he budget deal passed by the House on Dec. 12, 2013 includes a compromise on the much-fought-over amount the government may reimburse contractors for executive pay, drawing qualified approval from employee unions and nonprofit critics of current policy.
The bill negotiated by budget committee leaders Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would lower the cap on reimbursements for an executive’s annual pay to $487,000, about half the $952,308 recently announced by the Office of Management and Budget.
The Senate is expected to vote on the deal next week, but if that $487,000 amount becomes law, it would supersede a proposal for a $625,000 cap included in the National Defense Authorization Act agreement reached by Armed Services committee chairmen from both chambers on Monday.
The budget deal’s figure, however, is still double the cap of $230,700, or the vice president’s salary level, sought in legislation sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as well as Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y.
OMB, stressing that it was required by law to raise the cap, last May proposed a ceiling of $400,000, equal to the president’s salary. The newly announced $952,308 cap has few defenders — even among the contracting community.
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