I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3483

To amend title 5, United States Code, to enable Federal agencies to design

personnel systems suited to their missions, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 16, 1996

Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. MICA) (both by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

and Oversight, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

A BILL

To amend title 5, United States Code, to enable Federal

agencies to design personnel systems suited to their missions, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Personnel Sys5 tems Reinvention Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REDESIGN OF THE OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MAN2 AGEMENT.

3 (a) FUNCTIONS.—Section 1103(a) of title 5, United

4 States Code, is amended—

5 (1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol6 lows:

7 ‘‘(5) executing, administering, and enforcing

8 the laws, rules, and regulations governing the civil

9 service, except with respect to functions for which

10 the Merit Systems Protection Board or the Special

11 Counsel is primarily responsible;’’;

12 (2) by striking paragraph (6) and redesignating

13 paragraphs (7) through (9) as paragraphs (6)

14 through (8), respectively;

15 (3) in paragraph (7) (as so redesignated) by

16 striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon;

17 (4) in paragraph (8) (as so redesignated) by

18 striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and

19 (5) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(9) serving as a point of contact for Congress

21 on issues concerning accountability for the executive

22 branch’s management of human resources;

23 ‘‘(10) conducting broad systemic reviews of var24 ious aspects of the Federal personnel system; work25 ing with agencies to address problems, including

26 helping agency heads ensure that appropriate action
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1 is taken when violations of law are found; and, when

2 necessary, informing the President of serious viola3 tions of merit system principles and directing appro4 priate action;

5 ‘‘(11) exercising a leadership role in helping

6 agencies build more diverse, highly trained, and

7 competent workforces;

8 ‘‘(12) overseeing the application and enforce9 ment of veterans’ preference in Federal employment,

10 in accordance with the provisions of chapter 33;

11 ‘‘(13) assisting agencies in establishing their

12 own capacity to evaluate the effectiveness of their

13 human resource management programs;

14 ‘‘(14) coordinating interagency cooperation on

15 common human resources management concerns;

16 ‘‘(15) administering the governmentwide civilian

17 pay systems established under subchapters II, IV,

18 and VIII of chapter 53, sections 5372 and 5376,

19 and related provisions of law;

20 ‘‘(16) administering the governmentwide em21 ployee benefits programs established under chapter

22 63, subchapter III of chapter 83, subchapters I, II,

23 IV, V, and VI of chapter 84, and chapters 87 and

24 89;
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1 ‘‘(17) operating the governmentwide employ2 ment information system under sections 3327 and

3 3330;

4 ‘‘(18) providing reimbursable human resources

5 services, including staffing and classification serv6 ices, to agencies and other entities; and

7 ‘‘(19) maintaining governmentwide data bases

8 on Federal employees.’’.

9 (b) SPECIAL AUTHORITY.—Chapter 13 of title 5,

10 United States Code, is amended—

11 (1) in section 1302—

12 (A) in subsections (b) and (c) by striking

13 ‘‘, and in the government of the District of Co14 lumbia’’; and

15 (B) by striking subsection (d);

16 (2) in section 1304—

17 (A) by amending the heading to read as

18 follows:

19 ‘‘§ 1304. Revolving fund; reports’’;

20 (B) by striking subsections (a) through (d)

21 and redesignating subsections (e) through (g)

22 as subsections (a) through (c), respectively; and

23 (C) in subsection (a)(1) (as so redesig24 nated) by amending the first sentence to read

25 as follows: ‘‘A revolving fund is available to the
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1 Office, without fiscal year limitation, for financ2 ing such functions as the Office is authorized or

3 required to perform on a reimbursable basis, in4 cluding services performed at the request of in5 dividual agencies (which would otherwise be the

6 responsibility of such agencies).’’;

7 (3) by repealing section 1307;

8 (4) by amending section 1308 to read as fol9 lows:

10 ‘‘§ 1308. Reports

11 ‘‘The Office shall submit such reports to the Presi12 dent from time to time as it deems necessary on matters

13 within its purview, including summaries of its research

14 studies, reports on demonstration projects conducted

15 under chapter 47, and reports concerning the administra16 tion of employee benefits programs established under sub17 chapter III of chapter 83, subchapters I, II, IV, V, and

18 VI of chapter 84, and chapters 87 and 89.’’; and

19 (5) in the table of sections—

20 (A) by amending the item relating to sec21 tion 1304 to read as follows:

‘‘1304. Revolving fund; reports.’’;

22 (B) by repealing the item relating to sec23 tion 1307; and
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1 (C) by amending the item relating to sec2 tion 1308 to read as follows:

‘‘1308. Reports.’’.

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

4 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment

5 of this Act.

6 SEC. 3. HIRING SYSTEM REFORM.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 5, United

8 States Code, is amended—

9 (1) by inserting after section 3318 the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘§ 3319. Alternative ranking and selection procedures

12 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding sections 3309, 3313, 3317(a),

13 and 3318(a)—

14 ‘‘(1) the Office, in exercising its authority

15 under section 3304, or

16 ‘‘(2) an agency to which the Office has dele17 gated examining authority under section 1104(a)(2),

18 may establish category rating systems for evaluating job

19 applicants for positions in the competitive service, under

20 which qualified candidates are divided into 2 or more qual21 ity categories on the basis of relative degrees of merit,

22 rather than assigned individual numerical ratings. Each

23 applicant who meets the minimum qualification require24 ments for the position to be filled shall be assigned to an

25 appropriate category based on an evaluation of the appli-
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1 cant’s knowledge, skills, and abilities relative to those

2 needed for successful performance in the job to be filled.

3 ‘‘(b) Within each quality category established under

4 subsection (a), preference eligibilities shall be listed ahead

5 of individuals who are not preference eligibles. For other

6 than scientific and professional positions at or higher than

7 GS–9 (or equivalent), preference eligibles who have a com8 pensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or

9 more, and who meet the minimum qualification standards,

10 shall be listed in the highest quality category.

11 ‘‘(c) An appointing authority may select any appli12 cant in the highest quality category or, if fewer than three

13 candidates have been assigned to the highest quality

14 category, in a merged category consisting of the highest

15 and the second highest quality categories. Notwithstand16 ing the preceding sentence, the appointing authority may

17 not pass over a preference eligible in the same category

18 from which selection is made, unless the requirements of

19 section 3317(b) or 3318(b), as applicable, are satisfied.

20 ‘‘(d) The Office of Personnel Management may pre21 scribe such regulations as it considers necessary to carry

22 out the provisions of this section.’’;

23 (2) by amending section 3341 to read as fol24 lows:
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1 ‘‘§ 3341. Details; within Executive agencies and mili2 tary departments; employees affected by

3 reduction in force

4 ‘‘(a) The head of an Executive agency or military

5 department may detail employees, except those required

6 by law to be engaged exclusively in some specific work,

7 among the bureaus and offices of the agency or depart8 ment.

9 ‘‘(b) The head of an Executive agency or military

10 department may detail to duties in the same or another

11 agency or department, on a nonreimbursable basis, an em12 ployee who has been identified by the employing agency

13 as likely to be separated from the Federal service by re14 duction in force or who has received a specific notice of

15 separation by reduction in force.

16 ‘‘(c) Details under subsection (a) may not be for

17 periods exceeding 120 days. These details may be renewed

18 by written order of the head of the agency or department,

19 in each particular case, for periods not exceeding 120

20 days.’’; and

21 (3) in the table of sections—

22 (A) by amending the item relating to sec23 tion 3319 to read as follows:

‘‘3319. Alternative ranking and selection procedures.’’; and

24 (B) by amending the item relating to sec25 tion 3341 to read as follows:
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‘‘3341. Details; within Executive agencies and military departments; employees

affected by reduction in force.’’.

1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—(1) Except as provided by

2 paragraph (2), the amendments made by subsection (a)

3 shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment

4 of this Act.

5 (2) The amendments made by paragraph (2) of sub6 section (a) shall take effect 30 days after the date of the

7 enactment of this Act.

8 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO INCENTIVE AWARDS AUTHORITY.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 45 of title 5, United

10 States Code, is amended—

11 (1) by amending section 4501 to read as fol12 lows:

13 ‘‘§ 4501. Definitions

14 ‘‘For the purpose of this subchapter—

15 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ means—

16 ‘‘(A) an Executive agency;

17 ‘‘(B) the Library of Congress;

18 ‘‘(C) the Office of the Architect of the

19 Capitol;

20 ‘‘(D) the Botanic Garden;

21 ‘‘(E) the Government Printing Office; and

22 ‘‘(F) the United States Sentencing Com23 mission;

24 but does not include—
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1 ‘‘(i) the Tennessee Valley Authority; or

2 ‘‘(ii) the Central Bank for Cooperatives;

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ means an employee as

4 defined by section 2105; and

5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Government’ means the Govern6 ment of the United States.’’;

7 (2) by amending section 4503 to read as fol8 lows:

9 ‘‘§ 4503. Agency awards

10 ‘‘The head of an agency may pay a cash award to,

11 and incur necessary expenses for the honorary recognition

12 of, an employee who, as an individual or a member of a

13 group—

14 ‘‘(1) by a suggestion, invention, superior

15 individual or group accomplishment, sustained supe16 rior performance, or other personal effort contrib17 utes to the efficiency, economy, or other improve18 ment of Government operations or achieves a signifi19 cant reduction in paperwork; or

20 ‘‘(2) performs a special act or service in the

21 public interest in connection with or related to

22 official employment.’’;

23 (3) by repealing section 4505a;
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1 (4) in section 4508(b) by striking ‘‘an award’’

2 and inserting ‘‘a cash award or time-off-from-duty

3 award’’; and

4 (5) in the table of sections by repealing the

5 item relating to section 4505a.

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

7 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment

8 of this Act.

9 SEC. 5. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 47 of title 5, United

11 States Code, is amended—

12 (1) in section 4701(a)(1) by striking subpara13 graph (A) and by redesignating subparagraphs (B)

14 and (C) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;

15 (2) in section 4703—

16 (A) in subsection (b)—

17 (i) by striking paragraph (3) and re18 designating paragraphs (4) through (6) as

19 paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively;

20 and

21 (ii) in paragraph (3) (as so redesig22 nated) by striking ‘‘180 days’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘150 days’’;

24 (B) by striking subsections (d), (e), (h),

25 and (i);
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1 (C) by redesignating subsections (f) and

2 (g) as subsections (l) and (m), respectively; and

3 (D) by inserting after subsection (c) the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(d)(1) Before the end of the 5-year period beginning

6 on the date on which a demonstration project takes effect,

7 the Office shall determine whether the project shall be—

8 ‘‘(A) terminated;

9 ‘‘(B) continued beyond the end of such 5-year

10 period to the extent necessary to validate the results

11 of the project; or

12 ‘‘(C) made permanent, subject to paragraph

13 (3).

14 ‘‘(2) Before making a determination under paragraph

15 (1), the Office may provide for an evaluation of the results

16 of the demonstration project and its impact on improving

17 public management. Upon request of the Director of the

18 Office, agencies shall cooperate with and assist the Office,

19 to the extent practicable, in any evaluation undertaken

20 under this paragraph and provide the Office with re21 quested information and reports relating to demonstration

22 projects in their agencies.

23 ‘‘(3)(A) Before extending a project under paragraph

24 (1)(B) or making a project permanent under paragraph

25 (1)(C), the Office shall publish a notice in the Federal
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1 Register of its intention to do so. In addition, the Office

2 shall notify in writing both Houses of Congress of its in3 tention to make a project permanent. A project may not

4 be made permanent if a joint resolution is enacted, in ac5 cordance with this section, disapproving the proposal to

6 make the project permanent before the earlier of—

7 ‘‘(i) the end of the 90-day period beginning on

8 the date on which the Office transmits its rec9 ommendation to Congress; or

10 ‘‘(ii) the adjournment of Congress sine die for

11 the session during which such recommendation is

12 transmitted.

13 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the days on

14 which either House of Congress is not in session because

15 of an adjournment of more than 3 days to a day certain

16 shall be excluded in the computation of a 90-day period.

17 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this section, the term ‘joint res18 olution’ means only a joint resolution which is introduced

19 within the 10-day period beginning on the date on which

20 the Office transmits its proposal to the Congress under

21 subsection (d)(1)(C), the matter after the resolving clause

22 of which is as follows: ‘That the Congress disapproves of

23 the proposal of the Office of Personnel Management under

24 section 4703(d)(1)(C) of title 5, United States Code, as
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1 submitted on .’, the blank space being filled in with

2 the appropriate date.

3 ‘‘(f) A resolution described in subsection (e) that is

4 introduced in the House of Representatives shall be re5 ferred to the Committee on Government Reform and Over6 sight of the House of Representatives. A resolution de7 scribed in subsection (e) that is introduced in the Senate

8 shall be referred to the Committee on Governmental Af9 fairs of the Senate.

10 ‘‘(g) If the committee to which a resolution described

11 in subsection (e) is referred has not reported such resolu12 tion by the end of the 20-day period beginning on the date

13 on which the Office transmits its proposal to the Congress

14 under subsection (d)(1)(C), such committee shall, at the

15 end of such period, be discharged from further consider16 ation of such resolution, and such resolution shall be

17 placed on the appropriate calendar of the House involved.

18 ‘‘(h)(1) On or after the third day after the date on

19 which the committee to which such a resolution is referred

20 has reported, or has been discharged (under subsection

21 (g)) from further consideration of, such a resolution, it

22 shall be in order (even though a previous motion to the

23 same effect has been disagreed to) for any Member of the

24 respective House to move to proceed to the consideration

25 of the resolution. A Member may make the motion only
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1 on the day after the calendar day on which the Member

2 announces to the House concerned the Member’s intention

3 to make the motion, except that, in the case of the House

4 of Representatives, the motion may be made without such

5 prior announcement if the motion is made by direction of

6 the committee to which the resolution was referred. All

7 points of order against the resolution (and against consid8 eration of the resolution) are waived. The motion is highly

9 privileged in the House of Representatives and is privi10 leged in the Senate and is not debatable. The motion is

11 not subject to amendment, or to a motion to postpone,

12 or to a motion to proceed to the consideration of other

13 business. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the

14 motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order.

15 If a motion to proceed to the consideration of the resolu16 tion is agreed to, the respective House shall immediately

17 proceed to consideration of the joint resolution without in18 tervening motion, order, or other business, and the resolu19 tion shall remain the unfinished business of the respective

20 House until disposed of.

21 ‘‘(2) Debate on the resolution, and on all debatable

22 motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be lim23 ited to not more than 1 hour, to be divided equally between

24 those favoring and those opposing the resolution. An

25 amendment to the resolution is not in order. A motion fur-
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1 ther to limit debate is in order and not debatable. A mo2 tion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consider3 ation of other business, or a motion to recommit the reso4 lution is not in order. A motion to reconsider the vote by

5 which the resolution is agreed to or disagreed to is not

6 in order.

7 ‘‘(3) Immediately following the conclusion of the de8 bate on a resolution described in subsection (e) and a sin9 gle quorum call at the conclusion of the debate if re10 quested in accordance with the rules of the appropriate

11 House, the vote on final passage of the resolution shall

12 occur.

13 ‘‘(4) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating

14 to the application of the rules of the Senate or the House

15 of Representatives, as the case may be, to the procedure

16 relating to a resolution described in subsection (e) shall

17 be decided without debate.

18 ‘‘(i)(1) If, before the passage by one House of a reso19 lution of that House described in subsection (e), that

20 House receives from the other House a resolution de21 scribed in subsection (e), then the following procedures

22 shall apply:

23 ‘‘(A) The resolution of the other House shall

24 not be referred to a committee and may not be con-
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1 sidered in the House receiving it except in the case

2 of final passage as provided in subparagraph (B)(ii).

3 ‘‘(B) With respect to a resolution described in

4 subsection (e) of the House receiving the resolu5 tion—

6 ‘‘(i) the procedure in that House shall be

7 the same as if no resolution had been received

8 from the other House; but

9 ‘‘(ii) the vote on final passage shall be on

10 the resolution of the other House.

11 ‘‘(2) Upon disposition of the resolution received from

12 the other House, it shall no longer be in order to consider

13 the resolution that originated in the receiving House.

14 ‘‘(j) Subsections (e) through (i) are enacted by Con15 gress—

16 ‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

17 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec18 tively, and as such are deemed a part of the rules

19 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with

20 respect to the procedure to be followed in that

21 House in the case of a resolution described in sub22 section (e), and shall supersede other rules only to

23 the extent inconsistent with such rules; and

24 ‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional

25 right of either House to change the rules (so far as
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1 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time,

2 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in

3 the case of any other rule of that House.

4 ‘‘(k) After consulting with the agency involved, the

5 Office may terminate a demonstration project at any time

6 if it determines that the project—

7 ‘‘(1) is not consistent with merit system prin8 ciples set forth in section 2301, veterans’ preference

9 principles, or the provisions of this chapter; or

10 ‘‘(2) otherwise imposes a substantial hardship

11 on, or is not in the best interests of, the public, the

12 Government, employees, or eligibles.’’;

13 (E) by adding after subsection (m) (as so

14 redesignated by subparagraph (C)) the follow15 ing:

16 ‘‘(n) Funds appropriated to the Office for the pur17 pose of this chapter may be allocated by the Office to any

18 agency conducting demonstration projects or assisting the

19 Office in conducting such projects. Funds so allocated

20 shall remain available for such period as may be specified

21 in appropriation Acts.’’;

22 (3) by repealing sections 4704 and 4705;

23 (4) by redesignating section 4706 as section

24 4704;
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1 (5) in section 4704 (as so redesignated) by

2 striking ‘‘shall prescribe regulations’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘may prescribe regulations’’; and

4 (6) in the table of sections by striking the items

5 relating to sections 4704 and 4705 and by striking

6 ‘‘4706’’ and inserting ‘‘4704’’.

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—(1) Subject to paragraph

8 (2), this section and the amendments made by this section

9 shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

10 (2)(A) Except as provided by subparagraph (B), the

11 amendments made by this section shall have no effect on

12 any demonstration project being conducted under chapter

13 47 of title 5, United States Code, on the date of the enact14 ment of this Act.

15 (B) Section 4703(d), as amended by subsection

16 (a)(2)(D), shall apply with respect to demonstration

17 projects being conducted under chapter 47 of such title

18 5 on the date of the enactment of this Act, except that

19 the 5-year time limit for a determination under paragraph

20 (1) of such section 4703(d) shall not apply with respect

21 to any such projects that were initiated more than 5 years

22 before the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 6. STREAMLINING FEDERAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

2 PROCESSES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 5, United States Code, is

4 amended—

5 (1) in chapter 43—

6 (A) in section 4302(b)(6) by striking ‘‘or

7 removing employees who continue to have unac8 ceptable performance but only after an oppor9 tunity to demonstrate acceptable performance’’

10 and inserting ‘‘removing, or taking other appro11 priate action against employees whose perform12 ance is unacceptable’’;

13 (B) by repealing section 4303; and

14 (C) in the table of sections by repealing

15 the item relating to section 4303;

16 (2) in section 5335(c)—

17 (A) by striking the second sentence;

18 (B) in the next to last sentence by striking

19 ‘‘or appeal’’; and

20 (C) in the last sentence by striking ‘‘and

21 the entitlement of the employee to appeal to the

22 Board do not apply’’ and inserting ‘‘does not

23 apply’’; and

24 (3) in section 7513(b)(1) by striking ‘‘30’’ and

25 inserting ‘‘15’’.
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title 5, United

2 States Code, is amended—

3 (1) in section 7121 (e)(1), (e)(2), and (f) by

4 striking ‘‘sections 4303 and 7512 of this title’’ each

5 place it appears and inserting ‘‘section 7512’’;

6 (2) in section 7512 by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end

7 of subparagraph (C), by striking subparagraph (D),

8 and by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subpara9 graph (D);

10 (3) in section 7513(a) by striking the period

11 and inserting ‘‘, including an action based on unac12 ceptable performance.’’; and

13 (4) in section 7701(c)(1)(A) by striking ‘‘an ac14 tion based on unacceptable performance described in

15 section 4303 or’’.

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—(1) Subject to paragraphs

17 (2) and (3), this section and the amendments made by

18 this section shall take effect 180 days after the date of

19 the enactment of this Act.

20 (2) The amendments made by subsection (a)(1) shall

21 not apply in the case of an employee who, before the effec22 tive date of this section, receives advance written notice

23 of a proposed action under section 4303(b)(1)(A) of title

24 5, United States Code.
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1 (3) The amendment made by subsection (a)(2) shall

2 not apply to an individual who, before the effective date

3 of this section, receives written notice of his or her right

4 to appeal a determination under section 5335(a) of title

5 5, United States Code.

Æ