The General Services Administration Gets Bonus Scrutiny

The General Services Administration (GSA) is on track to supplant Disney® as the Happiest Place on Earth with a million dollar Vegas extravaganza in 2010 (read more here) and now a report that 84 GSA employees received $1.1 million in bonuses since 2008.  The question is whether these folks are extraordinary workers or their bosses are incredibly generous.  The issue though isn’t really about the motivation behind bonuses.  The problem is about who received the bonuses and where the money for the bonuses came from, the taxpayer.  After peeling the surface back further, we learn that the employees received the bonuses “while the inspector general was probing these individuals for wrongdoing or misconduct,” as Federal Radio News reported.

In her recent article, Jolie Lee reported that “One program officer received more than $38,000 in bonuses since 2008, despite being reassigned for abuse of authority. Another employee, a GS-14 level supervisor, received more than $20,000 in bonuses, even after being reprimanded for interfering with an IG investigation, according to the release.”  These examples are appalling enough on their own.  But even worse, they send a signal that gross misconduct is not only okay, but it will be rewarded.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has initiated a congressional investigation into this matter and has discouragingly speculated that the number of employees who received bonuses while under investigation is likely “far higher” than a mere 84.  Sen. McCaskill aptly described the situation when she explained that “It doesn’t pass the smell test to be awarding huge bonuses in taxpayer dollars to officials who are being investigated, or have already been found responsible, for fraud and waste of those very taxpayer dollars.”

One thing is for sure, frivolous distributions of bonuses like the ones doled out to GSA employees under investigation would likely not fly in the private sector.  But the reality of the matter is, even if a private company doled out bonuses to untrustworthy employees engaging in gross misconduct, it has the prerogative to do so.  Private businesses can spend their money in whatever sort of stupid ways the business would like since taxpayers don’t pay the bills for a private company’s mistakes.

And in case your feathers aren’t ruffled enough, consider this: These taxpayer-funded bonuses to federal employees come on top of the fact that federal employees are already grossly overpaid compared to those with equivalent positions in the private sector.  Not only do public employees receive a higher base line salary, they also receive significantly more perks and benefits than employees in the private sector do.  In a USA Today study,” Federal compensation has grown 36.9% since 2000 after adjusting for inflation, compared with 8.8% for private workers.” For example, federal workers earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private sector workers made $61,051 in total compensation. 

With pay and bonuses like this, it is no wonder that it is boom time in Washington D.C.  Until Congress corrects this discrepancy, taxpayers have reason to worry about their tax dollars being used wisely.