[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2751 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2751

To provide new human capital flexibilities with respect to the GAO, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 2003

    Mrs. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia (for herself and Mr. Tom Davis of 
  Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
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 2003''.
    (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.

    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''.

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 pay rates of officers and employees of the Office 
        shall be adjusted annually to such extent as the Comptroller 
        General shall determine, taking into consideration--
                    ``(A) the principle that there be equal pay for 
                substantially equal work within each local pay area;
                    ``(B) the Consumer Price Index;
                    ``(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 UPPER-LEVEL EMPLOYEES.

    Section 731 is amended by adding after subsection (f) (as added by 
section 5) the following:
    ``(g) The Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations under 
which officers and employees of the Office in high-grade, managerial, 
or supervisory positions who have less than 3 years of service may, in 
appropriate circumstances, accrue leave in accordance with section 
6303(a)(2) of title 5. Such regulations shall define high-grade, 
managerial, or supervisory positions 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) the following:
    ``(h) The Comptroller General may by regulation establish an 
executive exchange program under which officers and employees of the 
Office in high-grade, managerial, or supervisory positions may be 
assigned to private sector organizations, and employees of private 
sector organizations may be assigned to the Office, for work of mutual 
concern and benefit. Regulations to carry out any such program--
            ``(1) shall include provisions which define high-grade, 
        managerial, or supervisory positions, and provisions 
        (consistent with sections 3702-3704 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 30, 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; and
            ``(3) shall provide for the inclusion, in all reports 
        submitted to the Congress under section 719(a) of this title, 
        of a review of the work being done by all individuals 
        participating in the program and an assessment of the 
        effectiveness and usefulness of the program.''.

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 the enactment of this Act 
shall be considered to refer and apply to the Government Accountability 
Office.

SEC. 9. 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 the 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Pay Adjustments.--
            (1) In general.--Section 3 and the amendments made by 
        section 3 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 and 
                the amendments made by section 3 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''.
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