II 

Calendar No. 288 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1550 

[Report No. 114–162] 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to establish entities tasked with 

improving program and project management in certain Federal agencies, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2015 

Mrs. ERNST (for herself, Ms. HEITKAMP, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

NOVEMBER 3, 2015 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to establish entities 

tasked with improving program and project management 

in certain Federal agencies, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Program Management 

3 Improvement Accountability Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR MANAGEMENT. 

5 (a) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—Section 503 of title 

6 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to the direction 

10 and approval of the Director, the Deputy Director 

11 for Management or designee shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) adopt governmentwide standards, 

13 policies, and guidelines for program and project 

14 management for executive agencies; 

15 ‘‘(B) oversee program and project manage16 ment for the standards, policies, and guidelines 

17 established under subparagraph (A); 

18 ‘‘(C) chair the Program Management Pol19 icy Council established under section 1126(b); 

20 ‘‘(D) issue regulations and establish stand21 ards and policies for executive agencies, in ac22 cordance with nationally accredited standards 

23 for program and project management planning 

24 and delivery issues; 

25 ‘‘(E) engage with the private sector; 


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1 ‘‘(F) conduct portfolio reviews to address 

2 programs identified as high risk by the Govern3 ment Accountability Office; 

4 ‘‘(G) not less than annually, conduct port5 folio reviews of agency programs in coordination 

6 with Project Management Improvement Officers 

7 designated under section 1126(a)(1); and 

8 ‘‘(H) establish a 5-year strategic plan for 

9 program and project management. 

10 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF DE11 FENSE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the De12 partment of Defense to the extent that the provi13 sions of that paragraph are substantially similar to 

14 or duplicative of the provisions of section 810 of the 

15 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

16 2016.’’. 

17 (b) DEADLINE FOR STANDARDS, POLICIES, AND

18 GUIDELINES.—Not later than 120 days after the date of 

19 the enactment of this Act, the Deputy Director for Man20 agement of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

21 issue the standards, policies, and guidelines required 

22 under section 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, as 

23 added by subsection (a). 

24 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 150 days after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Deputy Director 


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1 for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, 

2 in consultation with the Program Management Policy 

3 Council established under section 1126(b) of title 31, 

4 United States Code, as added by section 3(a), and the Di5 rector of the Office of Management and Budget, shall 

6 issue any regulations as are necessary to implement the 

7 requirements of section 503(c) of title 31, United States 

8 Code, as added by subsection (a). 

9 SEC. 3. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS 

10 AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT POLICY COUN11 CIL. 

12 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 11 of title 31, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘§ 1126. Program Management Improvement Officers 

16 and Program Management Policy Council 

17 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT OFFI18 CERS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—The head of each agency 

20 described in section 901(b) shall designate a senior 

21 executive of the agency as the Program Management 

22 Improvement Officer of the agency. The Program 

23 Management Improvement Officer shall report di24 rectly to the head of the agency. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The Program Management 

2 Improvement Officer of an agency designated under 

3 paragraph (1) shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) implement program management poli5 cies established by the agency under section 

6 503(c); and 

7 ‘‘(B) develop a written strategy for en8 hancing the role of program managers within 

9 the agency that includes the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) Enhanced training and edu11 cational opportunities for program man12 agers. 

13 ‘‘(ii) Mentoring of current and future 

14 program managers by experienced senior 

15 executives and program managers within 

16 the agency. 

17 ‘‘(iii) Improved career paths and ca18 reer opportunities for program managers. 

19 ‘‘(iv) Incentives for the recruitment 

20 and retention of highly qualified individ21 uals to serve as program managers. 

22 ‘‘(v) Improved resources and support, 

23 including relevant competencies encom24 passed with program and project manageVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Nov 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1550.RS S1550

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1 ment within the private sector for program 

2 managers. 

3 ‘‘(vi) Improved means of collecting 

4 and disseminating best practices and les5 sons learned to enhance program manage6 ment across the agency. 

7 ‘‘(vii) Common templates and tools to 

8 support improved data gathering and anal9 ysis for program management and over10 sight purposes. 

11 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF DE12 FENSE.—This subsection shall not apply to the De13 partment of Defense to the extent that the provi14 sions of this subsection are substantially similar to 

15 or duplicative of the provisions of section 810 of the 

16 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

17 2016. 

18 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT POLICY COUNCIL.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

20 the Office of Management and Budget a council to 

21 be known as the ‘Program Management Policy 

22 Council’ (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Coun23 cil’). 

24 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS.—The Council 

25 shall act as the principal interagency forum for imVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Nov 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1550.RS S1550

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1 proving agency practices related to program and 

2 project management. The Council shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) advise and assist the Deputy Director 

4 for Management of the Office of Management 

5 and Budget; 

6 ‘‘(B) review programs identified as high 

7 risk by the General Accountability Office and 

8 make recommendations for actions to be taken 

9 by the Deputy Director for Management of the 

10 Office of Management and Budget or designee; 

11 ‘‘(C) discuss topics of importance to the 

12 workforce, including— 

13 ‘‘(i) career development and workforce 

14 development needs; 

15 ‘‘(ii) policy to support continuous im16 provement in program and project manage17 ment; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) major challenges across agencies 

19 in managing programs; 

20 ‘‘(D) advise on the development and appli21 cability of standards governmentwide for pro22 gram management transparency; and 

23 ‘‘(E) review the information published on 

24 the website of the Office of Management and 

25 Budget pursuant to section 1122. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

2 ‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be 

3 composed of the following members: 

4 ‘‘(i) Five members from the Office of 

5 Management and Budget as follows: 

6 ‘‘(I) The Deputy Director for 

7 Management. 

8 ‘‘(II) The Administrator of the 

9 Office of Electronic Government. 

10 ‘‘(III) The Administrator of the 

11 Office of Federal Procurement Policy. 

12 ‘‘(IV) The Controller of the Of13 fice of Federal Financial Manage14 ment. 

15 ‘‘(V) The Director of the Office 

16 of Performance and Personnel Man17 agement. 

18 ‘‘(ii) The Program Management Im19 provement Officer from each agency de20 scribed in section 901(b). 

21 ‘‘(iii) Other individuals as determined 

22 appropriate by the Chairperson. 

23 ‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR24 PERSON.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Di2 rector for Management of the Office of 

3 Management and Budget shall be the 

4 Chairperson of the Council. A Vice Chair5 person shall be elected by the members and 

6 shall serve a term of not more than 1 year. 

7 ‘‘(ii) DUTIES.—The Chairperson shall 

8 preside at the meetings of the Council, de9 termine the agenda of the Council, direct 

10 the work of the Council, and establish and 

11 direct subgroups of the Council as appro12 priate. 

13 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet not 

14 less than twice per fiscal year and may meet at the 

15 call of the Chairperson or a majority of the members 

16 of the Council. 

17 ‘‘(5) SUPPORT.—The head of each agency with 

18 a Project Management Improvement Officer serving 

19 on the Council shall provide administrative support 

20 to the Council, as appropriate, at the request of the 

21 Chairperson. 

22 ‘‘(6) COMMITTEE DURATION.—Section 14(a)(2) 

23 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

24 App.) shall not apply to the Council.’’. 


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1 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of 

3 each agency described in section 901(b) of title 31, United 

4 States Code, shall submit to Congress and the Office of 

5 Management and Budget a report containing the strategy 

6 developed under section 1126(a)(2)(B) of such title, as 

7 added by subsection (a). 

8 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT PER9 SONNEL STANDARDS. 

10 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘agency’’ 

11 means each agency described in section 901(b) of title 31, 

12 United States Code. 

13 (b) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 270 

14 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

15 of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation 

16 with the Director of the Office of Management and Budg17 et, shall issue regulations that— 

18 (1) identify key skills and competencies needed 

19 for a program and project manager in an agency; 

20 (2) establish a new job series for program and 

21 project management within an agency; and 

22 (3) establish a new career path for program 

23 and project managers within an agency. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Program Management 

3 Improvement Accountability Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR MANAGEMENT. 

5 (a) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—Section 503 of title 31, 

6 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to the direction 

10 and approval of the Director, the Deputy Director for 

11 Management or a designee shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) adopt governmentwide standards, poli13 cies, and guidelines for program and project 

14 management for executive agencies; 

15 ‘‘(B) oversee implementation of program 

16 and project management for the standards, poli17 cies, and guidelines established under subpara18 graph (A); 

19 ‘‘(C) chair the Program Management Policy 

20 Council established under section 1126(b); 

21 ‘‘(D) establish standards and policies for ex22 ecutive agencies, in accordance with widely ac23 cepted standards for program and project man24 agement planning and delivery; 

25 ‘‘(E) engage with the private sector to iden26 tify best practices in program and project manVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Nov 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1550.RS S1550

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1 agement that would improve Federal program 

2 and project management; 

3 ‘‘(F) conduct portfolio reviews to address 

4 programs identified as high risk by the Govern5 ment Accountability Office; 

6 ‘‘(G) not less than annually, conduct port7 folio reviews of agency programs in coordination 

8 with Project Management Improvement Officers 

9 designated under section 1126(a)(1) to assess the 

10 quality and effectiveness of program manage11 ment; and 

12 ‘‘(H) establish a 5-year strategic plan for 

13 program and project management. 

14 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF DE15 FENSE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the De16 partment of Defense to the extent that the provisions 

17 of that paragraph are substantially similar to or du18 plicative of the provisions of the National Defense Au19 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016.’’. 

20 (b) DEADLINE FOR STANDARDS, POLICIES, AND

21 GUIDELINES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact22 ment of this Act, the Deputy Director for Management of 

23 the Office of Management and Budget shall issue the stand24 ards, policies, and guidelines required under section 503(c) 

25 of title 31, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 


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1 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 

2 date on which the standards, policies, and guidelines are 

3 issued under subsection (b), the Deputy Director for Man4 agement of the Office of Management and Budget, in con5 sultation with the Program Management Policy Council es6 tablished under section 1126(b) of title 31, United States 

7 Code, as added by section 3(a), and the Director of the Of8 fice of Management and Budget, shall issue any regulations 

9 as are necessary to implement the requirements of section 

10 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, as added by sub11 section (a). 

12 SEC. 3. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS 

13 AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT POLICY COUN14 CIL. 

15 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 11 of title 31, United 

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 1126. Program Management Improvement Officers 

18 and Program Management Policy Council 

19 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT OFFI20 CERS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—The head of each agency de22 scribed in section 901(b) shall designate a senior exec23 utive of the agency as the Program Management Im24 provement Officer of the agency. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The Program Management 

2 Improvement Officer of an agency designated under 

3 paragraph (1) shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) implement program management poli5 cies established by the agency under section 

6 503(c); and 

7 ‘‘(B) develop a strategy for enhancing the 

8 role of program managers within the agency that 

9 includes the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) Enhanced training and edu11 cational opportunities for program man12 agers that shall include— 

13 ‘‘(I) training in the relevant com14 petencies encompassed with program 

15 and project manager within the pri16 vate sector for program managers; and 

17 ‘‘(II) training that emphasizes 

18 cost containment for large projects and 

19 programs. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Mentoring of current and future 

21 program managers by experienced senior 

22 executives and program managers within 

23 the agency. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Improved career paths and ca25 reer opportunities for program managers. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) A plan to encourage the recruit2 ment and retention of highly qualified indi3 viduals to serve as program managers. 

4 ‘‘(v) Improved means of collecting and 

5 disseminating best practices and lessons 

6 learned to enhance program management 

7 across the agency. 

8 ‘‘(vi) Common templates and tools to 

9 support improved data gathering and anal10 ysis for program management and oversight 

11 purposes. 

12 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF DE13 FENSE.—This subsection shall not apply to the De14 partment of Defense to the extent that the provisions 

15 of this subsection are substantially similar to or du16 plicative of the provisions of the National Defense Au17 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. 

18 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT POLICY COUNCIL.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

20 the Office of Management and Budget a council to be 

21 known as the ‘Program Management Policy Council’ 

22 (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Council’). 

23 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS.—The Council 

24 shall act as the principal interagency forum for imVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Nov 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1550.RS S1550

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1 proving agency practices related to program and 

2 project management. The Council shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) advise and assist the Deputy Director 

4 for Management of the Office of Management 

5 and Budget; 

6 ‘‘(B) review programs identified as high 

7 risk by the General Accountability Office and 

8 make recommendations for actions to be taken by 

9 the Deputy Director for Management of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget or a designee; 

11 ‘‘(C) discuss topics of importance to the 

12 workforce, including— 

13 ‘‘(i) career development and workforce 

14 development needs; 

15 ‘‘(ii) policy to support continuous im16 provement in program and project manage17 ment; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) major challenges across agencies 

19 in managing programs; 

20 ‘‘(D) advise on the development and appli21 cability of standards governmentwide for pro22 gram management transparency; and 

23 ‘‘(E) review the information published on 

24 the website of the Office of Management and 

25 Budget pursuant to section 1122. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

2 ‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be 

3 composed of the following members: 

4 ‘‘(i) Five members from the Office of 

5 Management and Budget as follows: 

6 ‘‘(I) The Deputy Director for 

7 Management. 

8 ‘‘(II) The Administrator of the Of9 fice of Electronic Government. 

10 ‘‘(III) The Administrator of Fed11 eral Procurement Policy. 

12 ‘‘(IV) The Controller of the Office 

13 of Federal Financial Management. 

14 ‘‘(V) The Director of the Office of 

15 Performance and Personnel Manage16 ment. 

17 ‘‘(ii) The Program Management Im18 provement Officer from each agency de19 scribed in section 901(b). 

20 ‘‘(iii) Other individuals as determined 

21 appropriate by the Chairperson. 

22 ‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR23 PERSON.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Direc25 tor for Management of the Office of ManageVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Nov 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1550.RS S1550

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1 ment and Budget shall be the Chairperson 

2 of the Council. A Vice Chairperson shall be 

3 elected by the members and shall serve a 

4 term of not more than 1 year. 

5 ‘‘(ii) DUTIES.—The Chairperson shall 

6 preside at the meetings of the Council, de7 termine the agenda of the Council, direct 

8 the work of the Council, and establish and 

9 direct subgroups of the Council as appro10 priate. 

11 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet not less 

12 than twice per fiscal year and may meet at the call 

13 of the Chairperson or a majority of the members of 

14 the Council. 

15 ‘‘(5) SUPPORT.—The head of each agency with a 

16 Project Management Improvement Officer serving on 

17 the Council shall provide administrative support to 

18 the Council, as appropriate, at the request of the 

19 Chairperson. 

20 ‘‘(6) COMMITTEE DURATION.—Section 14(a)(2) 

21 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

22 App.) shall not apply to the Council.’’. 

23 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 

25 of Management and Budget, in consultation with each ProVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Nov 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1550.RS S1550

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1 gram Management Improvement Officer designated under 

2 section 1126(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code, shall sub3 mit to Congress a report containing the strategy developed 

4 under section 1126(a)(2)(B) of such title, as added by sub5 section (a). 

6 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT PER7 SONNEL STANDARDS. 

8 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘agency’’ 

9 means each agency described in section 901(b) of title 31, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (b) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

12 days after the date on which the standards, policies, and 

13 guidelines are issued under section 503(c) of title 31, United 

14 States Code, as added by section 2(a), the Director of the 

15 Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the 

16 Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall 

17 issue regulations that— 

18 (1) identify key skills and competencies needed 

19 for a program and project manager in an agency; 

20 (2) establish a new job series, or update and im21 prove an existing job series, for program and project 

22 management within an agency; and 

23 (3) establish a new career path for program and 

24 project managers within an agency. 


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1 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF POLICIES ON 

2 PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT. 

3 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 

4 this Act, the Government Accountability Office shall issue, 

5 in conjunction with the High Risk list of the Government 

6 Accountability Office, a report examining the effectiveness 

7 of the following on improving Federal program and project 

8 management: 

9 (1) The standards, policies, and guidelines for 

10 program and project management issued under sec11 tion 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, as added 

12 by section 2(a). 

13 (2) The 5-year strategic plan established under 

14 section 503(c)(1)(H) of title 31, United States Code, 

15 as added by section 2(a). 

16 (3) Program Management Improvement Officers 

17 designated under section 1126(a)(1) of title 31, 

18 United States Code, as added by section 3(a). 

19 (4) The Program Management Policy Council es20 tablished under section 1126(b)(1) of title 31, United 

21 States Code, as added by section 3(a). 


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Calendar No. 288 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1550 

[Report No. 114–162] 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to establish 

and for other purposes. project management in certain Federal agencies, entities tasked with improving program and 

NOVEMBER 3, 2015 

Reported with an amendment 


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