Bill would address understaffing and safety risks, incentivizing hiring and retention through fair, competitive pay
Current BOP relies on cooks, teachers, and nurses to guard inmates to fully staff facilities
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8) introduced the Pay Our Correctional Officers Fairly Act to ensure fair pay for Bureau of Prisons (BOP) employees, particularly in rural areas. The bill will help address staffing shortages at Bureau of Prisons correctional institutions by allowing for competitive pay that better reflects the cost of living, commute times, alternative careers, and the hard work and dedication of BOP employees.
“BOP employees are understaffed, underpaid, and overworked. Without enough staff, prisons are relying on cooks and teachers to guard inmates, which presents a dangerous health and security risk,” said Senator Bob Casey. “This legislation provide much-needed investment in the wellbeing of prison officers and employees and is a critical first step towards ensuring safe and professional operation of our prison system.”
“Prison officers face a unique kind of danger, and it is imperative we provide them with every tool and authorization necessary to protect their lives and wellbeing,” said Congressman Cartwright. “This much needed pay increase will help address critical staffing shortages at USP Canaan and federal prisons across the country and will serve as an investment in the safety of the brave correction officers who go to work in them every day. I’m proud to lead this bill in the House and grateful for the efforts of Senators Casey and Cassidy in the Senate.”
Senator Casey and Congressman Cartwright have long worked to improve working conditions for Bureau of Prisons officers and ensure the safety of staff and inmates. After the brutal murder of USP Canaan Corrections officer Eric Williams by an inmate, Casey and Cartwright introduced The Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act, requiring BOP to provide pepper spray to all correctional workers in medium and high security facilities. The bill, which became law, includes a comprehensive training requirement for employees and calls on the Government Accountability Office to oversee the effectiveness of this program. Senator Casey and Congressman Cartwright have continued to prioritize safety at USP Canaan and Bureau of Prisons facilities through enacted legislation, enforced safety initiatives, and increased federal funding.
In April 2019, Casey sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr concerning the prevailing understaffing issue at BOP. The letter illuminated BOP’s risky staffing practices, including hiring an insufficient number of correctional officers and the use of staff augmentation, using employees such as nurses and teachers to guard inmates. Moreover, in April 2023, Casey and colleagues sent a letter urging the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies’ Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bill to include increased funding to maintain the 122 Federal prisons across the country and to improve their number of hires and retention rate.
As Ranking Member of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee, Cartwright successfully secured $180 million in additional funding for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the 2023 Government Spending Package, which Senator Casey was proud to support in the Senate, to sustain and increase BOP recruitment and hiring efforts nationwide.
In 2023, Cartwright introduced the BOP Direct-Hire Authority Act, a bipartisan bill to alleviate staffing shortages at Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities across the country by cutting bureaucratic red tape to enhance the safety and security of BOP personnel, and the Interdiction of Fentanyl in Postal Mail at Federal Prisons Act, which aims to eliminate contraband, and other synthetic opioids from being smuggled into Federal prison facilities through inmate mail.
The shortage of correctional officers has grown each year over the past four years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 7% decline in correctional officers by 2032. Understaffed prisons and overworked employees have created increasingly dangerous work environments. Under current policies, BOP uses cooks, teachers, and nurses to guard inmates. This temporary fix pulls employees away from their usual duties and negatively impacts inmates by limiting visitations, recreational time, and academic enrichment opportunities. BOP employees are usually paid on the General Schedule (GS) pay scale, with slight pay modifications for correctional officers. Locality raises are determined by comparisons of local private sector salary rates, not by cost of living. An individual’s rate is based on where he or she works, not where he or she lives. Places located outside of these locality pay areas are compensated on a lower Rest of US (RUS) pay scale. This bill would increase pay for BOP employees classified as RUS by reclassifying them into the highest comparable pay locality located within 200 miles of the facility.
Along with Senator Casey, this bill is cosponsored by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Congressman Cartwright introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives alongside Representatives Randy Weber (R-TX-14) and a group of 29 members.
Read more about the Pay Our Correctional Officers Fairly Act here.
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