As part of the 4,000+ page, $1.7 trillion omnibus bill passed last month, the Transportation Security Administration will receive $400 million to boost its employees’ salaries, according to Reason.
These pay raises are modest compared to a bill legislators tried to pass in June, which would have cost $1.6 billion and would have raised salaries across the board by about 30%.
In addition to the $400 million for pay raises, the agency has also been granted $61 million to hire more employees, and has been given the right to collectively bargain, making future pay raises even more likely.
The collective bargaining provision also increases the likelihood of security checkpoint disruptions due to future strikes. The agency specifically was not afforded collective bargaining rights when it was created because of the massive disruptions to U.S. air travel that strikes could cause.
As the Reason report notes, TSA is ineffective at its job, routinely failing to find weapons and prevent drugs from being smuggled onto aircrafts.
Regardless, the agency will receive over $10.2 billion in funding for 2023, up from $8.8 billion in 2022.
These raises are not a result of service improvements. On the contrary, a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office has noted problems with discrimination in the screening process and issues with notifying passengers of the complaint process.
As most people that work in private sector jobs know, mediocrity is generally not rewarded with pay raises. Fortunately for TSA employees, and unfortunately for taxpayers, it is in the government.
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