News Releases
Sens. Moran, Tester Introduce Bill to Provide Pay Fix to VA Health Administration Employees
Dec 19 2019
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) – members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee – introduced the Competitive Pay for Leaders in Veterans Health Care Act to create a pay fix for Senior Executive Service (SES)-Equivalents in the Veterans Health Administration.
“To deliver the best possible care for our veterans, we need to have the best possible workforce at the Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Sen. Moran. “Nine years ago, we passed a law to help VA recruit and retain the best and brightest leaders to manage the many different specialty care functions that VA provides. This bill will make certain that VA retains the ability to provide competitive pay to attract and keep highly specialized and highly competent leaders serving our veterans.”
“The Department of Veterans Affairs must be an employer of choice for talented professionals,” said Sen. Tester, Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “This bipartisan legislation will ensure that VA is able to recruit and retain individuals who help the Veterans Health Administration provide high-quality care and services to our nation’s veterans.”
The Competitive Pay for Leaders in Veterans Health Care Act excludes SES-Equivalent positions from a Level V pay cap, putting their salary in line with the intent of a 2010 law that allowed these healthcare administration employees to be paid competitively. Without this change, VA would need to collect the higher payment amount back from current and past employees and would face significant challenges hiring qualified healthcare leaders.
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