This bill called the WATCH Personnel Act of 2026 requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to set a minimum annual salary for Transportation Security Officers at $40,000 for fiscal year 2026 within 90 days of enactment. It also requires annual adjustments to that minimum pay starting in fiscal year 2027 to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The bill authorizes rounding rules and allows the Administrator to ignore CPI increases of less than 1 percent.
The bill provides continuing appropriations, from February 14, 2026, for the period of any lapse in appropriations in fiscal year 2026. Those appropriations are "such sums as are necessary" to pay standard pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other regular payments to TSA employees during the lapse. The bill also provides a $10,000 bonus to each Transportation Security Officer who was employed and working for the TSA as of February 14, 2026, and states that this bonus is not basic pay for retirement, life insurance, or other benefits. The bill limits payments to those who would otherwise be affected by the lapse, requires expenditures to be charged to future appropriations when those appropriations are enacted, and makes payments subject to requirements of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025.
The continuing appropriations and authorities end on the earliest of: enactment of an appropriation for these purposes, enactment of the applicable regular or continuing appropriations resolution without such an appropriation, or September 30, 2026. The bill takes effect retroactively as if enacted on February 13, 2026.
The bill authorizes "such sums as are necessary" to continue TSA pay and related payments during the lapse in appropriations and specifies a $10,000 bonus for each Transportation Security Officer employed and working as of February 14, 2026. The text does not list a total cost, the number of officers covered, or an overall spending estimate. No publicly available information on total fiscal cost.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.