H. R. 2751
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four
An Act
To provide new human capital flexibilities with respect to the GAO, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENT OF TITLE 31.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘GAO Human
Capital Reform Act of 2004’’.
(b) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 31.—Except as otherwise expressly
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment is expressed in
terms of an amendment to a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision
of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO PUBLIC LAW 106–303.
(a) AUTHORITIES MADE PERMANENT.—Sections 1 and 2 of Public
Law 106–303 (5 U.S.C. 8336 note and 5597 note) are amended
by striking ‘‘for purposes of the period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2003’’ each
place it appears and inserting ‘‘October 13, 2000’’.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—
(1) VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT AUTHORITY.—Section 1
of Public Law 106–303 is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(e) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that
the implementation of this section is intended to reshape the Gen-
eral Accounting Office workforce and not downsize the General
Accounting Office workforce.’’.
(2) VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—Section
2 of Public Law 106–303 is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(g) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that
the implementation of this section is intended to reshape the Gen-
eral Accounting Office workforce and not downsize the General
Accounting Office workforce.’’.
(c) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION RELATING TO VSIPS.—Section 2(b)
of Public Law 106–303 is amended by striking paragraph (2) and
inserting the following:
‘‘(2) subsection (a)(2)(G) of such section shall be applied—
‘‘(A) by construing the citations therein to be references
to the appropriate authorities in connection with employees
of the General Accounting Office; and
‘‘(B) by deeming such subsection to be amended by
striking ‘Code.’ and inserting ‘Code, or who, during the
H. R. 2751—2
thirty-six month period preceding the date of separation,
performed service for which a student loan repayment ben-
efit was or is to be paid under section 5379 of title 5,
United States Code.’;’’.
SEC. 3. ANNUAL PAY ADJUSTMENTS.
(a) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES GENERALLY.—Paragraph (3) of
section 732(c) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(3) except as provided under section 733(a)(3)(B) of this
title, basic rates of officers and employees of the Office shall
be adjusted annually to such extent as determined by the
Comptroller General, and in making that determination the
Comptroller General shall consider—
‘‘(A) the principle that equal pay should be provided
for work of equal value within each local pay area;
‘‘(B) the need to protect the purchasing power of officers
and employees of the Office, taking into consideration the
Consumer Price Index or other appropriate indices;
‘‘(C) any existing pay disparities between officers and
employees of the Office and non-Federal employees in each
local pay area;
‘‘(D) the pay rates for the same levels of work for
officers and employees of the Office and non-Federal
employees in each local pay area;
‘‘(E) the appropriate distribution of agency funds
between annual adjustments under this section and
performance-based compensation; and
‘‘(F) such other criteria as the Comptroller General
considers appropriate, including, but not limited to, the
funding level for the Office, amounts allocated for perform-
ance-based compensation, and the extent to which the
Office is succeeding in fulfilling its mission and accom-
plishing its strategic plan;
notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, an
adjustment under this paragraph shall not be applied in the
case of any officer or employee whose performance is not at
a satisfactory level, as determined by the Comptroller General
for purposes of such adjustment;’’.
(b) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES IN THE OFFICE SENIOR EXECUTIVE
SERVICE.—Subparagraph (B) of section 733(a)(3) is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘(B) adjusted annually by the Comptroller General
after taking into consideration the factors listed under
section 732(c)(3) of this title, except that an adjustment
under this subparagraph shall not be applied in the case
of any officer or employee whose performance is not at
a satisfactory level, as determined by the Comptroller Gen-
eral for purposes of such adjustment;’’.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 732(b)(6) is amended
by striking ‘‘title 5.’’ and inserting ‘‘title 5, except as provided
under subsection (c)(3) of this section and section 733(a)(3)(B) of
this title.’’.
SEC. 4. PAY RETENTION.
Paragraph (5) of section 732(c) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(5) the Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations
under which an officer or employee of the Office shall be entitled
to pay retention if, as a result of any reduction-in-force or
H. R. 2751—3
other workforce adjustment procedure, position reclassification,
or other appropriate circumstances as determined by the Comp-
troller General, such officer or employee is placed in or holds
a position in a lower grade or band with a maximum rate
of basic pay that is less than the rate of basic pay payable
to the officer or employee immediately before the reduction
in grade or band; such regulations—
‘‘(A) shall provide that the officer or employee shall
be entitled to continue receiving the rate of basic pay
that was payable to the officer or employee immediately
before the reduction in grade or band until such time
as the retained rate becomes less than the maximum rate
for the grade or band of the position held by such officer
or employee; and
‘‘(B) shall include provisions relating to the minimum
period of time for which an officer or employee must have
served or for which the position must have been classified
at the higher grade or band in order for pay retention
to apply, the events that terminate the right to pay reten-
tion (apart from the one described in subparagraph (A)),
and exclusions based on the nature of an appointment;
in prescribing regulations under this subparagraph, the
Comptroller General shall be guided by the provisions of
sections 5362 and 5363 of title 5.’’.
SEC. 5. RELOCATION BENEFITS.
Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection (e) the
following:
‘‘(f) The Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations under
which officers and employees of the Office may, in appropriate
circumstances, be reimbursed for any relocation expenses under
subchapter II of chapter 57 of title 5 for which they would not
otherwise be eligible, but only if the Comptroller General determines
that the transfer giving rise to such relocation is of sufficient
benefit or value to the Office to justify such reimbursement.’’.
SEC. 6. INCREASED ANNUAL LEAVE FOR KEY EMPLOYEES.
Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection (f) (as added
by section 5 of this Act) the following:
‘‘(g) The Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations under
which key officers and employees of the Office who have less than
3 years of service may accrue leave in accordance with section
6303(a)(2) of title 5, in those circumstances in which the Comptroller
General has determined such increased annual leave is appropriate
for the recruitment or retention of such officers and employees.
Such regulations shall define key officers and employees and set
forth the factors in determining which officers and employees should
be allowed to accrue leave in accordance with this subsection.’’.
SEC. 7. EXECUTIVE EXCHANGE PROGRAM.
Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection (g) (as
added by section 6 of this Act) the following:
‘‘(h) The Comptroller General may by regulation establish an
executive exchange program under which officers and employees
of the Office may be assigned to private sector organizations, and
employees of private sector organizations may be assigned to the
Office, to further the institutional interests of the Office or Congress,
including for the purpose of providing training to officers and