Title: TALENT Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Training Acquisition Leaders and Elevating New Talent Act of 2019 or the TALENT Act
This bill authorizes the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a program to temporarily assign a member of the acquisition workforce to a private-sector organization or an employee of such an organization to DOD. Such an arrangement would require the consent of the individual who is assigned, extend for a period no more than two years, and be renewable to a total of four years.
A member of the acquisition workforce who is assigned to a private-sector organization shall be considered to be on detail to a regular assignment in DOD. The agreement will address specific terms related to continued status as a federal employee, as well as—for nine-month or longer assignments—eligibility for placement in a new position allowing priority placement.
DOD shall consider how assignments under this bill might best be used to help meet its needs concerning training of the acquisition workforce.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2944 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2944

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a public-private 
            exchange program for the acquisition workforce.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2019

 Mr. Cisneros introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a public-private 
            exchange program for the acquisition workforce.

    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 ``Training Acquisition Leaders and 
Elevating New Talent Act of 2019'' or the ``TALENT Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC-PRIVATE EXCHANGE PROGRAM FOR THE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter IV of chapter 87 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1749. Public-private exchange program for the acquisition 
              workforce
    ``(a) Assignment Authority.--(1) The Secretary may, by rule, 
establish a program to be known as the `Public-Private Exchange Program 
for the Acquisition Workforce' to temporarily assign a member of the 
acquisition workforce to a private-sector organization or an employee 
of a private-sector organization to the Department of Defense if--
            ``(A) pursuant to an agreement between the Secretary, the 
        private-sector organization, and the individual to be 
        temporarily assigned described in subsection (b); and
            ``(B) with the consent of the individual to be temporarily 
        assigned.
    ``(2) Members of the acquisition workforce are eligible for a 
temporary assignment under this section as follows:
            ``(A) Civilians in any of grades GS-12 through GS-15 under 
        the General Schedule or, for employees participating in the 
        demonstration project under section 1762 of this title, the 
        equivalent.
            ``(B) Members of the armed forces serving in any of pay 
        grades O-3 through O-6.
    ``(3) A private-sector organization shall not be considered to have 
a conflict of interest with the Department of Defense solely because of 
participation in the program established under this section.
    ``(b) Agreements.--(1) An agreement entered into under this section 
shall include the following:
            ``(A) The terms and conditions of a temporary assignment.
            ``(B) In the case of an agreement for the temporary 
        assignment of a member of the acquisition workforce, a 
        requirement that the member of the acquisition workforce, upon 
        completion of the temporary assignment, will--
                    ``(i) if a member of the armed forces, serve in the 
                armed forces for a period equal to twice the length of 
                the temporary assignment (in addition to any other 
                period of obligated service); or
                    ``(ii) if a civilian, serve in the Department of 
                Defense, or elsewhere in the civil service if approved 
                by the Secretary, for a period equal to twice the 
                length of the temporary assignment.
            ``(C) A provision that if the individual to be temporarily 
        assigned fails to carry out the agreement, such individual 
        shall be liable to the United States for payment of all 
        expenses of the assignment, unless that failure was for good 
        and sufficient reason, as determined by the Secretary of 
        Defense.
            ``(D) In the case of an agreement for the temporary 
        assignment of a member of the acquisition workforce, language 
        ensuring that such member of the acquisition workforce does not 
        improperly use pre-decisional or draft deliberative information 
        that such member may be privy to or aware of related to 
        Department programing, budgeting, resourcing, acquisition, or 
        procurement for the benefit or advantage of the private-sector 
        organization.
    ``(2) An amount for which an individual is liable under paragraph 
(1)(C) shall be treated as a debt due the United States.
    ``(3) The Secretary may waive, in whole or in part, collection of a 
debt described in paragraph (2) based on a determination that the 
collection would be against equity and good conscience and not in the 
best interests of the United States, after taking into account any 
indication of fraud, misrepresentation, fault, or lack of good faith on 
the part of the individual who is liable for the debt.
    ``(c) Termination.--An assignment under this section may, at any 
time and for any reason, be terminated by the Department of Defense or 
the private-sector organization concerned.
    ``(d) Duration.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), an 
assignment under this section shall be for a period of not more than 
two years, renewable up to a total of four years.
    ``(2) An assignment under this section may be for a period in 
excess of two years, but not more than four years, if the Secretary 
determines that such assignment is necessary to meet critical mission 
or program requirements.
    ``(3) A member of the acquisition workforce may not be assigned 
under this section for more than a total of four years inclusive of all 
such assignments.
    ``(e) Status of Individuals Assigned to Private-Sector 
Organizations.--(1) A member of the acquisition workforce who is 
assigned to a private-sector organization under this section shall be 
considered, during the period of assignment, to be on detail to a 
regular duty or work assignment, as applicable, in the Department for 
all purposes.
    ``(2) In the case of a civilian member of the acquisition 
workforce, the written agreement established under subsection (b)(1)--
            ``(A) shall address the specific terms and conditions 
        related to the civilian member's continued status as a Federal 
        employee; and
            ``(B) in the case of an assignment of nine months or 
        longer, shall provide that, if the civilian member successfully 
        completes the assignment (as determined by the Secretary), the 
        civilian member shall be eligible for consideration for 
        placement in a new position under programs of the Department of 
        Defense providing priority placement to certain employees.
    ``(3) With respect to an assignment of a member of the acquisition 
workforce under this section, the Secretary--
            ``(A) may, in the case of a civilian member of the 
        acquisition workforce, provide for the performance, during the 
        member's absence, of the normal duties and functions of that 
        member by making a temporary or term appointment under general 
        civil service authorities for such appointments;
            ``(B) shall ensure that the normal duties and functions of 
        the civilian member of the acquisition workforce described in 
        subparagraph (A) can be reasonably performed by other personnel 
        of the Department of Defense without the permanent transfer or 
        permanent reassignment of other personnel of the Department of 
        Defense, including members of the armed forces;
            ``(C) shall ensure that the normal duties and functions of 
        the acquisition workforce member are not, as a result of and 
        during the course of such temporary assignment, performed or 
        augmented by contractor personnel in violation of the 
        provisions of section 2461 of this title; and
            ``(D) shall certify that the temporary assignment of the 
        acquisition workforce member will not have an adverse or 
        negative impact on mission attainment, warfighter support, or 
        organizational capabilities associated with the assignment.
    ``(f) Terms and Conditions for Private-Sector Employees.--An 
employee of a private-Sector organization who is assigned to a 
Department of Defense organization under this section--
            ``(1) shall continue to receive pay and benefits from the 
        private-sector organization from which such employee is 
        assigned and shall not receive pay or benefits from the 
        Department of Defense, except as provided in paragraph (2);
            ``(2) is deemed to be an employee of the Department of 
        Defense for the purposes of--
                    ``(A) chapters 73 and 81 of title 5;
                    ``(B) sections 201, 203, 205, 207, 208, 209, 603, 
                606, 607, 643, 654, 1905, and 1913 of title 18;
                    ``(C) sections 1343, 1344, and 1349(b) of title 31;
                    ``(D) the Federal Tort Claims Act and any other 
                Federal tort liability statute;
                    ``(E) the Ethics in Government Act of 1978; and
                    ``(F) chapter 21 of title 41;
            ``(3) shall not have access to any trade secrets or to any 
        other nonpublic information which is of commercial value to the 
        private-sector organization from which such employee is 
        assigned;
            ``(4) may perform work that is considered inherently 
        governmental in nature only when requested in writing by the 
        Secretary of Defense; and
            ``(5) may not be used to circumvent the provision of 
        section 2461 of this title nor to circumvent any limitation or 
        restriction on the size of the Department's workforce.
    ``(g) Prohibition Against Charging Certain Costs to the Federal 
Government.--A private-sector organization may not charge the 
Department or any other agency of the Federal Government, as direct or 
indirect costs under a Federal contract, the costs of pay or benefits 
paid by the organization to an employee assigned to a Department 
organization under this section for the period of the assignment.
    ``(h) Consideration of Training Needs for Members of the 
Acquisition Workforce.--In carrying out this section, the Secretary of 
Defense shall take into consideration how assignments under this 
section might best be used to help meet the needs of the Department of 
Defense with respect to the training of members of the acquisition 
workforce.
    ``(i) Funding; Use of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development 
Fund.--Funds for the expenses for the program established under this 
section shall be provided from amounts in the Department of Defense 
Acquisition Workforce Development Fund. Expenses for the program 
include--
            ``(1) notwithstanding section 1705(e)(5) of this title, the 
        base salary of a civilian member of the acquisition workforce 
        assigned to a private-sector organization under this section, 
        during the period of that assignment;
            ``(2) expenses relating to assignment under this section of 
        a member of the acquisition workforce away from the member's 
        regular duty station, including expenses for travel, per diem, 
        and lodging; and
            ``(3) expenses for the administration of the program.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of such subchapter is amended by adding at the end 
        the following new item:

``1749. Public-private exchange program for the acquisition 
                            workforce.''.
    (b) Use of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund.--Section 
1705(e)(1) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Amounts in the Fund shall be used to pay the 
                expenses of the Public-Private Exchange Program for the 
                Acquisition Workforce under section 1749 of this 
                title.''.
    (c) Acquisition Workforce Employees Excluded From Public-Private 
Talent Exchange.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1599g of such title is amended by 
        adding at the end the following new subsection:
                            ``(i) Acquisition workforce employees.--An 
                        employee of the Department of Defense who is 
                        eligible for the Public-Private Exchange 
                        Program for the Acquisition Workforce under 
                        section 1749 of this title is not eligible for 
                        an assignment under this section.''.
            (2) Applicability.--Subsection (i) of section 1599g of 
        title 10, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), shall 
        not apply to an employee of the Department of Defense who 
        entered into an agreement under that section before the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>