Topic: Government Operations — Branch Relations
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2007-10-04 00:00:00

Senior Executive Service Diversity Assurance Act - (Sec. 4) Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish within OPM the Senior Executive Service Resource Office to make recommendations to the Director with respect to regulations, and to provide guidance to agencies, concerning the structure, management, and diverse composition of the Senior Executive Service (SES). Makes it the Office's mission to: (1) improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of the SES through policy formulation and oversight; (2) advance the professionalism of the SES; and (3) ensure that, in seeking to achieve an SES reflective of the nation's diversity, recruitment is from qualified individuals from appropriate sources. Directs the SES Office to: (1) take actions to manage and promote an efficient, elite, and diverse corps of senior executives by creating policies for the management and improvement of the SES, providing oversight of the performance, structure, and composition of the SES, and providing guidance and oversight to agencies in the management of senior executives and candidates for the SES; (2) be responsible for the policy development, management, and oversight of the SES pay performance management system; (3) develop standards for certification of each agency's SES performance management system and evaluate all agency applications for certification; (4) be responsible for coordinating, promoting, and monitoring programs for the advancement and training of senior executives; (5) provide oversight of, and guidance to, agency executive resources boards; (6) be responsible for the administration of the qualifications review board; (7) establish and maintain annual statistics on the number of career reserved positions at each agency; (8) make the data collected available to the public through the OPM official public Internet site; (9) establish and promote mentoring programs for potential SES candidates; (10) conduct a continuing program for the recruitment of women, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, and individuals with disabilities for SES positions; (11) advise agencies on the best practices for utilizing their equal employment or diversity office regarding the SES appointments process; and (12) evaluate and implement strategies to ensure that agencies conduct appropriate outreach to other agencies to identify candidates for SES positions. (Sec. 5) Amends federal civil service law to require an agency head, in establishing an executive resources board, to ensure diversity of the board and any subgroup or other evaluation panel related to the merit staffing process for career appointees. Requires the Director to report to specified congressional committees on agency efforts to improve diversity in such boards based on information collected by the SES Resource Office. (Sec. 6) Directs each agency to submit to OPM a plan to enhance and maximize opportunities for the advancement and appointment of minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities to the SES. Requires such plan to: (1) be reflected in the strategic human capital plan; (2) address how the agency is identifying and eliminating barriers that impair the ability of minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities to obtain appointments to the SES and any actions the agency is taking to provide advancement opportunities; (3) be updated at least every two years during the 10 years following this Act's enactment; and (4) be reviewed by OPM and approved if it provides sufficient assurances, procedures, and commitments to provide adequate opportunities for the advancement and appointment of minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities to the SES. Allows an agency, in updating its plan, to submit to OPM an assessment of the impacts of the plan. Requires the Director to report to specified congressional committees on plans or updates submitted. Directs OPM to determine how agency reporting can be performed so as to be consistent with, but not duplicative of, specified existing requirements under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (regarding federal employment, including discriminatory practices) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (regarding employment of individuals with disabilities and any other similar requirements.