Federal Human Capital Transparency Act
Bill: S.4910 | Sponsor: Sen. Lankford, James (R-OK)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Federal Human Capital Transparency Act
This bill directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to annually collect data relating to the federal workforce and post it on its website.
Specifically, OPM must collect information on

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require the Office of 
 Personnel Management to annually collect data relating to the Federal 
                   workforce, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Human Capital Transparency 
Act''.

SEC. 2. BLENDED FEDERAL WORKFORCE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1103(c) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``(c)(1)'' and inserting 
                ``(c)(1)(A)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B)(i) The Office of Personnel Management shall collect from 
Executive agencies, other than elements of the intelligence community 
(as defined in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 
U.S.C. 3003(4))), on at least an annual basis the following:
            ``(I) The total number of persons employed directly by the 
        Executive agency.
            ``(II) The total number of prime contractor employees and 
        subcontractor employees, as those terms are defined in section 
        8701 of title 41, issued credentials allowing access to 
        Executive agency property or computer systems.
            ``(III) The total number of employees of Federal grant and 
        cooperative agreement recipients, as those legal instruments 
        are described in sections 6304 and 6305 of title 31, 
        respectively, who are issued credentials allowing access to 
        Executive agency property or computer systems.
            ``(IV) A total count of the workforce of the Executive 
        agency, including employees, prime contractor employees, 
        subcontractor employees, grantee employees, and cooperative 
        agreement employees.
    ``(ii) The Office of Personnel Management shall compile the data 
collected under clause (i) and issue, and post on its website, an 
annual report containing the data.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``paragraph (1)'' and 
        inserting ``paragraph (1)(A)''.
    (b) Sense of Congress on Effective and Efficient Management of the 
Blended Federal Workforce.--
            (1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``Executive 
        agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 
        5, United States Code.
            (2) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
                    (A) The implementation of Federal laws and the 
                competent administration of Federal programs require 
                skilled and capable personnel.
                    (B) Executive agencies depend on a blended 
                workforce that includes Federal employees, employees of 
                prime contractors and subcontractors performing 
                services to Executive agencies, and employees of State 
                or local governments, nonprofit organizations, or 
                institutions of higher education performing services to 
                Executive agencies under the terms of grants and 
                cooperative agreements (referred to in this subsection 
                as ``grantees''), all of whom make essential 
                contributions to achieving the missions of the Federal 
                Government in service to the people of the United 
                States.
                    (C) Approximately 2,000,000 Federal employees help 
                to execute the laws of the United States, supplemented 
                by an unknown number, estimated to exceed 5,000,000, of 
                employees of prime contractors, subcontractors, and 
                grantees providing services to Executive agencies.
                    (D) Policymakers, Executive agencies, and observers 
                have often focused on individual components of the 
                blended workforce, such as employees, without 
                considering all components or considering the entire 
                blended workforce and how all 3 components can work 
                most effectively together.
                    (E) Executive agencies inhibit their own workforce 
                planning and risk making decisions that may reduce the 
                overall efficiency and cost effectiveness of the 
                blended workforce by focusing on only 1 component in 
                isolation.
                    (F) Establishing artificial limits on headcounts or 
                full-time equivalent positions for Federal employees, 
                administrators, and managerial employees of Executive 
                agencies may discourage the employment of interns or 
                entry-level employees to build a balanced employment 
                pipeline and may inadvertently encourage managers to 
                shift work to contractors and grantees for the purpose 
                of complying with such numerical limits, even if those 
                decisions are not justified by an approach to improve 
                the efficiency or cost effectiveness of the Executive 
                agency's work.
                    (G) The Government Accountability Office has 
                identified strategic human capital management as a 
                high-risk area for the Federal Government, adding that 
                critical skills gaps ``impede the government from cost-
                effectively serving the public and achieving results''.
            (3) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        Executive agencies should--
                    (A) manage the entire Federal blended workforce, 
                including employees, contractors, and grantees, using a 
                comprehensive and holistic approach to advance their 
                missions as effectively and cost efficiently as 
                possible, within appropriated budgets and without using 
                artificial numerical limits on headcounts or full-time-
                equivalent positions; and
                    (B) conduct a holistic review of their blended 
                workforce and develop a comprehensive plan to ensure an 
                efficient and cost-effective blended workforce.
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