Sponsors (182)
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Bennie Thompson · Last progress March 11, 2025
The bill extends Title 5 protections, pay parity, and formal labor representation to TSA workers while increasing transparency and oversight of workforce safety and retention — at the cost of higher federal personnel spending, more administrative/reporting burdens, and some reduced managerial flexibility and congressional budget control.
TSA screening staff and Federal Air Marshals gain Title 5 civil‑service protections, appeal rights, and standardized personnel processes, increasing job security, due process, and workplace protections.
TSA employees converted to Title 5 keep their current pay, locality adjustments, special pay (including law‑enforcement availability pay where specified), credited years of service, accrued leave, and other premium pay credits, preserving compensation and retirement benefits during transition.
Screening agents receive formal collective‑bargaining representation (a national exclusive representative) and interim protections to preserve existing agreements during conversion, giving workers a structured voice in workplace rules and transitions.
Taxpayers face higher federal personnel costs because converting TSA employees to Title 5 and preserving pay/benefits parity raises long‑term pay, benefits, and administrative expenses.
Many provisions create recurring administrative and reporting burdens (briefings, GAO reviews, annual workforce and retention reports, conversion plans), costing agency staff time and taxpayer dollars and potentially diverting resources from operations.
Permitting implementation funds to remain available until expended reduces year‑by‑year congressional budget control and transparency, making oversight of amounts, timing, and program trade‑offs harder.
Based on analysis of 13 sections of legislative text.
Converts covered TSA employees to title 5 civil service by Dec 31, 2025, preserves pay/benefits, establishes national bargaining rules, and mandates reporting and GAO reviews.
Converts TSA screening agents and other covered TSA employees from TSA-specific personnel systems into the federal civil service (title 5) by no later than December 31, 2025, while preserving pay, leave, premium pay, and certain existing labor agreements. It freezes new TSA-specific personnel authorities on enactment, requires OPM and payroll systems updates, and sets rules for national collective bargaining and conversion planning. The bill also requires briefings and annual reports on assaults against screening agents and workforce morale/retention, directs multiple Government Accountability Office reviews on recruitment and workplace safety, and authorizes unspecified funding to implement these changes.