II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2595

To amend chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, to authorize the General

Accounting Office to take certain personnel actions, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 18, 2000

Mr. THOMPSON (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To amend chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, to

authorize the General Accounting Office to take certain

personnel actions, 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. SENIOR LEVEL POSITIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 7 of

5 subtitle I of title 31, United States Code, is amended by

6 inserting after section 732 the following:

7 ‘‘§ 732a. Critical positions

8 ‘‘The Comptroller General may establish senior-level

9 positions to meet critical scientific, technical or profes-
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1 sional needs of the Office from the positions authorized

2 under sections 731(d), (e)(1), (e)(2), and 732(c)(4) of this

3 title. An individual serving in such a position shall—

4 ‘‘(1) be subject to the laws and regulations ap5 plicable to the General Accounting Office Senior Ex6 ecutive Service established under section 733 of this

7 title, with respect to rates of basic pay, performance

8 awards, ranks, carry over of annual leave, benefits,

9 performance appraisals, removal or suspension, and

10 reduction in force;

11 ‘‘(2) have the same rights of appeal to the Gen12 eral Accounting Office Personnel Appeals Board

13 that are provided to the General Accounting Office

14 Senior Executive Service;

15 ‘‘(3) be exempt from the same provisions of law

16 made inapplicable to the General Accounting Office

17 Senior Executive Service under section 733(d) of

18 this title, except for section 732(e) of this title;

19 ‘‘(4) be entitled to receive a discontinued service

20 retirement under chapter 83 or 84 of title 5 as if a

21 member of the General Accounting Office Senior Ex22 ecutive Service; and

23 ‘‘(5) be subject to reassignment by the Comp24 troller General to any Senior Executive Service posi25 tion created under section 733 of this title as the
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1 Comptroller General determines necessary and ap2 propriate.’’.

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

4 The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 31, United

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat6 ing to section 732 the following:

‘‘732a. Critical positions.’’.

7 SEC. 2. REASSIGNMENT TO SENIOR LEVEL POSITIONS.

8 Section 733(a) of title 31, United States Code, is

9 amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

11 (6);

12 (2) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para13 graph (8); and

14 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol15 lowing:

16 ‘‘(7) The Comptroller General may reassign a

17 member of the Senior Executive Service to any sen18 ior-level position created under section 732a of this

19 title as the Comptroller determines necessary and

20 appropriate; and’’.

21 SEC. 3. EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.

22 Section 731(e) of title 31, United States Code, is

23 amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘not more than 3 years’’ in

2 paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘3-year renewable

3 terms’’; and

4 (2) by striking ‘‘level V’’ in paragraph (2) and

5 inserting ‘‘level IV’’.

6 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT AUTHORITY.

7 Section 732 of title 31, United States Code, is

8 amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(i)(1) An officer or employee of the General Ac10 counting Office who is separated from the service under

11 conditions described in paragraph (2) of this subsection

12 after completing 25 years of service or after becoming 50

13 years of age and completing 20 years of service is entitled

14 to an annuity in accordance with the provisions of chapter

15 83 or 84 of title 5, as applicable.

16 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection applies to an

17 officer or employee who—

18 ‘‘(A) has been employed continuously by the

19 General Accounting Office for more than 30 days

20 before the date on which the Comptroller General

21 makes the determination required under subpara22 graph (D);

23 ‘‘(B) is serving under an appointment that is

24 not limited by time;
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1 ‘‘(C) has not received a decision notice of invol2 untary separation for misconduct or unacceptable

3 performance that is pending decision; and

4 ‘‘(D) is separated from the service voluntarily

5 during a period in which the Comptroller General of6 fers the officer or employee an early retirement for

7 the purpose of realigning the agency workforce in

8 order to meet mission needs, correcting skill imbal9 ances, or reducing high-grade, managerial, or super10 visory positions.

11 ‘‘(3) For purposes of chapters 83 and 84 of title 5

12 (including for purposes of computation of an annuity

13 under such chapters), an officer or employee entitled to

14 an annuity under this subsection shall be treated as an

15 employee entitled to an annuity under section 8336(d) or

16 8414(b) of such title, as applicable.

17 ‘‘(4) The Comptroller General shall promulgate regu18 lations to implement paragraph (1) that provide for offers

19 of early retirement to any individual employee or groups

20 of employees based on skills, knowledge, performance, or

21 other similar factors or combination of such factors deter22 mined by the Comptroller General.

23 ‘‘(5) As used in this subsection, the terms ‘employee’

24 and ‘annuity’ shall have the same meaning as defined in
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1 chapters 83 and 84 of title 5, as applicable. The term ‘offi2 cer’ shall have the same meaning as ‘employee.’

3 ‘‘(6) The Comptroller General may not utilize the au4 thority granted under this subsection to grant voluntary

5 early retirements to more than 10 percent of the workforce

6 of the General Accounting Office in any fiscal year.’’.

7 SEC. 5. SEPARATION PAY.

8 Section 732 of title 31, United States Code, as

9 amended by section 4 of this Act, is amended by adding

10 at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(j) The Comptroller General may offer separation

12 pay to an officer or employee under this subsection subject

13 to such limitations or conditions as the Comptroller Gen14 eral may require for purposes of realigning the workforce

15 in order to meet mission needs, correcting skill imbal16 ances, or reducing high-grade, managerial, or supervisory

17 positions. Such separation pay—

18 ‘‘(1) shall be paid, at the option of the officer

19 or employee, in a lump sum or equal installment

20 payments;

21 ‘‘(2) shall be equal to the lesser of—

22 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to the amount the

23 officer or employee would be entitled to receive

24 under section 5595(c) of title 5 if the officer or
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1 employee were entitled to payment under such

2 section; or

3 ‘‘(B) $25,000;

4 ‘‘(3) shall not be a basis for payment, and shall

5 not be included in the computation, of any other

6 type of Government benefit;

7 ‘‘(4) shall not be taken into account for pur8 poses of determining the amount of any severance

9 pay to which an individual may be entitled under

10 section 5595 of title 5 based on any other separa11 tion;

12 ‘‘(5) shall only be paid to an officer or employee

13 serving under an appointment without time limita14 tion, who has been currently employed for a contin15 uous period of at least 12 months, but does not

16 include—

17 ‘‘(A) a reemployed annuitant under sub18 chapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, chapter 84

19 of title 5, or another retirement system for em20 ployees of the Government; or

21 ‘‘(B) an officer or employee having a dis22 ability on the basis of which such officer or em23 ployee is or would be eligible for disability re24 tirement under any of the retirement systems

25 referred to in subparagraph (A);
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1 ‘‘(6) shall terminate, upon reemployment in the

2 Federal Government, during receipt of installment

3 payments;

4 ‘‘(7) shall be repaid in its entirety upon reem5 ployment in the Federal Government or working for

6 any agency of the Government through personal

7 services contract within 5 years after the date of the

8 separation on which payment of the separation pay

9 is based, except that—

10 ‘‘(A) if the employment is with an Execu11 tive agency, the Director of the Office of Per12 sonnel Management may, at the request of the

13 head of the agency, waive the repayment if the

14 individual involved possesses unique abilities

15 and is the only qualified applicant available for

16 the position;

17 ‘‘(B) if the employment is with an entity in

18 the legislative branch, the head of the entity or

19 the appointing official may waive the repayment

20 if the individual involved possesses unique abili21 ties and is the only qualified applicant available

22 for the position;

23 ‘‘(C) if the employment is with the judicial

24 branch, the Director of the Administrative Of25 fice of the United States Courts may waive the
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1 repayment if the individual involved possesses

2 unique abilities and is the only qualified appli3 cant available for the position; or

4 ‘‘(D) if the employment is without com5 pensation, the appointing official may waive the

6 repayment;

7 ‘‘(8) shall be paid under regulations providing

8 that offers of separation pay shall be based on skills,

9 knowledge, performance, or other similar factors or

10 combination of such factors determined by the

11 Comptroller General;

12 ‘‘(9) shall be paid upon the condition that the

13 General Accounting Office remit to the Office of

14 Personnel Management for deposit in the Treasury

15 to the credit of the Civil Service Retirement and

16 Disability Fund an amount equal to 45 percent of

17 the final annual basic pay for each employee covered

18 under subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of

19 title 5 to whom separation pay has been paid under

20 this section and—

21 ‘‘(A) such remittance shall be in addition

22 to any other payments which the General Ac23 counting Office is required to make under sub24 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title

25 5; and
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1 ‘‘(B) for purposes of this paragraph the

2 term ‘final basic pay’ with respect to an em3 ployee means the total amount of basic pay

4 which would be payable for a year of service by

5 such employee, computed using the employee’s

6 final rate of basic pay, and, if last serving on

7 other than a full-time basis, with appropriate

8 adjustment therefore;

9 ‘‘(10) shall not be paid to more than 5 percent

10 of the workforce of the General Accounting Office in

11 any fiscal year; and

12 ‘‘(11) shall be paid to employees under this sec13 tion for a period of 5 years following the enactment

14 of this section unless Congress renews the authority

15 for an additional period of time.’’.

16 SEC. 6. REDUCTION IN FORCE.

17 Section 732(h) of title 31, United States Code, is

18 amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(h)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subchapter

20 I of chapter 35 of title 5, the Comptroller General shall

21 prescribe regulations for the release of officers and em22 ployees of the General Accounting Office in a reduction

23 in force which is carried out for downsizing, realigning,

24 or correcting skill imbalances. The regulations shall give

25 effect to military preference and may take into account
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1 such other factors as skills, knowledge, and performance

2 in such a manner and to such an extent as the Comptroller

3 General determines necessary and appropriate.

4 ‘‘(2) Except as provided under paragraph (3), an em5 ployee may not be released, due to a reduction in force,

6 unless such employee is given written notice at least 60

7 days before such employee is so released. Such notice shall

8 include—

9 ‘‘(A) the personnel action to be taken with re10 spect to the employee involved;

11 ‘‘(B) the effective date of the action;

12 ‘‘(C) a description of the procedures applicable

13 in identifying employees for release;

14 ‘‘(D) the employee’s ranking relative to other

15 competing employees, and how that ranking was de16 termined; and

17 ‘‘(E) a description of any appeal or other rights

18 which may be available.

19 ‘‘(3) The Comptroller General may, in writing, short20 en the period of advance notice required under paragraph

21 (2) with respect to a particular reduction in force, if nec22 essary because of circumstances not reasonably foresee23 able, except that such period may not be less than 30

24 days.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT.

2 Section 719 of title 31, United States Code, is

3 amended—

4 (1) in subsection (a)—

5 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’

6 after the semicolon;

7 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking the period

8 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

9 (C) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(3) appropriate legislative changes to sections

11 732(h), (i), and (j) of this title.’’; and

12 (2) in subsection (b)(1)—

13 (A) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘and’’

14 after the semicolon;

15 (B) in subparagraph (C) by striking the

16 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

17 (C) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(D) a description of the actions taken

19 under sections 732 (h), (i), and (j) of this title,

20 including information on the number of employ21 ees who received voluntary early retirements

22 and separation pay under sections 732(i) and

23 (j) and who were released under a reduction in

24 force action under section 732(h), and an as25 sessment of the effectiveness and usefulness of

26 these human capital initiatives in achieving the
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1 agency’s mission, meeting its performance

2 goals, and fulfilling its strategic plan.’’.

3 SEC. 8. FIVE-YEAR ASSESSMENT.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General

6 shall submit to Congress a report concerning the imple7 mentation and effectiveness of the provisions of this Act.

8 (b) CONTENT.—The report under this section shall

9 include—

10 (1) a summary of the portions of the annual re11 ports required under sections 719(a)(3) and

12 (b)(1)(D) of title 31, United States Code;

13 (2) recommendations for continuation of or leg14 islative changes to sections 732(h), (i), and (j) of

15 title 31, United States Code; and

16 (3) any assessments or recommendations of the

17 General Accounting Office Personnel Appeals Board

18 and interested employee groups or associations with19 in the General Accounting Office.

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