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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 511

To amend title 5, United States Code, to establish a program of Public

Service Scholarships, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 21, 1993

Mr. GILMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Post Office and Civil Service

A BILL

To amend title 5, United States Code, to establish a program

of Public Service Scholarships, 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 ‘‘Public Service Scholar5 ship Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC SERVICE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subpart B of part III of title

8 5, United States Code, is amended by adding after chapter

9 35 the following:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 36—PUBLIC SERVICE

2 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

‘‘Sec.

‘‘3601. Definition.

‘‘3602. Establishment.

‘‘3603. Identification of candidates.

‘‘3604. Scholarship agreements.

‘‘3605. Scholarship payments.

‘‘3606. Regulations.

‘‘3607. Reports.

3 ‘‘§ 3601. Definition

4 ‘‘For the purpose of this chapter, the term ‘agency’

5 means an Executive agency.

6 ‘‘§ 3602. Establishment

7 ‘‘The Office of Personnel Management shall establish

8 a program, to be known as the Public Service Scholarship

9 Program, under which scholarships may be awarded to

10 outstanding students in accordance with this chapter.

11 ‘‘§ 3603. Identification of candidates

12 ‘‘(a) The Office of Personnel Management may, with13 out regard to any provision of law requiring competitive

14 bidding, enter into a contract with 1 or more not-for-prof15 it, non-government organizations to identify candidates for

16 the Public Service Scholarship Program.

17 ‘‘(b) Candidates for the Public Service Scholarship

18 Program—

19 ‘‘(1) shall be identified on the basis of—
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1 ‘‘(A) academic excellence and a commit2 ment to public service or to a field of endeavor

3 useful to the Government; and

4 ‘‘(B) geographic diversity;

5 ‘‘(2) shall be identified without regard to race,

6 color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status,

7 age, disabling condition, or political party or affili8 ation; and

9 ‘‘(3) shall not be disqualified by reason of al10 ready being employed by the Government.

11 ‘‘(c) Each contract referred to in subsection (a) shall

12 contain provisions under which the organization involved

13 shall be required to permit the Office of Personnel Man14 agement and representatives of the General Accounting

15 Office to examine such records of the organization as may

16 be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

17 ‘‘§ 3604. Scholarship agreements

18 ‘‘(a) An agency may select, from among candidates

19 identified under section 3603, individuals to receive schol20 arships under the Public Service Scholarship Program.

21 ‘‘(b) The agency and each individual so selected shall

22 enter into a written agreement which shall include, subject

23 to such requirements as the Office of Personnel Manage24 ment may by regulation prescribe, provisions under

25 which—
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1 ‘‘(1) the agency shall award the scholarship to

2 help defray the costs incurred by such individual in

3 pursuing a baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate de4 gree, as a full-time student, in an academic program

5 which is not less than 1 and not more than 4 aca6 demic years in duration, at an educational institu7 tion which is authorized to grant such degree;

8 ‘‘(2) the individual shall be required to main9 tain an acceptable academic standing (as defined in

10 the agreement), and to provide to the agency such

11 certifications from the educational institution as the

12 agency may require relating to the individual’s at13 tendance and academic standing;

14 ‘‘(3) after successfully completing the require15 ments for the degree, the individual shall accept, if

16 offered within such time as shall be specified in the

17 agreement, an appointment to a full-time position

18 that is commensurate with the individual’s academic

19 degree and experience, and that is—

20 ‘‘(A) in the excepted service, if the individ21 ual has not previously acquired competitive sta22 tus, with the right, after successful completion

23 of 2 years of service and such other require24 ments as the Office may prescribe, to be ap-
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1 pointed to a position in the competitive service,

2 notwithstanding subchapter I of chapter 33; or

3 ‘‘(B) in the competitive service, if the indi4 vidual has previously acquired competitive sta5 tus;

6 ‘‘(4) if appointed under paragraph (3), the indi7 vidual shall serve for 18 months for each complete

8 academic year (as well as the pro rata equivalent for

9 any semester or other portion of an academic year

10 in excess of 1 or more complete academic years) for

11 which a scholarship was provided; and

12 ‘‘(5) the individual agrees to repay to the agen13 cy the full amount in scholarships paid to or on be14 half of such individual under this chapter if the indi15 vidual—

16 ‘‘(A) fails to maintain an acceptable aca17 demic standing or to satisfactorily complete the

18 requirements for the degree involved; or

19 ‘‘(B) if offered a position in accordance

20 with paragraph (3), fails to satisfy the require21 ment under paragraph (4), unless that failure is

22 due to an involuntary separation other than for

23 cause.

24 ‘‘(c) If, in the event of a failure described in para25 graph (5)(A) or (B), the individual does not repay the
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1 amount required under the agreement, a sum equal to the

2 amount outstanding shall be recoverable by the Govern3 ment from the individual (or such individual’s estate, if

4 applicable) by—

5 ‘‘(1) setoff against accrued pay, compensation,

6 amount of retirement credit, or other amount due

7 the employee from the Government; and

8 ‘‘(2) any other method provided by law for the

9 recovery of amounts owing to the Government.

10 The head of the agency concerned may waive, in whole

11 or in part, a right of recovery under this chapter if it is

12 shown that recovery would be against equity and good con13 science or against the public interest.

14 ‘‘(d)(1) An agency and an individual who have en15 tered into an agreement under this section may, by mutual

16 agreement, modify or terminate the agreement at any

17 time.

18 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this chapter shall be considered to

19 require an agency to offer a position to a scholarship recip20 ient. However, if the agency does not make such an offer

21 within the time specified in the agreement, the agreement

22 shall be considered terminated.

23 ‘‘(3) An agency may agree to allow the individual to

24 complete all or part of the period of service required under

25 subsection (b)(4) as an employee of another agency. The
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1 agreement between the agencies may include provisions

2 under which the receiving agency shall reimburse the other

3 agency for an amount not to exceed the total amount in

4 scholarships paid by such agency to or on behalf of the

5 individual involved.

6 ‘‘§ 3605. Scholarship payments

7 ‘‘(a) The Office of Personnel Management shall de8 termine the maximum amount that may be paid as a

9 scholarship under this chapter, on the basis of average

10 costs at public and private educational institutions, cover11 ing tuition and fees, books, appropriate living expenses,

12 and any estimated tax liability for such scholarship. The

13 amount may vary based on the level of the degree being

14 sought. The Office may revise the maximum amount from

15 time to time, as the Office determines appropriate.

16 ‘‘(b)(1) Agencies may make scholarship payments

17 from the appropriation, fund, or account that is available

18 to pay salaries of employees of the activity in which it is

19 expected that the recipient of the scholarship assistance

20 will be employed.

21 ‘‘(2) There are authorized to be appropriated to the

22 Office such sums as may be necessary to permit the Office

23 to reimburse agencies for scholarship payments under this

24 chapter, or for portions of such payments, in order to en-
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1 courage agencies to make use of the Public Service Schol2 arship Program.

3 ‘‘§ 3606. Regulations

4 ‘‘The Office of Personnel Management may prescribe

5 regulations for the administration of this chapter.

6 ‘‘§ 3607. Reports

7 ‘‘The Office of Personnel Management shall prepare

8 and submit to Congress each year a report on the oper9 ation of the Public Service Scholarship Program.’’.

10 (2) The table of chapters for part III of title 5, Unit11 ed States Code, is amended by adding after the item relat12 ing to chapter 35 the following:

‘‘36. Public Service Scholarship Program ................................ 3601’’.

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

14 this section shall be effective as of the date of the enact15 ment of this Act.

16 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT RELATING TO STUDENT LOAN REPAY17 MENTS.

18 Section 5379 of title 5, United States Code, is

19 amended by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(h) At the request of an agency head, the President

21 may authorize the application of the preceding provisions

22 of this section (excluding subsection (a)(2)) with respect

23 to 1 or more categories of employees within such agency,

24 described in subsection (a)(2), who would not otherwise

25 be eligible for benefits under this section.’’.
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