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thedrifter
05-01-07, 02:51 PM
Senator: VA gives D.C. execs higher bonuses
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday May 1, 2007 12:31:14 EDT

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman said Monday that he is not so concerned about Department of Veterans Affairs employees receiving the highest average bonuses of any federal agency — but he is concerned about how those bonuses are distributed.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the committee chairman since January, raised two issues. First, he said the awards seem to be unfairly distributed, with people in Washington, D.C., getting more than people working for the VA elsewhere. Second, he said the $33,000 bonuses paid to several members of the VA budget staff do not seem warranted, considering that the VA has faced serious budget problems.

“I am concerned by this generous pat on the back for those who failed to ensure that their budget requests accurately reflected VA’s needs,” Akaka said in an April 30 letter to VA Secretary R. James Nicholson.

The review shows an uneven distribution of bonuses, Akaka said, with Senior Executive Service personnel based in Washington, for example, receiving “on average, significantly higher bonuses than their counterparts in other geographic areas.” In the Veterans Benefits Administration, average bonuses for those based in Washington were about 41 percent higher than for those based elsewhere. In the Veterans Health Administration, bonuses in Washington averaged 30 percent higher, he said.

Akaka said he understands that these higher bonuses may, to some extent, reflect an informal cost-of-living adjustment for the expensive Washington area. But, he added, “there are many U.S. cities where the cost of living is equally high if not higher than here.”

Akaka said his staff review showed the size of bonuses increases with proximity to VA headquarters.

“On the whole, medical center directors received the lowest bonuses, while [Veterans Integrated Service Network] directors nationwide and top managers in Washington received the largest,” Akaka said. “This is despite the fact that all personnel earned roughly the same base pay, and held the same rank in the sense that they were all at the top of the federal salary pyramid and mostly ineligible for substantial increases in pay.”

Akaka said he is not opposed to big bonuses for VA workers.

“I am not concerned that VA’s SES bonuses are among the highest of any agency because I believe that VA has some of the most dedicated and hardworking employees of any agency,” he said. “But I also believe that in the federal government, awards should be determined according to performance and retention considerations, and should not give the appearance of an entitlement for the most centrally placed or well-connected staff.”

Ellie