IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6967 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 11, 2022 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To implement merit-based reforms to the civil service hiring 

system that replace degree-based hiring with skills- and 

competency-based hiring, 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 ‘‘Chance to Compete 

3 Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 (a) TERMS DEFINED IN SECTION 3304 OF TITLE 5, 

6 UNITED STATES CODE.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘agency’’, 

7 ‘‘Director’’, ‘‘examining agency’’, ‘‘Office’’, ‘‘subject mat8 ter expert’’, and ‘‘technical assessment’’ have the mean9 ings given those terms in subsection (c)(1) of section 3304 

10 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 3(a). 

11 (b) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act, the term ‘‘competi12 tive service’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

13 2102 of title 5, United States Code. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINING THE TERM ‘‘EXAMINATION’’ FOR PUR15 POSES OF HIRING IN THE COMPETITIVE 

16 SERVICE. 

17 (a) EXAMINATIONS; TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304 of title 5, 

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (A) by redesignating subsections (c) 

21 through (f) as subsections (d) through (g), re22 spectively; and 

23 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(c) EXAMINATIONS.— 

26 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) EXAMINATION.— 

2 ‘‘(i) In this chapter, the term ‘exam3 ination’— 

4 ‘‘(I) means an opportunity to di5 rectly demonstrate knowledge, skills, 

6 abilities, and competencies, through 

7 an assessment; 

8 ‘‘(II) includes a re ́sume ́ review 

9 that is— 

10 ‘‘(aa) conducted by a subject 

11 matter expert; and 

12 ‘‘(bb) based upon indicators 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(AA) are derived from 

15 a job analysis; and 

16 ‘‘(BB) bear a rational 

17 relationship to performance 

18 in the position for which the 

19 examining agency is hiring; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(III) on and after the date that 

22 is 2 years after the date of enactment 

23 of the Chance to Compete Act of 

24 2022, does not include a self-assess25 ment from an automated examination, 


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1 a re ́sume ́ review (except as provided 

2 in subclause (II)), or any other meth3 od of determining the experience or 

4 level of educational attainment of an 

5 individual, alone. 

6 ‘‘(ii)(I) An agency’s Chief Human 

7 Capital Officer may waive clause (i)(III) if 

8 the Officer provides a written report to the 

9 Director of the Office of Personnel Man10 agement within 30 days of authorizing the 

11 waiver that justifies the need for such 

12 waiver and articulates the data, evidence, 

13 and circumstances for such need. 

14 ‘‘(II) The Director is authorized to 

15 provide agencies guidance and instruction 

16 on the data, evidence, and circumstances 

17 that should be included in the waiver de18 scribed in subclause (I) and shall post any 

19 waiver on a public website within 30 days 

20 of receipt of the waiver. 

21 ‘‘(III) A waiver shall not be consid22 ered in effect until it is posted on the pub23 lic website pursuant to subclause (II). 

24 ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this sub25 section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the term ‘agency’ means an agen2 cy described in section 901(b) of title 31; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘Director’ means the 

4 Director of the Office; 

5 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘examining agency’ 

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(I) the Office; or 

8 ‘‘(II) an agency to which the Di9 rector has delegated examining au10 thority under section 1104(a)(2) of 

11 this title; 

12 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘subject matter expert’ 

13 means an employee or selecting official— 

14 ‘‘(I) who possesses understanding 

15 of the duties of, and knowledge, skills, 

16 and abilities required for, the position 

17 for which the employee or selecting of18 ficial is developing or administering 

19 an assessment; and 

20 ‘‘(II) whom the agency that em21 ploys the employee or selecting official 

22 designates to assist in the develop23 ment and administration of technical 

24 assessments under paragraph (2); and 


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1 ‘‘(v) the term ‘technical assessment’ 

2 means an assessment developed under 

3 paragraph (2)(A)(i) that— 

4 ‘‘(I) allows for the demonstration 

5 of job-related technical skills, abilities, 

6 and knowledge; 

7 ‘‘(II)(aa) is based upon a job 

8 analysis; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) is relevant to the position 

10 for which the assessment is developed; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(III) may include— 

13 ‘‘(aa) a structured interview; 

14 ‘‘(bb) a work-related exer15 cise; 

16 ‘‘(cc) a custom or generic 

17 procedure used to measure an in18 dividual’s employment or career19 related qualifications and inter20 ests; or 

21 ‘‘(dd) another assessment 

22 that meets the criteria under 

23 subclauses (I) and (II). 

24 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of 

2 conducting an examination for a position in the 

3 competitive service, an individual or individuals 

4 whom an agency determines to have an exper5 tise in the subject and job field of the position, 

6 as affirmed and audited by the Chief Human 

7 Capital Officer or Human Resources Director 

8 (as applicable) of that agency, may— 

9 ‘‘(i) develop, in partnership with 

10 human resources employees of the exam11 ining agency, a position-specific assessment 

12 that is relevant to the position; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) administer the assessment devel14 oped under clause (i) to— 

15 ‘‘(I) determine whether an appli16 cant for the position has dem17 onstrated qualification for the posi18 tion; or 

19 ‘‘(II) rank applicants for the po20 sition for category rating purposes 

21 under section 3319. 

22 ‘‘(B) SHARING AND CUSTOMIZATION OF

23 ASSESSMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) SHARING.—An examining agency 

25 may share a technical assessment with anVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Oct 12, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6967.RFS H6967

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1 other examining agency if each agency 

2 maintains appropriate control over exam3 ination material. 

4 ‘‘(ii) CUSTOMIZATION.—An examining 

5 agency with which a technical assessment 

6 is shared under clause (i) may customize 

7 the assessment as appropriate, provided 

8 that the resulting assessment satisfies the 

9 requirements under part 300 of title 5, 

10 Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc11 cessor regulation). 

12 ‘‘(iii) PLATFORM FOR SHARING AND

13 CUSTOMIZATION.— 

14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Director 

15 shall establish and operate an online 

16 platform on which examining agencies 

17 can share and customize technical as18 sessments under this subparagraph. 

19 ‘‘(II) ONLINE PLATFORM.—The 

20 Director shall— 

21 ‘‘(aa) not be responsible for 

22 independently validating the util23 ity of the content and technical 

24 assessments shared in the online 


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1 platform described in subclause 

2 (I); and 

3 ‘‘(bb) ensure that such on4 line platform includes the ability 

5 of its users to rate the utility of 

6 the content and technical assess7 ments shared in the online plat8 form to allow for a ranking of 

9 such contents. 

10 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than one year 

11 after the date of enactment of the Chance to Com12 pete Act of 2022, the Office of Personnel Manage13 ment shall prescribe regulations necessary for the 

14 administration of this subsection with respect to em15 ployees in each agency.’’. 

16 (2) ALTERNATIVE RANKING AND SELECTION

17 PROCEDURES.—Section 3319(a) of title 5, United 

18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

19 following: ‘‘To be placed in a quality category under 

20 the preceding sentence, an applicant shall be re21 quired to have passed an examination in accordance 

22 with section 3304(b), subject to the exceptions in 

23 that section.’’. 

24 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND25 MENT.—Section 3330a(a)(1)(B) of title 5, United 


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1 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 

2 3304(f)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3304(g)(1)’’. 

3 (b) OPM REPORTING.— 

4 (1) PUBLIC ONLINE TOOL.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Of6 fice of Personnel Management shall maintain 

7 and periodically update a publicly available on8 line tool that, with respect to each position in 

9 the competitive service for which an examining 

10 agency examined applicants during the applica11 ble period, includes— 

12 (i) the type of assessment used, such 

13 as— 

14 (I) a behavioral off-the-shelf as15 sessment; 

16 (II) a re ́sume ́ review conducted 

17 by a subject matter expert; 

18 (III) an interview conducted by a 

19 subject matter expert; 

20 (IV) a technical off-the-shelf as21 sessment; or 

22 (V) a cognitive ability test; 

23 (ii) whether or not the agency selected 

24 a candidate for the position; and 


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1 (iii) the hiring authority used to fill 

2 the position. 

3 (B) TIMING.— 

4 (i) INITIAL DATA.—Not later than 

5 180 days after the date of enactment of 

6 this Act, the Director shall update the on7 line tool described in subparagraph (A) 

8 with data for positions in the competitive 

9 service for which an examining agency ex10 amined applicants during the period begin11 ning on the date of enactment of this Act 

12 and ending on the date of submission of 

13 the report. 

14 (ii) SUBSEQUENT UPDATES.—Not 

15 later than October 1 of each fiscal year be16 ginning after the date on which the online 

17 tool is initially updated under clause (i), 

18 the Director shall update the online tool 

19 described in subparagraph (A) with data 

20 for positions in the competitive service for 

21 which an examining agency examined ap22 plicants during the preceding fiscal year. 

23 (2) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Direc25 tor, in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and 


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1 (C), shall make publicly available and submit to 

2 Congress an overall progress report that in3 cludes summary data from examinations that 

4 are closed, audited, and anonymous on the use 

5 of examinations (as defined in subsection 

6 (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of title 5, United 

7 States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 

8 section) for the competitive service, including 

9 technical assessments. 

10 (B) CATEGORIES; BASELINE DATA.—In 

11 carrying out subparagraph (A), the Director 

12 shall— 

13 (i) break the data down by applicant 

14 demographic indicator, including veteran 

15 status, race, gender, disability, and any 

16 other measure the Director determines ap17 propriate; and 

18 (ii) use the data available as of Octo19 ber 1, 2020, as a baseline. 

20 (C) LIMITATIONS.—In carrying out sub21 paragraph (A), the Director may only make 

22 publicly available and submit to Congress data 

23 relating to examinations for which— 

24 (i) the related announcement is 

25 closed; 


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1 (ii) certificates have been audited; and 

2 (iii) all hiring processes are com3 pleted. 

4 (c) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

6 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

7 that— 

8 (1) assesses the implementation of this section 

9 and the amendments made by this section; 

10 (2) assesses the impact and modifications to the 

11 hiring process for the competitive service made by 

12 this section and the amendments made by this sec13 tion; and 

14 (3) makes recommendations for the improve15 ment of the hiring process for the competitive serv16 ice. 

17 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO COMPETITIVE SERVICE ACT OF 

18 2015. 

19 (a) PLATFORMS FOR SHARING CERTIFICATES OF

20 ELIGIBLES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3318(b) of title 5, 

22 United States Code, is amended— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘240- 

24 day’’ and inserting ‘‘1-year’’; 


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1 (B) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

2 paragraph (6); and 

3 (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(5) ONLINE TOOL FOR SHARING RE ́SUME ́S OF

6 INDIVIDUALS ON CERTIFICATES OF ELIGIBLES.—Not 

7 later than one year after the date of enactment of 

8 the Chance to Compete Act of 2022, the Director of 

9 the Office of Personnel Management shall establish 

10 and operate an online tool on which an appointing 

11 authority can share, with other appointing authori12 ties and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council 

13 established under section 1303 of the Chief Human 

14 Capital Officers Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 1401 note; 

15 Public Law 107–296), the resumes of individuals 

16 who are on a certificate of eligibles requested by the 

17 appointing authority. In carrying out this para18 graph, the Director shall consult with the Chief 

19 Human Capital Officers Counsel and its membership 

20 to develop a plan to establish such online tool.’’. 

21 (2) PLAN.—Not later than 270 days year after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

23 provide to Congress a plan to develop the online tool 

24 required in paragraph (5) of section 3318(b) of title 


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1 5, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1) 

2 of this subsection. Such plan shall— 

3 (A) incorporate the input and feedback col4 lected during the required consultation under 

5 such paragraph; and 

6 (B) include estimated costs for building 

7 and operating the online tool for ten years. 

8 (b) MAXIMIZING SHARING OF APPLICANT INFORMA9 TION.—Section 2 of the Competitive Service Act of 2015 

10 (Public Law 114–137; 130 Stat. 310) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

12 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(c) EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF MAXIMIZING

16 SHARING OF APPLICANT INFORMATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) the terms ‘agency’, ‘Director’, and 

19 ‘Office’ have the meanings given those terms in 

20 section 3304(c)(1) of title 5, United States 

21 Code; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the term ‘competitive service’ has the 

23 meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 

24 5, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(2) MAXIMIZING SHARING.—The Director 

2 shall research the benefits of maximizing the sharing 

3 of information among agencies regarding qualified 

4 applicants for positions in the competitive service, 

5 including by— 

6 ‘‘(A) providing for the delegation to other 

7 agencies of the authority of the Office to host 

8 multi-agency hiring actions to increase the re9 turn on investment on high-quality pooled an10 nouncements; and 

11 ‘‘(B) sharing certificates of eligibles and 

12 accompanying re ́sume ́s for appointment.’’. 

13 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall provide a writ15 ten report to Congress on the findings of the research re16 quired by the amendment made by subsection (b)(2). Such 

17 report shall include a plan to implement the most effective 

18 methods of maximizing the sharing of qualified candidates 

19 for positions in the competitive service. 

20 SEC. 5. MODERNIZING AND REFORMING THE ASSESSMENT 

21 AND HIRING OF FEDERAL JOB CANDIDATES. 

22 (a) OPM REVIEW.—The Director shall conduct a re23 view of all examinations for hiring for a position that the 

24 Office or any other examining agency has determined re25 quires a minimum educational requirement because of the 


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1 nature of the duties of such position is of a scientific, tech2 nical, or professional position pursuant to section 3308 of 

3 title 5, United States Code, to determine whether there 

4 are data, evidence, or other information that justifies the 

5 need for educational requirements for such position. The 

6 Director shall consult with appropriate agencies, employee 

7 representatives, external experts, and other stakeholders 

8 when making any such determinations. 

9 (b) ONLINE TOOL REGARDING POSITION DUTIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

12 shall create and maintain an online tool that lists 

13 each of the duties determined to require minimum 

14 educational requirements and the data, evidence, or 

15 other information that justifies the need for these 

16 educational requirements. This online tool shall in17 clude a mechanism to receive feedback regarding 

18 data, evidence, or information that could affect the 

19 determination that a duty requires a minimum edu20 cational requirement. 

21 (2) HIRING PRACTICES.—Not later than one 

22 year after the creation of the online tool under para23 graph (1), the Director and the head of any other 

24 examining agency shall amend the hiring practices 

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1 tively, in accordance with the findings of the review 

2 made by subsection (a). 

3 (c) ONLINE TOOL REGARDING RECRUITING.—Upon 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall estab5 lish and maintain an online tool that provides Federal 

6 agencies guidance on, and information about, all programs 

7 and authorities that help agencies attract, recruit, hire, 

8 and retain individuals. 

9 SEC. 6. TALENT TEAMS. 

10 (a) FEDERAL AGENCY TALENT TEAMS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may establish one 

12 or more talent teams (referred to in this section as 

13 ‘‘agency talent teams’’), including at the component 

14 level. 

15 (2) DUTIES.—An agency talent team shall pro16 vide hiring support to the agency and other agencies, 

17 including by— 

18 (A) improving examinations (as defined in 

19 subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of title 5, 

20 United States Code, as added by section 3(a)); 

21 (B) facilitating writing job announcements 

22 for the competitive service; 

23 (C) sharing high-quality certificates of eli24 gibles; and 


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1 (D) facilitating hiring for the competitive 

2 service using examinations (as defined in such 

3 subsection (c)(1)(A)) and subject matter ex4 perts. 

5 (b) OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.—The 

6 Director may establish a Federal talent team to support 

7 agency talent teams in facilitating pooled hiring actions 

8 across the Federal Government, providing training, and 

9 creating technology platforms to facilitate hiring for the 

10 competitive service, including— 

11 (1) the development of technical assessments; 

12 and 

13 (2) the sharing of certificates of eligibles and 

14 accompanying re ́sume ́s under sections 3318(b) and 

15 3319(c) of title 5, United States Code. 

16 SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

17 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

18 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

19 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

20 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

21 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

22 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Oct 12, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6967.RFS H6967

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1 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

2 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 29, 

2022. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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