I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2751

To provide new human capital flexibilities with respect to the GAO, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2003

Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia (for herself and Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Government Reform 

A BILL

To provide new human capital flexibilities with respect to 

the GAO, 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; AMENDMENT OF TITLE 31. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2003’’. 

6 (b) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 31.—Except as otherwise 

7 expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment 

8 is expressed in terms of an amendment to a section or 

9 other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 
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1 made to a section or other provision of title 31, United 

2 States Code. 

3 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO PUBLIC LAW 106–303. 

4 Sections 1 and 2 of Public Law 106–303 (5 U.S.C. 

5 8336 note and 5597 note) are amended by striking ‘‘for 

6 purposes of the period beginning on the date of the enact7 ment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2003’’ each 

8 place it appears and inserting ‘‘October 13, 2000’’. 

9 SEC. 3. ANNUAL PAY ADJUSTMENTS. 

10 (a) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES GENERALLY.—Para11 graph (3) of section 732(c) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(3) except as provided under section 

13 733(a)(3)(B) of this title, basic pay rates of officers 

14 and employees of the Office shall be adjusted annu15 ally to such extent as the Comptroller General shall 

16 determine, taking into consideration—

17 ‘‘(A) the principle that there be equal pay 

18 for substantially equal work within each local 

19 pay area; 

20 ‘‘(B) the Consumer Price Index; 

21 ‘‘(C) any existing pay disparities between 

22 officers and employees of the Office and non23 Federal employees in each local pay area; 

24 ‘‘(D) the pay rates for the same levels of 

25 work for officers and employees of the Office 
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1 and non-Federal employees in each local pay 

2 area; 

3 ‘‘(E) the appropriate distribution of agency 

4 funds between annual adjustments under this 

5 section and performance-based compensation; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(F) such other criteria as the Comptroller 

8 General considers appropriate, including, but 

9 not limited to, the funding level for the Office, 

10 amounts allocated for performance-based com11 pensation, and the extent to which the Office is 

12 succeeding in fulfilling its mission and accom13 plishing its strategic plan; 

14 notwithstanding any other provision of this para15 graph, an adjustment under this paragraph shall not 

16 be applied in the case of any officer or employee 

17 whose performance is not at a satisfactory level, as 

18 determined by the Comptroller General for purposes 

19 of such adjustment;’’. 

20 (b) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES IN THE OFFICE SEN21 IOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

22 733(a)(3) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(B) adjusted annually by the Comptroller 

24 General after taking into consideration the fac25 tors listed under section 732(c)(3) of this title, 
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1 except that an adjustment under this subpara2 graph shall not be applied in the case of any of3 ficer or employee whose performance is not at 

4 a satisfactory level, as determined by the Comp5 troller General for purposes of such adjust6 ment;’’. 

7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 732(b)(6) 

8 is amended by striking ‘‘title 5.’’ and inserting ‘‘title 5, 

9 except as provided under subsection (c)(3) of this section 

10 and section 733(a)(3)(B) of this title.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. PAY RETENTION. 

12 Paragraph (5) of section 732(c) is amended to read 

13 as follows: 

14 ‘‘(5) the Comptroller General shall prescribe 

15 regulations under which an officer or employee of 

16 the Office shall be entitled to pay retention if, as a 

17 result of any reduction-in-force or other workforce 

18 adjustment procedure, position reclassification, or 

19 other appropriate circumstances as determined by 

20 the Comptroller General, such officer or employee is 

21 placed in or holds a position in a lower grade or 

22 band with a maximum rate of basic pay that is less 

23 than the rate of basic pay payable to the officer or 

24 employee immediately before the reduction in grade 

25 or band; such regulations—
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1 ‘‘(A) shall provide that the officer or em2 ployee shall be entitled to continue receiving the 

3 rate of basic pay that was payable to the officer 

4 or employee immediately before the reduction in 

5 grade or band until such time as the retained 

6 rate becomes less than the maximum rate for 

7 the grade or band of the position held by such 

8 officer or employee; and 

9 ‘‘(B) shall include provisions relating to 

10 the minimum period of time for which an offi11 cer or employee must have served or for which 

12 the position must have been classified at the 

13 higher grade or band in order for pay retention 

14 to apply, the events that terminate the right to 

15 pay retention (apart from the one described in 

16 subparagraph (A)), and exclusions based on the 

17 nature of an appointment; in prescribing regu18 lations under this subparagraph, the Comp19 troller General shall be guided by the provisions 

20 of sections 5362 and 5363 of title 5.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. RELOCATION BENEFITS. 

22 Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection 

23 (e) the following: 

24 ‘‘(f) The Comptroller General shall prescribe regula25 tions under which officers and employees of the Office 
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1 may, in appropriate circumstances, be reimbursed for any 

2 relocation expenses under subchapter II of chapter 57 of 

3 title 5 for which they would not otherwise be eligible, but 

4 only if the Comptroller General determines that the trans5 fer giving rise to such relocation is of sufficient benefit 

6 or value to the Office to justify such reimbursement.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. INCREASED ANNUAL LEAVE FOR UPPER-LEVEL EM8 PLOYEES. 

9 Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection 

10 (f) (as added by section 5) the following: 

11 ‘‘(g) The Comptroller General shall prescribe regula12 tions under which officers and employees of the Office in 

13 high-grade, managerial, or supervisory positions who have 

14 less than 3 years of service may, in appropriate cir15 cumstances, accrue leave in accordance with section 

16 6303(a)(2) of title 5. Such regulations shall define high17 grade, managerial, or supervisory positions and set forth 

18 the factors in determining which officers and employees 

19 should be allowed to accrue leave in accordance with this 

20 subsection.’’. 

21 SEC. 7. EXECUTIVE EXCHANGE PROGRAM. 

22 Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection 

23 (g) (as added by section 6) the following: 

24 ‘‘(h) The Comptroller General may by regulation es25 tablish an executive exchange program under which offi-
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1 cers and employees of the Office in high-grade, manage2 rial, or supervisory positions may be assigned to private 

3 sector organizations, and employees of private sector orga4 nizations may be assigned to the Office, for work of mu5 tual concern and benefit. Regulations to carry out any 

6 such program—

7 ‘‘(1) shall include provisions which define high8 grade, managerial, or supervisory positions, and pro9 visions (consistent with sections 3702–3704 of title 

10 5) as to matters concerning (A) the duration and 

11 termination of assignments, (B) reimbursements, 

12 and (C) status, entitlements, benefits, and obliga13 tions of program participants; 

14 ‘‘(2) shall limit (A) the number of officers and 

15 employees who are assigned to private sector organi16 zations at any one time to not more than 30, and 

17 (B) the number of employees from private sector or18 ganizations who are assigned to the Office at any 

19 one time to not more than 30; and 

20 ‘‘(3) shall provide for the inclusion, in all re21 ports submitted to the Congress under section 

22 719(a) of this title, of a review of the work being 

23 done by all individuals participating in the program 

24 and an assessment of the effectiveness and useful25 ness of the program.’’. 
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1 SEC. 8. REDESIGNATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The General Accounting Office is 

3 hereby redesignated the Government Accountability Of4 fice. 

5 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference to the General Ac6 counting Office in any law, rule, regulation, certificate, di7 rective, instruction, or other official paper in force on the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act shall be considered to 

9 refer and apply to the Government Accountability Office. 

10 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (b), this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

13 take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 (b) PAY ADJUSTMENTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 and the amend16 ments made by section 3 shall take effect on October 

17 1, 2005, and shall apply in the case of any annual 

18 pay adjustment taking effect on or after that date. 

19 (2) INTERIM AUTHORITIES.—In connection with 

20 any pay adjustment taking effect under section 

21 732(c)(3) or 733(a)(3)(B) of title 31, United States 

22 Code, before October 1, 2005, the Comptroller Gen23 eral may by regulation—

24 (A) provide that such adjustment not be 

25 applied in the case of any officer or employee 

26 whose performance is not at a satisfactory level, 
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1 as determined by the Comptroller General for 

2 purposes of such adjustment; and 

3 (B) provide that such adjustment be re4 duced if and to the extent necessary because of 

5 extraordinary economic conditions or serious 

6 budget constraints. 

7 (3) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller Gen9 eral may by regulation delay the effective date 

10 of section 3 and the amendments made by sec11 tion 3 for groups of officers and employees that 

12 the Comptroller General considers appropriate. 

13 (B) INTERIM AUTHORITIES.—If the Comp14 troller General provides for a delayed effective 

15 date under subparagraph (A) with respect to 

16 any group of officers or employees, paragraph 

17 (2) shall, for purposes of such group, be applied 

18 by substituting such date for ‘‘October 1, 

19 2005’’.

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