117 S3187 IS: Federal Trade Commission Technologists Act of 2021 U.S. Senate 2021-11-04 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II117th CONGRESS1st SessionS. 3187IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESNovember 4, 2021Mr. Luján (for himself and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransportationA BILLTo establish the Office of Technologists within the Federal Trade Commission.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Federal Trade Commission Technologists Act of 2021.

2.

Establishment of the Office of Technologists

(a)

Office of Technologists

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall establish within the Commission the Office of Technologists (in this section referred to as the Office) to advise the Commission on technology matters, including the Commission’s use of technology, technical aspects of law enforcement actions, and technology policy recommendations.(b)

Personnel

(1)

In general

The Commission shall appoint to positions in the Office—(A)not less than 25 technologists; and(B)other necessary employees.(2)

Direct hire authority

The Commission may make appointments of technologists under paragraph (1) without regard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code.(3)

Calculation of number of technologists

For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the number of individuals appointed to a position as a technologist shall be determined on a full-time equivalent basis, except that an appointment of an individual to a position as a technologist on a term or temporary basis shall be counted as an appointment to a full-time position, without regard to the number of hours in the administrative workweek of the individual.(4)

Compensation

(A)

Rate of pay

Subject to subparagraph (B), in order to recruit and retain qualified technologists, the Commission may fix the rate of pay, including compensation for night and overtime work and other premium pay, of any technologist appointed under paragraph (1), as the Commission considers necessary for the interest of the Federal Government and just to the individuals employed.(B)

Maximum

The total amount payable to a technologist appointed under paragraph (1), including compensation for night and overtime work and other premium pay, during any pay period may not exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a position at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United States Code.(C)

Time off

With respect to a technologist appointed under paragraph (1) who is not eligible for overtime or other premium pay, the Commission may grant such technologist compensatory time off from duty for overtime work performed.(c)

Definitions

In this section:(1)

Commission

The term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.(2)

Technologist

The term technologist means an individual with training and expertise regarding the state of the art in information technology, including product development, supply chain management, data privacy and analytics, algorithms, information security, network security, the manufacturing of hardware, software development, computer science, or other related fields.(d)

Authorization of appropriation

There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary to carry out the requirements of this section.