II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2225 

To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to revise 

job classification and qualification standards for positions in the competitive service regarding educational requirements for those positions, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to revise job classification and qualification standards for positions in the competitive service regarding 

educational requirements for those positions, 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 Skills Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an agency that 

2 appoints individuals to positions in the competitive 

3 service; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘competitive service’’ has the 

5 meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 5, 

6 United States Code; 

7 (3) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

8 the Office of Personnel Management; 

9 (4) the term ‘‘education’’ means the completion 

10 or attainment of a postsecondary degree or other 

11 credential at an institution of higher education (as 

12 defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act 

13 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)); 

14 (5) the term ‘‘personnel assessment’’ means a 

15 method of collecting information regarding an indi16 vidual for the purposes of making a selection deci17 sion with respect to the individual; 

18 (6) the term ‘‘qualification standards’’ means 

19 the minimum requirements with respect to edu20 cation, training, and experience that an applicant for 

21 employment would need to possess in order to make 

22 it likely that the applicant would perform satisfac23 torily in the position or occupational series that is 

24 the subject of the application for employment; and 


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1 (7) the term ‘‘selection decision’’ includes a de2 cision regarding an individual with respect to— 

3 (A) appointment; 

4 (B) placement; 

5 (C) promotion; 

6 (D) referral; 

7 (E) retention; or 

8 (F) entry into a program leading to career 

9 advancement, such as an apprenticeship pro10 gram, a training program, or a career develop11 ment program. 

12 SEC. 3. REVISION OF JOB CLASSIFICATION AND QUALI13 FICATION STANDARDS. 

14 (a) REVIEW.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with the require16 ments of this section, the Director, in consultation 

17 with the Director of the Office of Management and 

18 Budget and the head of each agency, shall review 

19 and revise all job classification and qualification 

20 standards for positions in the competitive service, as 

21 necessary. 

22 (2) PUBLICATION; EFFECTIVE DATE.—With re23 spect to any change to a job classification or quali24 fication standard made under paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) the Director shall, not later than 120 

2 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

3 make that change available to the public; and 

4 (B) the change shall take effect not later 

5 than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

6 this Act. 

7 (b) EDUCATION REQUIREMENT.—The head of an 

8 agency may prescribe a minimum requirement with re9 spect to education for a position in the competitive service 

10 only if a minimum qualification with respect to education 

11 is legally required to perform the duties of a comparable 

12 position in the State or locality where those duties are to 

13 be performed. 

14 (c) CONSIDERATION OF EDUCATION.—Unless the 

15 head of an agency is determining the satisfaction of a le16 gally required minimum requirement with respect to edu17 cation for an applicant for employment with the agency, 

18 the agency head may consider the education of the appli19 cant in determining the satisfaction by the applicant of 

20 another minimum qualification only if the education of the 

21 applicant directly reflects the competencies necessary to 

22 satisfy that qualification and perform the duties of the po23 sition. 

24 (d) POSITION LISTING.—A position description and 

25 job posting published by an agency for a position in the 


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1 competitive service shall be based on the specific skills and 

2 competencies required to perform that position, as estab3 lished in the position classifications and qualification 

4 standards of the Office of Personnel Management. 

5 SEC. 4. IMPROVING THE USE OF ASSESSMENTS IN THE FED6 ERAL HIRING PROCESS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall work with the 

8 head of each agency to ensure that, not later than 180 

9 days after the date of enactment of this Act, for a position 

10 in the competitive service, the head of an agency assesses 

11 an applicant for employment in a manner that does not 

12 rely solely on the education of the applicant to determine 

13 the extent to which the applicant possesses relevant knowl14 edge, skills, competencies, and abilities for the position. 

15 (b) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to the as16 sessment practices described in subsection (a)— 

17 (1) the head of each agency shall develop or 

18 identify those assessment practices; and 

19 (2) those assessment practices— 

20 (A) may not be substantively equivalent to 

21 competencies only attainable through education; 

22 and 

23 (B) shall be published by the applicable 

24 agency in the human resources manual of the 

25 agency. 


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1 (c) CONSIDERATION OF SELF-EVALUATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In assessing an applicant for 

3 employment— 

4 (A) the head of an agency may not rely 

5 solely on the self-evaluation of the stated abili6 ties of the applicant; and 

7 (B) the applicant shall fulfill other assess8 ment standards in order to be certified for con9 sideration, as established by the Chief Human 

10 Capital Officer of the applicable agency (or an 

11 equivalent official). 

12 (2) PUBLICATION.—The standards described in 

13 paragraph (1)(B) shall be published in the human 

14 resources manual of the applicable agency. 

15 (d) EVALUATION.—The head of each agency shall 

16 continually evaluate the effectiveness of different assess17 ment strategies to promote and protect the quality and 

18 integrity of the appointment processes of the agency, 

19 which shall be reviewed by the Chief Human Capital Offi20 cer of the agency (or an equivalent official), who shall 

21 make any necessary changes or take any necessary reme22 dial actions concurrent with the review. 

23 SEC. 5. APPLICATION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act may be con25 strued to impair or otherwise affect— 


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1 (1) the authority granted by law to an executive 

2 department or agency, or the head thereof; or 

3 (2) the functions of the Director of the Office 

4 of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, 

5 administrative, or legislative proposals. 

6 (b) RIGHTS OR BENEFITS.—This Act is not intended 

7 to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive 

8 or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party 

9 against the United States, its departments, agencies, or 

10 entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other 

11 person. 

12 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

13 Nothing in this Act may be construed to eliminate 

14 or otherwise affect the student loan forgiveness or student 

15 loan cancellation options available to borrowers under 

16 Federal law, as such options are in effect on the day before 

17 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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