[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2595 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2595

 To amend chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, to authorize the 
 General Accounting Office to take certain personnel actions, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 18, 2000

 Mr. Thompson (for himself and Mr. Lieberman) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                          Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, to authorize the 
 General Accounting Office to take certain personnel actions, 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. SENIOR LEVEL POSITIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter III of chapter 7 of subtitle I of title 
31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 732 the 
following:
``Sec. 732a. Critical positions
    ``The Comptroller General may establish senior-level positions to 
meet critical scientific, technical or professional needs of the Office 
from the positions authorized under sections 731(d), (e)(1), (e)(2), 
and 732(c)(4) of this title. An individual serving in such a position 
shall--
            ``(1) be subject to the laws and regulations applicable to 
        the General Accounting Office Senior Executive Service 
        established under section 733 of this title, with respect to 
        rates of basic pay, performance awards, ranks, carry over of 
        annual leave, benefits, performance appraisals, removal or 
        suspension, and reduction in force;
            ``(2) have the same rights of appeal to the General 
        Accounting Office Personnel Appeals Board that are provided to 
        the General Accounting Office Senior Executive Service;
            ``(3) be exempt from the same provisions of law made 
        inapplicable to the General Accounting Office Senior Executive 
        Service under section 733(d) of this title, except for section 
        732(e) of this title;
            ``(4) be entitled to receive a discontinued service 
        retirement under chapter 83 or 84 of title 5 as if a member of 
        the General Accounting Office Senior Executive Service; and
            ``(5) be subject to reassignment by the Comptroller General 
        to any Senior Executive Service position created under section 
        733 of this title as the Comptroller General determines 
        necessary and appropriate.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 732 the following:

``732a. Critical positions.''.

SEC. 2. REASSIGNMENT TO SENIOR LEVEL POSITIONS.

    Section 733(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (6);
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
            ``(7) The Comptroller General may reassign a member of the 
        Senior Executive Service to any senior-level position created 
        under section 732a of this title as the Comptroller determines 
        necessary and appropriate; and''.

SEC. 3. EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.

    Section 731(e) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``not more than 3 years'' in paragraph (1) 
        and inserting ``3-year renewable terms''; and
            (2) by striking ``level V'' in paragraph (2) and inserting 
        ``level IV''.

SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT AUTHORITY.

    Section 732 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(i)(1) An officer or employee of the General Accounting Office 
who is separated from the service under conditions described in 
paragraph (2) of this subsection after completing 25 years of service 
or after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service is 
entitled to an annuity in accordance with the provisions of chapter 83 
or 84 of title 5, as applicable.
    ``(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection applies to an officer or 
employee who--
            ``(A) has been employed continuously by the General 
        Accounting Office for more than 30 days before the date on 
        which the Comptroller General makes the determination required 
        under subparagraph (D);
            ``(B) is serving under an appointment that is not limited 
        by time;
            ``(C) has not received a decision notice of involuntary 
        separation for misconduct or unacceptable performance that is 
        pending decision; and
            ``(D) is separated from the service voluntarily during a 
        period in which the Comptroller General offers the officer or 
        employee an early retirement for the purpose of realigning the 
        agency workforce in order to meet mission needs, correcting 
        skill imbalances, or reducing high-grade, managerial, or 
        supervisory positions.
    ``(3) For purposes of chapters 83 and 84 of title 5 (including for 
purposes of computation of an annuity under such chapters), an officer 
or employee entitled to an annuity under this subsection shall be 
treated as an employee entitled to an annuity under section 8336(d) or 
8414(b) of such title, as applicable.
    ``(4) The Comptroller General shall promulgate regulations to 
implement paragraph (1) that provide for offers of early retirement to 
any individual employee or groups of employees based on skills, 
knowledge, performance, or other similar factors or combination of such 
factors determined by the Comptroller General.
    ``(5) As used in this subsection, the terms `employee' and 
`annuity' shall have the same meaning as defined in chapters 83 and 84 
of title 5, as applicable. The term `officer' shall have the same 
meaning as `employee.'
    ``(6) The Comptroller General may not utilize the authority granted 
under this subsection to grant voluntary early retirements to more than 
10 percent of the workforce of the General Accounting Office in any 
fiscal year.''.

SEC. 5. SEPARATION PAY.

    Section 732 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by section 
4 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) The Comptroller General may offer separation pay to an 
officer or employee under this subsection subject to such limitations 
or conditions as the Comptroller General may require for purposes of 
realigning the workforce in order to meet mission needs, correcting 
skill imbalances, or reducing high-grade, managerial, or supervisory 
positions. Such separation pay--
            ``(1) shall be paid, at the option of the officer or 
        employee, in a lump sum or equal installment payments;
            ``(2) shall be equal to the lesser of--
                    ``(A) an amount equal to the amount the officer or 
                employee would be entitled to receive under section 
                5595(c) of title 5 if the officer or employee were 
                entitled to payment under such section; or
                    ``(B) $25,000;
            ``(3) shall not be a basis for payment, and shall not be 
        included in the computation, of any other type of Government 
        benefit;
            ``(4) shall not be taken into account for purposes of 
        determining the amount of any severance pay to which an 
        individual may be entitled under section 5595 of title 5 based 
        on any other separation;
            ``(5) shall only be paid to an officer or employee serving 
        under an appointment without time limitation, who has been 
        currently employed for a continuous period of at least 12 
        months, but does not include--
                    ``(A) a reemployed annuitant under subchapter III 
                of chapter 83 of title 5, chapter 84 of title 5, or 
                another retirement system for employees of the 
                Government; or
                    ``(B) an officer or employee having a disability on 
                the basis of which such officer or employee is or would 
                be eligible for disability retirement under any of the 
                retirement systems referred to in subparagraph (A);
            ``(6) shall terminate, upon reemployment in the Federal 
        Government, during receipt of installment payments;
            ``(7) shall be repaid in its entirety upon reemployment in 
        the Federal Government or working for any agency of the 
        Government through personal services contract within 5 years 
        after the date of the separation on which payment of the 
        separation pay is based, except that--
                    ``(A) if the employment is with an Executive 
                agency, the Director of the Office of Personnel 
                Management may, at the request of the head of the 
                agency, waive the repayment if the individual involved 
                possesses unique abilities and is the only qualified 
                applicant available for the position;
                    ``(B) if the employment is with an entity in the 
                legislative branch, the head of the entity or the 
                appointing official may waive the repayment if the 
                individual involved possesses unique abilities and is 
                the only qualified applicant available for the 
                position;
                    ``(C) if the employment is with the judicial 
                branch, the Director of the Administrative Office of 
                the United States Courts may waive the repayment if the 
                individual involved possesses unique abilities and is 
                the only qualified applicant available for the 
                position; or
                    ``(D) if the employment is without compensation, 
                the appointing official may waive the repayment;
            ``(8) shall be paid under regulations providing that offers 
        of separation pay shall be based on skills, knowledge, 
        performance, or other similar factors or combination of such 
        factors determined by the Comptroller General;
            ``(9) shall be paid upon the condition that the General 
        Accounting Office remit to the Office of Personnel Management 
        for deposit in the Treasury to the credit of the Civil Service 
        Retirement and Disability Fund an amount equal to 45 percent of 
        the final annual basic pay for each employee covered under 
        subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5 to whom 
        separation pay has been paid under this section and--
                    ``(A) such remittance shall be in addition to any 
                other payments which the General Accounting Office is 
                required to make under subchapter III of chapter 83 or 
                chapter 84 of title 5; and
                    ``(B) for purposes of this paragraph the term 
                `final basic pay' with respect to an employee means the 
                total amount of basic pay which would be payable for a 
                year of service by such employee, computed using the 
                employee's final rate of basic pay, and, if last 
                serving on other than a full-time basis, with 
                appropriate adjustment therefore;
            ``(10) shall not be paid to more than 5 percent of the 
        workforce of the General Accounting Office in any fiscal year; 
        and
            ``(11) shall be paid to employees under this section for a 
        period of 5 years following the enactment of this section 
        unless Congress renews the authority for an additional period 
        of time.''.

SEC. 6. REDUCTION IN FORCE.

    Section 732(h) of title 31, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows:
    ``(h)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 
35 of title 5, the Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations for 
the release of officers and employees of the General Accounting Office 
in a reduction in force which is carried out for downsizing, 
realigning, or correcting skill imbalances. The regulations shall give 
effect to military preference and may take into account such other 
factors as skills, knowledge, and performance in such a manner and to 
such an extent as the Comptroller General determines necessary and 
appropriate.
    ``(2) Except as provided under paragraph (3), an employee may not 
be released, due to a reduction in force, unless such employee is given 
written notice at least 60 days before such employee is so released. 
Such notice shall include--
            ``(A) the personnel action to be taken with respect to the 
        employee involved;
            ``(B) the effective date of the action;
            ``(C) a description of the procedures applicable in 
        identifying employees for release;
            ``(D) the employee's ranking relative to other competing 
        employees, and how that ranking was determined; and
            ``(E) a description of any appeal or other rights which may 
        be available.
    ``(3) The Comptroller General may, in writing, shorten the period 
of advance notice required under paragraph (2) with respect to a 
particular reduction in force, if necessary because of circumstances 
not reasonably foreseeable, except that such period may not be less 
than 30 days.''.

SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT.

    Section 719 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ``and'' after the 
                semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (2) by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) appropriate legislative changes to sections 732(h), 
        (i), and (j) of this title.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B) by striking ``and'' after 
                the semicolon;
                    (B) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) a description of the actions taken under 
                sections 732 (h), (i), and (j) of this title, including 
                information on the number of employees who received 
                voluntary early retirements and separation pay under 
                sections 732(i) and (j) and who were released under a 
                reduction in force action under section 732(h), and an 
                assessment of the effectiveness and usefulness of these 
                human capital initiatives in achieving the agency's 
                mission, meeting its performance goals, and fulfilling 
                its strategic plan.''.

SEC. 8. FIVE-YEAR ASSESSMENT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 5 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress 
a report concerning the implementation and effectiveness of the 
provisions of this Act.
    (b) Content.--The report under this section shall include--
            (1) a summary of the portions of the annual reports 
        required under sections 719(a)(3) and (b)(1)(D) of title 31, 
        United States Code;
            (2) recommendations for continuation of or legislative 
        changes to sections 732(h), (i), and (j) of title 31, United 
        States Code; and
            (3) any assessments or recommendations of the General 
        Accounting Office Personnel Appeals Board and interested 
        employee groups or associations within the General Accounting 
        Office.
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