§1907 Transfer of Disbursing Function

Summary

The Chief of the Capitol Police must be the person who pays officers and manages money for the Capitol Police. Money and payment duties that used to belong to the House Chief Administrative Officer or the Secretary of the Senate move to the Chief. Until the Chief tells the House and Senate that new payment systems are ready, the House and Senate will keep doing the paying. The Treasury will hold two separate Capitol Police accounts: one for salaries and one for general expenses. The Chief can move needed money during the transition so the House and Senate can keep paying. The House and Senate must give the Chief any funds, assets, accounts, and records for unified operation, and those funds go into the new accounts and keep the same uses and rules. The Chief can hire, set terms, discipline, and fire Capitol Police staff under the law. To fire someone, the Chief must tell the Capitol Police Board and get its approval; if the Board does not disapprove within 30 days, the firing is treated as approved. The Chief must follow any notice or approval rules the House or Senate committees require for hiring, firing, new jobs, reclassification, or reorganization. Capitol Police employees hired by the Chief get the same benefits as House employees, and workers who were employed on February 20, 2003 keep their existing pay and protections until changed. Unspent amounts the Chief can use are withdrawn on September 30 of the fifth fiscal year after the year they were provided, and any unpaid bills from those amounts must be paid from available appropriations for the same purpose. The changes take effect on February 20, 2003 and apply to fiscal year 2003 and later.