Title: Direct Hire of Students and Recent Graduates Act of 2017
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Direct Hire of Students and Recent Graduates Act of 2017
This bill authorizes expedited hiring for positions in the competitive service.
Federal agencies may appoint recent college graduates or college graduates who were recently discharged from the uniformed service to positions in the competitive service at the GS-11 level or below.
Additionally, federal agencies may make time-limited appointments of college students to positions in the competitive service at the GS-11 level or below. The student may be converted from a time-limited appointment to a permanent appointment, without competition, if the student: (1) has completed the course of study leading to a baccalaureate or graduate degree, and (2) has completed not less than 640 hours of current continuous employment.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1887 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1887

To grant expedited hiring authority to the head of an agency to appoint 
             college graduates and post-secondary students.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 28, 2017

 Mr. Lankford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To grant expedited hiring authority to the head of an agency to appoint 
             college graduates and post-secondary students.

    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 ``Direct Hire of Students and Recent 
Graduates Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED HIRING AUTHORITY FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES AND POST-
              SECONDARY STUDENTS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3115. Expedited hiring authority for college graduates; 
              competitive service
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of 
        the Office of Personnel Management.
            ``(2)  Institution of higher education.--The term 
        `institution of higher education' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
    ``(b) Appointment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The head of an agency may appoint, 
        without regard to any provision of sections 3309 through 3319 
        and 3330, a qualified individual to a position in the 
        competitive service classified in a professional or 
        administrative occupational category at the GS-11 level, or an 
        equivalent level, or below.
            ``(2) Restrictions.--An appointment under paragraph (1) 
        shall be made in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 
        Director.
    ``(c) Qualifications for Appointment.--The head of an agency may 
make an appointment under subsection (b) only if the individual being 
appointed--
            ``(1) has received a baccalaureate or graduate degree from 
        an institution of higher education;
            ``(2) applies for the position--
                    ``(A) not later than 2 years after the date on 
                which the individual being appointed received the 
                degree described in paragraph (1); or
                    ``(B) in the case of an individual who has 
                completed a period of not less than 4 years of 
                obligated service in a uniformed service, not later 
                than 2 years after the date of the discharge or release 
                of the individual from that service; and
            ``(3) meets each minimum qualification standard prescribed 
        by the Director for the position to which the individual is 
        being appointed.
    ``(d) Public Notice and Advertising.--
            ``(1) In general.--The head of an agency making an 
        appointment under subsection (b) shall publicly advertise 
        positions under this section.
            ``(2) Requirements.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        head of an agency shall--
                    ``(A) adhere to merit system principles;
                    ``(B) advertise positions in a manner that provides 
                for diverse and qualified applicants; and
                    ``(C) ensure potential applicants have appropriate 
                information relevant to the positions available.
    ``(e) Limitation on Appointments.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        total number of employees that the head of an agency may 
        appoint under this section during a fiscal year may not exceed 
        the number equal to 15 percent of the number of individuals 
        that the agency head appointed during the previous fiscal year 
        to a position in the competitive service classified in a 
        professional or administrative occupational category, at the 
        GS-11 level, or an equivalent level, or below, under a 
        competitive examining procedure.
            ``(2) Exceptions.--Under a regulation prescribed under 
        subsection (f), the Director may establish a lower limit on the 
        number of individuals that may be appointed under paragraph (1) 
        of this subsection during a fiscal year based on any factor the 
        Director considers appropriate.
    ``(f) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of the Direct Hire of Students and Recent Graduates Act of 
2017, the Director shall issue interim regulations, with an opportunity 
for comment, for the administration of this section.
    ``(g) Reporting.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than September 30 of each of 
        the first 3 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment 
        of the Direct Hire of Students and Recent Graduates Act of 
        2017, the head of an agency that makes an appointment under 
        this section shall submit to Congress a report assessing the 
        impact of the use of the authority provided under this section 
        during the fiscal year in which the report is submitted.
            ``(2) Content.--The head of an agency shall include in each 
        report under paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) the total number of individuals appointed by 
                the agency under this section, as well as the number of 
                such individuals who are--
                            ``(i) minorities or members of other 
                        underrepresented groups; or
                            ``(ii) veterans;
                    ``(B) recruitment sources;
                    ``(C) the total number of individuals appointed by 
                the agency during the applicable fiscal year to a 
                position in the competitive service classified in a 
                professional or administrative occupational category at 
                the GS-11 level, or an equivalent level, or below; and
                    ``(D) any additional data specified by the Director 
                of the Office of Personnel Management.
            ``(3) Submission to office of personnel management.--Upon 
        request of the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, 
        the head of an agency that submits a report to Congress under 
        paragraph (1) shall submit a copy of the report to the 
        Director.
    ``(h) Special Provision Regarding the Department of Defense.--
            ``(1) Authority.--Nothing in this section shall preclude 
        the Secretary of Defense from exercising any authority to 
        appoint a recent graduate under section 1106 of the National 
        Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. note 
        prec. 1580), or any applicable successor statute.
            ``(2) Regulations.--Any regulations prescribed by the 
        Director for the administration of this section shall not apply 
        to the Department of Defense during the period ending on the 
        date on which the appointment authority of the Secretary of 
        Defense under section 1106 of the National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. note prec. 
        1580), or any applicable successor statute, terminates.
``Sec. 3116. Expedited hiring authority for post-secondary students; 
              competitive service
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of 
        the Office of Personnel Management.
            ``(2) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        `institution of higher education' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            ``(3) Student.--The term `student' means an individual 
        enrolled or accepted for enrollment in an institution of higher 
        education who is pursuing a baccalaureate or graduate degree on 
        at least a part-time basis as determined by the institution of 
        higher education.
    ``(b) Appointment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The head of an agency may make a time-
        limited appointment of a student, without regard to any 
        provision of sections 3309 through 3319 and 3330, to a position 
        in the competitive service at the GS-11 level, or an equivalent 
        level, or below for which the student is qualified.
            ``(2) Restrictions.--An appointment under paragraph (1) 
        shall be made in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 
        Director.
    ``(c) Public Notice.--
            ``(1) In general.--The head of an agency making an 
        appointment under subsection (b) shall publicly advertise 
        positions available under this section.
            ``(2) Requirements.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        head of an agency shall--
                    ``(A) adhere to merit system principles;
                    ``(B) advertise positions in a manner that provides 
                for diverse and qualified applicants; and
                    ``(C) ensure potential applicants have appropriate 
                information relevant to the positions available.
    ``(d) Limitation on Appointments.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        total number of students that the head of an agency may appoint 
        under this section during a fiscal year may not exceed the 
        number equal to 15 percent of the number of students that the 
        agency head appointed during the previous fiscal year to a 
        position in the competitive service at the GS-11 level, or an 
        equivalent level, or below.
            ``(2) Exceptions.--Under a regulation prescribed under 
        subsection (g), the Director may establish a lower limit on the 
        number of students that may be appointed under paragraph (1) of 
        this subsection during a fiscal year based on any factor the 
        Director considers appropriate.
    ``(e) Conversion.--The head of an agency may, without regard to any 
provision of chapter 33 or any other provision of law relating to the 
examination, certification, and appointment of individuals in the 
competitive service, convert a student serving in an appointment under 
subsection (b) to a permanent appointment in the competitive service 
within the agency without further competition if the student--
            ``(1) has completed the course of study leading to the 
        baccalaureate or graduate degree;
            ``(2) has completed not less than 640 hours of current 
        continuous employment under subsection (b); and
            ``(3) meets the qualification standards for the position to 
        which the student will be converted.
    ``(f) Termination.--The head of an agency shall, without regard to 
any provision of chapter 35 or 75, terminate the appointment of a 
student appointed under subsection (b) upon completion of the 
designated academic course of study unless the student is selected for 
conversion under subsection (e).
    ``(g) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of the Direct Hire of Students and Recent Graduates Act of 
2017, the Director shall issue interim regulations, with an opportunity 
for comment, for the administration of this section.
    ``(h) Reporting.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than September 30 of each of 
        the first 3 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment 
        of the Direct Hire of Students and Recent Graduates Act of 
        2017, the head of an agency that makes an appointment under 
        this section shall submit to Congress a report assessing the 
        impact of the use of the authority provided under this section 
        during the fiscal year in which the report is submitted.
            ``(2) Content.--The head of an agency shall include in each 
        report under paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) the total number of individuals appointed by 
                the agency under this section, as well as the number of 
                such individuals who are--
                            ``(i) minorities or members of other 
                        underrepresented groups; or
                            ``(ii) veterans;
                    ``(B) recruitment sources;
                    ``(C) the total number of individuals appointed by 
                the agency during the applicable fiscal year to a 
                position in the competitive service at the GS-11 level, 
                or an equivalent level, or below; and
                    ``(D) any additional data specified by the Director 
                of the Office of Personnel Management.
            ``(3) Submission to office of personnel management.--Upon 
        request of the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, 
        the head of an agency that submits a report to Congress under 
        paragraph (1) shall submit a copy of the report to the 
        Director.
    ``(i) Special Provision Regarding the Department of Defense.--
            ``(1) Authority.--Nothing in this section shall preclude 
        the Secretary of Defense from exercising any authority to 
        appoint a post-secondary student under section 1106 of the 
        National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (10 
        U.S.C. note prec. 1580), or any applicable successor statute.
            ``(2) Regulations.--Any regulations prescribed by the 
        Director for the administration of this section shall not apply 
        to the Department of Defense during the period ending on the 
        date on which the appointment authority of the Secretary of 
        Defense under section 1106 of the National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. note prec. 
        1580), or any applicable successor statute, terminates.''.
    (b) Table of Sections Amendments.--The table of sections for 
subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following:

``3115. Expedited hiring authority for college graduates; competitive 
                            service.
``3116. Expedited hiring authority for post-secondary students; 
                            competitive service.''.
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