[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2751 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.2751

                       One Hundred Eighth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
           the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four


                                 An Act


 
To provide new human capital flexibilities with respect to the GAO, 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. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENT OF TITLE 31.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``GAO Human Capital 
Reform Act of 2004''.
    (b) Amendment of Title 31.--Except as otherwise expressly provided, 
whenever in this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment 
to a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to 
be made to a section or other provision of title 31, United States 
Code.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO PUBLIC LAW 106-303.

    (a) Authorities Made Permanent.--Sections 1 and 2 of Public Law 
106-303 (5 U.S.C. 8336 note and 5597 note) are amended by striking 
``for purposes of the period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act and ending on December 31, 2003'' each place it appears and 
inserting ``October 13, 2000''.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--
        (1) Voluntary early retirement authority.--Section 1 of Public 
    Law 106-303 is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
implementation of this section is intended to reshape the General 
Accounting Office workforce and not downsize the General Accounting 
Office workforce.''.
        (2) Voluntary separation incentive payments.--Section 2 of 
    Public Law 106-303 is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
implementation of this section is intended to reshape the General 
Accounting Office workforce and not downsize the General Accounting 
Office workforce.''.
    (c) Additional Limitation Relating to VSIPs.--Section 2(b) of 
Public Law 106-303 is amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting 
the following:
        ``(2) subsection (a)(2)(G) of such section shall be applied--
            ``(A) by construing the citations therein to be references 
        to the appropriate authorities in connection with employees of 
        the General Accounting Office; and
            ``(B) by deeming such subsection to be amended by striking 
        `Code.' and inserting `Code, or who, during the thirty-six 
        month period preceding the date of separation, performed 
        service for which a student loan repayment benefit was or is to 
        be paid under section 5379 of title 5, United States Code.';''.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL PAY ADJUSTMENTS.

    (a) Officers and Employees Generally.--Paragraph (3) of section 
732(c) is amended to read as follows:
        ``(3) except as provided under section 733(a)(3)(B) of this 
    title, basic rates of officers and employees of the Office shall be 
    adjusted annually to such extent as determined by the Comptroller 
    General, and in making that determination the Comptroller General 
    shall consider--
            ``(A) the principle that equal pay should be provided for 
        work of equal value within each local pay area;
            ``(B) the need to protect the purchasing power of officers 
        and employees of the Office, taking into consideration the 
        Consumer Price Index or other appropriate indices;
            ``(C) any existing pay disparities between officers and 
        employees of the Office and non-Federal employees in each local 
        pay area;
            ``(D) the pay rates for the same levels of work for 
        officers and employees of the Office and non-Federal employees 
        in each local pay area;
            ``(E) the appropriate distribution of agency funds between 
        annual adjustments under this section and performance-based 
        compensation; and
            ``(F) such other criteria as the Comptroller General 
        considers appropriate, including, but not limited to, the 
        funding level for the Office, amounts allocated for 
        performance-based compensation, and the extent to which the 
        Office is succeeding in fulfilling its mission and 
        accomplishing its strategic plan;
    notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, an 
    adjustment under this paragraph shall not be applied in the case of 
    any officer or employee whose performance is not at a satisfactory 
    level, as determined by the Comptroller General for purposes of 
    such adjustment;''.
    (b) Officers and Employees in the Office Senior Executive 
Service.--Subparagraph (B) of section 733(a)(3) is amended to read as 
follows:
            ``(B) adjusted annually by the Comptroller General after 
        taking into consideration the factors listed under section 
        732(c)(3) of this title, except that an adjustment under this 
        subparagraph shall not be applied in the case of any officer or 
        employee whose performance is not at a satisfactory level, as 
        determined by the Comptroller General for purposes of such 
        adjustment;''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 732(b)(6) is amended by striking 
``title 5.'' and inserting ``title 5, except as provided under 
subsection (c)(3) of this section and section 733(a)(3)(B) of this 
title.''.

SEC. 4. PAY RETENTION.

    Paragraph (5) of section 732(c) is amended to read as follows:
        ``(5) the Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations under 
    which an officer or employee of the Office shall be entitled to pay 
    retention if, as a result of any reduction-in-force or other 
    workforce adjustment procedure, position reclassification, or other 
    appropriate circumstances as determined by the Comptroller General, 
    such officer or employee is placed in or holds a position in a 
    lower grade or band with a maximum rate of basic pay that is less 
    than the rate of basic pay payable to the officer or employee 
    immediately before the reduction in grade or band; such 
    regulations--
            ``(A) shall provide that the officer or employee shall be 
        entitled to continue receiving the rate of basic pay that was 
        payable to the officer or employee immediately before the 
        reduction in grade or band until such time as the retained rate 
        becomes less than the maximum rate for the grade or band of the 
        position held by such officer or employee; and
            ``(B) shall include provisions relating to the minimum 
        period of time for which an officer or employee must have 
        served or for which the position must have been classified at 
        the higher grade or band in order for pay retention to apply, 
        the events that terminate the right to pay retention (apart 
        from the one described in subparagraph (A)), and exclusions 
        based on the nature of an appointment; in prescribing 
        regulations under this subparagraph, the Comptroller General 
        shall be guided by the provisions of sections 5362 and 5363 of 
        title 5.''.

SEC. 5. RELOCATION BENEFITS.

    Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection (e) the 
following:
    ``(f) The Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations under 
which officers and employees of the Office may, in appropriate 
circumstances, be reimbursed for any relocation expenses under 
subchapter II of chapter 57 of title 5 for which they would not 
otherwise be eligible, but only if the Comptroller General determines 
that the transfer giving rise to such relocation is of sufficient 
benefit or value to the Office to justify such reimbursement.''.

SEC. 6. INCREASED ANNUAL LEAVE FOR KEY EMPLOYEES.

    Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection (f) (as added by 
section 5 of this Act) the following:
    ``(g) The Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations under 
which key officers and employees of the Office who have less than 3 
years of service may accrue leave in accordance with section 6303(a)(2) 
of title 5, in those circumstances in which the Comptroller General has 
determined such increased annual leave is appropriate for the 
recruitment or retention of such officers and employees. Such 
regulations shall define key officers and employees and set forth the 
factors in determining which officers and employees should be allowed 
to accrue leave in accordance with this subsection.''.

SEC. 7. EXECUTIVE EXCHANGE PROGRAM.

    Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection (g) (as added by 
section 6 of this Act) the following:
    ``(h) The Comptroller General may by regulation establish an 
executive exchange program under which officers and employees of the 
Office may be assigned to private sector organizations, and employees 
of private sector organizations may be assigned to the Office, to 
further the institutional interests of the Office or Congress, 
including for the purpose of providing training to officers and 
employees of the Office. Regulations to carry out any such program--
        ``(1) shall include provisions (consistent with sections 3702 
    through 3704 of title 5) as to matters concerning--
            ``(A) the duration and termination of assignments;
            ``(B) reimbursements; and
            ``(C) status, entitlements, benefits, and obligations of 
        program participants;
        ``(2) shall limit--
            ``(A) the number of officers and employees who are assigned 
        to private sector organizations at any one time to not more 
        than 15; and
            ``(B) the number of employees from private sector 
        organizations who are assigned to the Office at any one time to 
        not more than 30;
        ``(3) shall require that an employee of a private sector 
    organization assigned to the Office may 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) shall require that, before approving the assignment of an 
    officer or employee to a private sector organization, the 
    Comptroller General shall determine that the assignment is an 
    effective use of the Office's funds, taking into account the best 
    interests of the Office and the costs and benefits of alternative 
    methods of achieving the same results and objectives; and
        ``(5) shall not allow any assignment under this subsection to 
    commence after the end of the 5-year period beginning on the date 
    of the enactment of this subsection.
    ``(i) An employee of a private sector organization assigned to the 
Office under the executive exchange program shall be considered to be 
an employee of the Office for purposes of--
        ``(1) chapter 73 of title 5;
        ``(2) sections 201, 203, 205, 207, 208, 209, 603, 606, 607, 
    643, 654, 1905, and 1913 of title 18;
        ``(3) sections 1343, 1344, and 1349(b) of this title;
        ``(4) chapter 171 of title 28 (commonly referred to as the 
    `Federal Tort Claims Act') and any other Federal tort liability 
    statute;
        ``(5) the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.);
        ``(6) section 1043 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
        ``(7) section 27 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
    Act (41 U.S.C. 423).''.

SEC. 8. REDESIGNATION.

    (a) In General.--The General Accounting Office is hereby 
redesignated the Government Accountability Office.
    (b) References.--Any reference to the General Accounting Office in 
any law, rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or 
other official paper in force on the date of enactment of this Act 
shall be considered to refer and apply to the Government Accountability 
Office.

SEC. 9. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

    Paragraph (1) of section 732(d) is amended to read as follows:
        ``(1) for a system to appraise the performance of officers and 
    employees of the General Accounting Office that meets the 
    requirements of section 4302 of title 5 and in addition includes--
            ``(A) a link between the performance management system and 
        the agency's strategic plan;
            ``(B) adequate training and retraining for supervisors, 
        managers, and employees in the implementation and operation of 
        the performance management system;
            ``(C) a process for ensuring ongoing performance feedback 
        and dialogue between supervisors, managers, and employees 
        throughout the appraisal period and setting timetables for 
        review;
            ``(D) effective transparency and accountability measures to 
        ensure that the management of the system is fair, credible, and 
        equitable, including appropriate independent reasonableness, 
        reviews, internal assessments, and employee surveys; and
            ``(E) a means to ensure that adequate agency resources are 
        allocated for the design, implementation, and administration of 
        the performance management system;''.

SEC. 10. CONSULTATION.

    Before the implementation of any changes authorized under this Act, 
the Comptroller General shall consult with any interested groups or 
associations representing officers and employees of the General 
Accounting Office.

SEC. 11. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Annual Reports.--The Comptroller General shall include--
        (1) in each report submitted to Congress under section 719(a) 
    of title 31, United States Code, during the 5-year period beginning 
    on the date of enactment of this Act, a summary review of all 
    actions taken under sections 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10 of this Act 
    during the period covered by such report, including--
            (A) the respective numbers of officers and employees--
                (i) separating from the service under section 2 of this 
            Act;
                (ii) receiving pay retention under section 4 of this 
            Act;
                (iii) receiving increased annual leave under section 6 
            of this Act; and
                (iv) engaging in the executive exchange program under 
            section 7 of this Act, as well as the number of private 
            sector employees participating in such program and a review 
            of the general nature of the work performed by the 
            individuals participating in such program;
            (B) a review of all actions taken to formulate the 
        appropriate methodologies to implement the pay adjustments 
        provided for under section 3 of this Act, except that nothing 
        under this subparagraph shall be required if no changes are 
        made in any such methodology during the period covered by such 
        report; and
            (C) an assessment of the role of sections 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 
        and 10 of this Act in contributing to the General Accounting 
        Office's ability to carry out its mission, meet its performance 
        goals, and fulfill its strategic plan; and
        (2) in each report submitted to Congress under such section 
    719(a) after the effective date of section3 of this Act and before 
the close of the 5-year period referred to in paragraph (1)--
            (A) a detailed description of the methodologies applied 
        under section 3 of this Act and the manner in which such 
        methodologies were applied to determine the appropriate annual 
        pay adjustments for officers and employees of the Office;
            (B) the amount of the annual pay adjustments afforded to 
        officers and employees of the Office under section 3 of this 
        Act; and
            (C) a description of any extraordinary economic conditions 
        or serious budget constraints which had a significant impact on 
        the determination of the annual pay adjustments for officers 
        and employees of the Office.
    (b) Final Report.--Not later than 6 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress 
a report concerning the implementation of this Act. Such report shall 
include--
        (1) a summary of the information included in the annual reports 
    required under subsection (a);
        (2) recommendations for any legislative changes to section 2, 
    3, 4, 6, 7, 9, or 10 of this Act; and
        (3) any assessment furnished by the General Accounting Office 
    Personnel Appeals Board or any interested groups or associations 
    representing officers and employees of the Office for inclusion in 
    such report.
    (c) Additional Reporting.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section, the reporting requirement under subsection (a)(2)(C) 
shall apply in the case any report submitted under section 719(a) of 
title 31, United States Code, whether during the 5-year period 
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act (as required by 
subsection (a)) or at any time thereafter.

SEC. 12. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

    Section 732(h)(3)(A) is amended by striking ``reduction force'' and 
inserting ``reduction in force''.

SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATES.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Pay Adjustments.--
        (1) In general.--Section 3 of this Act and the amendments made 
    by that section shall take effect on October 1, 2005, and shall 
    apply in the case of any annual pay adjustment taking effect on or 
    after that date.
        (2) Interim authorities.--In connection with any pay adjustment 
    taking effect under section 732(c)(3) or 733(a)(3)(B) of title 31, 
    United States Code, before October 1, 2005, the Comptroller General 
    may by regulation--
            (A) provide that such adjustment not be applied in the case 
        of any officer or employee whose performance is not at a 
        satisfactory level, as determined by the Comptroller General 
        for purposes of such adjustment; and
            (B) provide that such adjustment be reduced if and to the 
        extent necessary because of extraordinary economic conditions 
        or serious budget constraints.
        (3) Additional authority.--
            (A) In general.--The Comptroller General may by regulation 
        delay the effective date of section 3 of this Act and the 
        amendments made by that section for groups of officers and 
        employees that the Comptroller General considers appropriate.
            (B) Interim authorities.--If the Comptroller General 
        provides for a delayed effective date under subparagraph (A) 
        with respect to any group of officers or employees, paragraph 
        (2) shall, for purposes of such group, be applied by 
        substituting such date for ``October 1, 2005''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.