Atlantic region was reported at $0.078 per hour by the Bureau of National Affairs for the first 10 months of 1963. In addition, if cost-of-living wage adjustments, (e.g., as given by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission) were taken into consideration, plus nonunion wage increases, it is plain to see the impact this can have on any one wage area. The Board of Commissioners concurred in the recommendations of the District of Columbia Wage Scale Board December 19, 1963. The increase requested will be transferred to the agencies to supplement the available appropriation for this purpose, as follows: General operating expenses: Public Library. $15,500 8, 300 138, 800 Highways and traffic: Department of Highways and Traffic--- Sanitary engineering: Department of Sanitary Engineering Washington aqueduct--- Total, Sanitary engineering---. Total-- General fund__. Highway fund (regular). Water fund___. Sanitary sewage works fund.. Metropolitan area sanitary sewage works fund.. 160 Mr. NATCHER. Dr. Hubbard, we shall be pleased to hear from you. Dr. HUBBARD. Yes, sir. This is the increase to wage board employees for the balance of the current fiscal year. The effective date of the new rates was January 5, 1964. The amount requested is $485,900 as indicated. The wage increases are based on prevailing rates in the Washington metropolitan area as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Department of Defense for the regular wage board employees and the Department of the Army for the laundry workers in surveys conducted in early October of 1963. The increases will average approximately $0.07 an hour for 6,200 regular employees and $0.02 an hour for 116 laundry wage board employees. I think that is basically it. I would like to call you attention to section 210 of Public Law 8548 which authorizes in effect incurring of a deficiency or the need for supplemental funds to the extent necessary to permit payment of wage increases to wage board employees. I would like to put that section in the record. Mr. NATCHER. Fine. (The information referred to follows:) SEC. 210. Hereafter, any appropriation required to be apportioned pursuant to section 3679 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, may be apportioned on a basis indicating the need for a supplemental or deficiency estimate of appropriation to the extent necessary to permit payment of such pay increases as may be granted those employees (commonly known as wage-board employees) whose compensation is fixed and adjusted from time to time in accordance with prevailing rates (5 U.S.C. 1082 (7)). Mr. NATCHER. Thank you very much, Dr. Hubbard. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1964. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS AND SUITS WITNESS D. P. HERMAN, BUDGET OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL ADMINISTRATION Mr. NATCHER. We take up next settlement of claims and suits and we have before the committee Mr. Herman, who will justify this item. The amount involved is $14,665 and we shall place in the record at this point pages 21 through 23. (The pages follow:) SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS AND SUITS For an additional amount for the payment of claims in excess of $250, approved by the Commissioners in accordance with the provisions of the act of February 11, 1929, as amended (45 Stat. 1160; 46 Stat. 500; 65 Stat. 131), $14,665. The accompanying estimate of appropriation of $14,665 is submitted in order to pay claims under the same act of Congress which are in excess of $250 each, as follows: Claimant Bowman v. D.C.. Government Employees Insurance Co. Mary V. Hill. Samuel T. Beacham... Antonio Garcia. Kremen v. D.C.. Ethel Jordan v. D.C. Anderson v. D.C.. Nature of claim or suit Personal injuries (whiplash to neck and vision of Sanitation front end loader on Walter and Allene Muhlbach. Personal injury to Mr. Muhlbach from fall Parker, et al. v. D.C................... Grand total. 1 Not stated. Mr. NATCHER. Mr. Herman, we will be pleased to hear from you at this time. Mr. HERMAN. This request is to pay for claims settled and approved by the District Commissioners for amount over $250. Under appropriations limitations we can settle claims up to an amount of $250, but claims over $250 have to be approved by this committee. The type of claims are the ordinary municipal claims for damage to automobiles through collision with District trucks or cars and the injuries suffered from accidents on District property, such as falling on sidewalks. All these claims have been approved by the Corporation Counsel and also by the Commissioners. The amount requested is $14,665. Mr. NATCHER. Thank you very much, Mr. Herman. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1964. REPAYMENT OF LOANS AND INTEREST WITNESS JOHN P. SYKES, DEPUTY BUDGET OFFICER, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Mr. NATCHER. At this time we take up "Repayment of loans and interest" totaling $2,265 and we shall place in the record at this point page 24. (The page follows:) REPAYMENT OF LOANS AND INTEREST For an additional amount, fiscal year 1964, for “Repayment of loans and interest," $2,265 An additional amount of $2,265 is required to complete the repayment of funds borrowed from the U.S. Treasurer to meet interest payments on stadium bonds. The 1964 Appropriations Act contained $856,655 to repay two loans of $415,800 each, made on June 1, 1962, and June 1, 1963. This amount was not sufficient to meet the total repayment and accrued interest when funds became available on December 30, 1963. Mr. NATCHER. We are pleased to have before the committee Mr. Sykes. Mr. Sykes, we shall be glad to hear from you again as to this item. INTEREST ON STADIUM LOANS Mr. SYKES. Mr. Chairman, this is a very small amount of money. It is needed to repay the rest of the interest that had accrued on the stadium loans. The Commissioners actually borrowed two amounts of money, $415,800 each. When the 1964 appropriation was approved, we were able to pay off the first loan, which was borrowed on June 1, 1962, with its accrued interest, but the second loan fell some $2,000 short of the total amount of money that was approved in the 1964 appropriation. This amount of money will allow us, as soon as the supplemental is passed, to pay off the remaining part of this loan, plus the accrued interest that unfortunately keeps running. We had computed this repayment and interest up to November 1. Unfortunately, the Appropriation Act wasn't passed until December 30 and this was the result. Mr. NATCHER. Thank you very much, Mr. Sykes. SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR AND HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS JOHN E. FOGARTY, RHODE ISLAND, CHAIRMAN WINFIELD K. DENTON, INDIANA WALT HORAN, WASHINGTON CHARLES S. JOELSON, NEW ROBERT H. MICHEL, ILLINOIS JERSEY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1964. U.S. SOLDIERS' HOME WITNESSES GEN. WADE H. HAISLIP, GOVERNOR WAGE BOARD INCREASES Mr. FOGARTY. The committee will come to order. We have before us this morning the Soldiers' Home. General, I am glad to see you. back again. General HAISLIP. Thank you very much, sir. Mr. FOGARTY. Before we go into the request for 1965, General, I thought we ought to take up the deficiency. Since hearings on the deficiencies will be printed in a separate volume, we shall discuss it first and then proceed to your 1965 budget. The request is contained in House Document 203. We shall place your prepared statement in the record. (The statement follows:) STATEMENT OF GEN. WADE H. HAISLIP, GOVERNOR OF THE U.S. SOLDIERS' HOME, PRESENTING THE FISCAL YEAR 1964 SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET TO CONGRESS Subsequent to congressional action on the fiscal year 1964 annual budget, two pay increases were granted wage board employees of the U.S. Soldiers' Home which now require an increase of $120,000 in the limitation on the current year appropriation. This supplemental appropriation will be financed from the Soldiers' Home Permanent Fund which is a trust fund, and not from the general revenues of the Treasury. These pay increases were the result of revised wage board rates promulgated by the Army-Air Force Wage Board, as follows: For 468 wage board employees: Rates made effective December 1962 (payable for 12 months in fiscal year 1964)- Rates made effective December 1963 (payable for 61⁄2 months in fiscal year 1964).. $96, 000 24,000 Total supplemental appropriation_-_ 120, 000 |