1.This Act may be cited as
the Roosevelt Scholars Act of
2009
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)According to the
Government Accountability Office, about 1/3 of Federal
employees who were employed by the Federal Government at the end of fiscal year
2007 will become eligible to retire by 2012. Proportions of workers eligible to
retire are projected to be especially high in certain occupations, some of them
mission-critical, as well as in key leadership positions. The Government will
lose additional employees to non-retirement attrition.
(2)The Office of
Personnel Management estimates that about 550,000 Federal employees will leave
the Government in the next 5 years, the majority through retirement, and a
recent survey by the Partnership for Public Service indicates that Federal
agencies will need to hire nearly 273,000 new employees to fill
mission-critical positions (including highly specialized professionals, such as
scientists, engineers, physicians, mathematicians, and economists) through
September 2012.
(3)The ability of
the Federal Government to perform mission-critical functions depends on a
strong, well-trained, and highly engaged Federal workforce.
(4)Heavy educational
debt and lack of knowledge about Federal job opportunities drive many students
to seek employment in the private sector, making it difficult for the Federal
Government to replace needed talent in mission-critical positions.
(5)A new scholarship
program to help finance undergraduate- and graduate-level education and to
connect students directly with mission-critical Federal positions would help
build a much-needed pipeline of talent for the Government.
3.For purposes of this Act—
(1)the term
Foundation means the Theodore Roosevelt Scholarship Foundation, as
described in section 4(a);
(2)the term
Board means the Board of Trustees of the Theodore Roosevelt
Scholarship Foundation, as described in section 4(b);
(3)the term
Fund means the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund,
as described in section 8;
(4)the term
Federal agency means an Executive agency, as defined by section
105 of title 5, United States Code;
(5)the term
State includes the District of Columbia;
(6)the term
graduate student means a student in a master's, law, or doctoral
degree program at a university accredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting agency or association;
(7)the term
undergraduate student means a student enrolled or accepted for
enrollment at a university accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting
agency or association; and
(8)the term
mission-critical occupational area refers to those positions that
a Federal agency identifies as essential to achieving its strategic goals, as
determined through the workforce analysis process of the Federal agency's
workforce planning system.
4.Theodore
roosevelt scholarship foundation
(a)There
is established, as an independent establishment in the executive branch of the
Government, a foundation to be known as the Theodore Roosevelt
Scholarship Foundation
.
(b)The Foundation shall be subject to the supervision and
direction of a Board of Trustees. The Board shall be composed of 9 members,
plus 1 non-voting ex officio member, as follows:
(1)2 members of the
Senate, 1 appointed by the majority leader and 1 appointed by the minority
leader of the Senate.
(2)2 members of the
House of Representatives, 1 appointed by the majority leader and 1 appointed by
the minority leader of the House of Representatives.
(3)5 members, not
more than 3 of whom shall be of the same political party, shall be appointed by
the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among
individuals who—
(A)have demonstrated
leadership or expertise in public service or higher education; or
(B)represent a
Federal agency or a professional association related to mission-critical
occupational areas.
(4)The Director of
the Office of Personnel Management (or a designee) shall serve as a non-voting,
ex officio member of the Board.
(c)
(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3), the term of
each member (other than the ex officio member) shall be 6 years.
(2)As designated by the President at the time of
appointment, of the members first appointed—
(A)1 member
appointed under subsection (b)(2) and 2 members appointed under subsection
(b)(3) shall be appointed for a term of 2 years;
(B)1 member
appointed under subsection (b)(1) and 2 members appointed under subsection
(b)(3) shall be appointed for a term of 4 years; and
(C)1 member
appointed under subsection (b)(1), 1 member appointed under subsection (b)(2),
and 1 member appointed under subsection (b)(3) shall be appointed for a term of
6 years.
(3)Any
member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term
for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for
the remainder of that term. A vacancy on the Board shall be filled in the
manner in which the original appointment was made.
(d)Members
of the Board shall serve without pay, but shall be entitled to reimbursement
for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties as members of the Board.
5.
(a)The Foundation shall award scholarships to undergraduate
students and graduate students who demonstrate outstanding potential for a
career in a mission-critical occupational area within the Federal Government.
The recipient of a scholarship under this Act shall be known as a
Roosevelt Scholar
.
(b)
(1)The Foundation shall—
(A)provide for the
conduct of an annual Nationwide competition, including an application and
interview process, for the purpose of selecting Roosevelt Scholars; and
(B)market the
scholarship program to diverse populations.
(2)The Foundation shall adopt selection criteria and
procedures to ensure a diverse cohort of scholarship recipients each year who
at the time of applying for a scholarship under this Act—
(A)are enrolled or
accepted for enrollment at an accredited full-time undergraduate or graduate
degree granting program in a discipline that is determined by the Foundation to
be directly related to 1 or more mission-critical occupational areas within the
Federal Government;
(B)have been
nominated by an appropriate faculty member or other representative of the
institution of higher education in which they are enrolled, of which they are a
graduate, or to which they are seeking admission, or by another individual
approved by the Foundation, who has direct knowledge of the candidate's
academic or work experience; and
(C)are citizens or
legal permanent residents of the United States.
(3)Each student awarded a scholarship under this Act shall
receive, for each academic year in which such student is enrolled full time in
the undergraduate or graduate degree program described in paragraph (2)(A), the
cost of tuition plus a stipend, except that—
(A)the stipend
awarded under this Act to a student for an academic year may not exceed the
lesser of—
(i)a
monthly living stipend of not more than $300 per month and an amount equal to
the cost to the student, for such academic year, of—
(I)room and
board;
(II)books;
and
(III)materials and
fees associated with coursework; or
(ii)$12,000
(adjusted annually to reflect any increase in the consumer price index for all
urban consumers, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics);
(B)the total
scholarship awarded under this Act to a student for an academic year, for
tuition and stipend combined, may not exceed—
(i)$60,000 (adjusted
at the same time and in the same manner as the dollar amount under subparagraph
(A)(ii)); minus
(ii)the sum of all
scholarships, grants, or other similar cash awards received by the student for
such academic year from any source apart from this Act; and
(C)scholarships
under this Act may be awarded to a student for such periods as the Foundation
may prescribe, but not to exceed 5 academic years.
(c)
(1)A student awarded a scholarship under this Act shall
continue to receive the payments provided for under this Act only during such
periods as the Foundation finds that such student is maintaining satisfactory
proficiency and devoting full time to study or research designed to prepare
such student for a career in the Federal Government, unless otherwise approved
by the Foundation.
(2)The
Foundation may require reports containing such information, in such form, and
to be filed at such times as the Foundation determines to be necessary from any
student awarded a scholarship under this Act. Such reports shall be accompanied
by a certificate from an appropriate official at the institution of higher
education, approved by the Foundation, stating that such individual is making
satisfactory progress in, and is devoting essentially full time to study or
research, except as otherwise provided in this subsection.
6.Requirements for
roosevelt scholars
(a)
(1)Each student awarded a scholarship under this Act shall
be required to enter into a service agreement with the Foundation which
provides for such student to complete, in return for the scholarship, a
specified period of service with the Federal Government. Under the agreement,
the period of service shall be for the number of years equal to the total
number of academic years for which the student received a scholarship under
this Act, except that the total period of service shall not be less than 3
years nor more than 5 years.
(2)
(A)An agreement under this section shall provide that an
individual shall, in the event that such individual fails to meet the service
requirement under paragraph (1), be required to repay to the Foundation the
amount equal to—
(i)the
total amount of scholarship monies (tuition and stipends combined) received by
the individual under such agreement; multiplied by
(ii)a
fraction, the numerator of which is the amount of service not completed and the
denominator of which is the total period of service agreed to.
(B)An amount under this paragraph shall be treated as a
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D of title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a and following), and shall be
subject to repayment, together with interest thereon accruing from the date of
the scholarship award, in accordance with terms and conditions specified by the
Secretary of Education.
(3)The
Foundation, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management, shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out this
subsection, including provisions under which the service requirement specified
by paragraph (1) or a repayment otherwise required under paragraph (2) may be
waived, in whole or in part, or deferred in appropriate circumstances.
(b)
(1)Roosevelt Scholars shall be required to complete at least
1 internship related to their field of study in a Federal agency while earning
their undergraduate, graduate, or other advanced degree.
(2)The
Foundation, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management, shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out this
subsection, including provisions under which the internship requirement
specified by subsection (b) may be waived in appropriate circumstances.
(c)Participation
in Extracurricular ActivitiesWhile earning their undergraduate,
graduate, or other advanced degree and during their period of obligated service
(as described in subsection (a)), Roosevelt Scholars shall be required, in
accordance with such terms as the Foundation shall establish, to participate in
extracurricular activities as described in section 12(a)(5).
(d)Availability as
a Source of Information
(1)While earning their undergraduate, graduate, or other
advanced degree and during their period of obligated service (as described in
subsection (a)), Roosevelt Scholars shall be required, in accordance with such
terms as the Foundation shall establish, to serve as a resource for—
(A)individuals
interested in becoming a Roosevelt Scholar or seeking other scholarship
opportunities or temporary or permanent employment with the Federal
Government;
(B)faculty, career
services professionals, and other personnel at universities who advise students
on career opportunities with the Federal Government; and
(C)Federal agencies
which might be interested in promoting, at the institution of higher education
at which the student is enrolled, career opportunities with the Federal
Government.
(2)Memoranda of
understandingThe Foundation may enter into memoranda of
understanding with any institution of higher education regarding any facilities
or resources that will be made available to Roosevelt Scholars for purposes of
this subsection.
(3)The
Foundation, in cooperation with the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management, may provide for Roosevelt Scholars to receive any training which
they might need in order to carry out their responsibilities under this
subsection.
7.Under such
regulations as the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall
prescribe, a Federal agency may make a noncompetitive appointment (in the
excepted service, as defined by section 2103 of title 5, United States Code,
leading to conversion to career or career-conditional employment) of any
Roosevelt Scholar who has successfully completed the program of study for which
the scholarship was granted. A noncompetitive appointment under this section
shall be for a period not to exceed 2 years, and shall be to a mission-critical
occupational area, with the possibility of an extension for 1 additional year
by the employing agency. At the end of the period of the noncompetitive
appointment, conversion to career or career-conditional employment in a
mission-critical position shall be granted to those Roosevelt Scholars who meet
all qualification, suitability, and performance requirements.
8.Theodore
roosevelt memorial scholarship trust fund
(a)There
is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as
the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund
to be
administered by the Foundation. The Fund shall consist of amounts appropriated
to it pursuant to section 14 and amounts paid into the Fund pursuant to section
11(a)(4).
(b)Investment of
Fund Assets
(1)At the request of the Foundation, it shall be the duty of
the Secretary of the Treasury to invest in full the amounts appropriated to the
Fund. Such investments may be made only in interest-bearing obligations of the
United States issued directly to the Fund.
(2)The
purposes for which obligations of the United States may be issued under chapter
31 of title 31 are hereby extended to authorize the issuance at par of special
obligations directly to the Fund. Such special obligations shall bear interest
at a rate equal to the average rate of interest, computed as to the end of the
calendar month next preceding the date of such issue, borne by all marketable
interest-bearing obligations of the United States then forming a part of the
public debt; except that where such average rate is not a multiple of
1/8 of 1 per centum, the rate of interest of such special
obligations shall be the multiple of 1/8 of 1 per centum
next lower than such average rate. All requests of the Foundation to the
Secretary of the Treasury provided for in this section shall be binding upon
the Secretary.
(c)Authority to
sell obligationsAt the request of the Foundation, the Secretary
of the Treasury shall redeem any obligation issued directly to the Fund.
Obligations issued to the Fund under subsection (b)(2) of this section shall be
redeemed at par plus accrued interest. Any other obligations issued directly to
the Fund shall be redeemed at the market price.
(d)Proceeds from
certain transactions credited to fundIn addition to the
appropriations received pursuant to section 14 of this Act, the interest on,
and the proceeds from the sale or redemption of any obligations held in the
Fund shall be credited to, and form a part of, the Fund.
9.Expenditures and
audit of trust fund
(a)The Secretary of the Treasury may pay to the
Foundation from the interest and earnings of the Fund such sums as the Board
determines are necessary and appropriate to enable the Foundation to carry out
the purposes of this Act.
(b)Audits by
Government Accountability OfficeThe activities of the Foundation
under this Act may be audited by the Government Accountability Office under
such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General.
Representatives of the Government Accountability Office shall have access to
all books, accounts, records, reports, and files and all other papers, things,
or property belonging to or in use by the Foundation, pertaining to such
activities and necessary to facilitate the audit.
10.Executive
Secretary of the foundation
(a)There shall be an Executive Secretary of the Foundation,
who shall be the chief executive officer of the Foundation and shall carry out
the functions of the Foundation, subject to the supervision and direction of
the Board. The Executive Secretary shall carry out such other functions
consistent with the provisions of this Act as the Board may delegate.
(b)The
Executive Secretary shall be appointed by the Board and shall be a member of
the Senior Executive Service. The Executive Secretary shall have demonstrated
significant management experience and shall possess a high level of expertise
in the recruitment and retention of personnel.
(c)The Executive Secretary shall serve for a term of 5 years,
and may be reappointed. The Executive Secretary may be removed by a vote of
2/3 of the Board membership.
(d)The
Board shall appoint and fix the compensation of the Executive Secretary at a
rate not to exceed the maximum rate for a member of the Senior Executive
Service.
11.Administrative
provisions
(a)In order to carry out this Act, the Foundation
may—
(1)appoint and fix
the compensation of such personnel as may be necessary, at rates not to exceed
level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States
Code;
(2)procure temporary
and intermittent services of experts and consultants as are necessary to the
extent authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates
not to exceed the rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section
5315 of title 5, United States Code;
(3)prescribe such
regulations as it considers necessary to carry out its functions under this
Act;
(4)receive money and
other property donated, bequeathed, or devised, without condition or
restriction other than that it be used for the purposes of the Foundation, and
to use, sell, or otherwise dispose of such property for the purpose of carrying
out its functions;
(5)accept and
utilize the services of voluntary and non-compensated personnel and reimburse
them for travel expenses, including per diem, as authorized by section 5703 of
title 5, United States Code;
(6)enter into
contracts, grants, or other arrangements, or modifications thereof, to carry
out such provisions of this Act, and such contracts or modifications may, with
the concurrence of 2/3 of the members of the Board, be
entered into without performance or other bonds, and without regard to section
5 of title 41, United States Code;
(7)rent office space
in the District of Columbia; and
(8)make other
necessary expenditures.
(b)The Foundation shall submit to the President and to the
Congress an annual report on its operations under this Act.
(c)The Foundation may enter into contracts under this Act
only to such extent or in such amounts as may be provided for in advance in
appropriations Acts.
12.Additional
functions of the foundation
(a)In addition to its other functions, the Foundation
shall—
(1)create, maintain,
and promote an online directory of all Federal scholarship opportunities
available to individuals pursuing temporary or permanent employment with the
Federal Government;
(2)in consultation
with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Chief Human
Capital Officers Council, create and maintain an online directory of current
mission-critical occupational areas;
(3)partner with
Federal agencies to place Roosevelt Scholars in positions in the Federal
Government;
(4)to the extent
practical, assist Federal agencies and other Federal scholarship foundations in
placing Federal scholarship recipients in positions in the Federal
Government;
(5)work with
nonprofit organizations to design and implement mandatory extracurricular
programs and activities that—
(A)promote
team-building and create a network and community for past, present, and future
Roosevelt Scholars;
(B)motivate
Roosevelt Scholars to become career Federal employees;
(C)are offered
regularly during each year in which an individual is receiving a Roosevelt
Scholarship, including during intervals between periods of enrollment;
(D)expose Roosevelt
Scholars to the business, political, demographic, cultural, and economic
climate of the Federal Government; and
(E)help Roosevelt
Scholars to develop leadership qualities; and
(6)within 2 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to Congress (and make
available to the public) a report regarding—
(A)any barriers to
appointing Roosevelt Scholars and other Federal scholarship recipients to
positions in the Federal Government; and
(B)recommendations
to—
(i)remove barriers
to appointing Roosevelt Scholars and other Federal scholarship recipients to
positions in the Federal Government;
(ii)educate Federal
agencies on the best use of personnel flexibilities in the appointment of
Federal scholarship recipients, including Roosevelt Scholars; and
(iii)increase
financial resources available for the Roosevelt Scholars program and other
Federal scholarship programs.
(b)The Foundation may, consistent with regulations of the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management, request and fund security
clearances for Roosevelt Scholars, as necessary.
13.Exclusion of
roosevelt scholarship awards from gross income
(a)Section 117 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(relating to qualified scholarships) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
(e)Gross income shall not include any amount awarded
under section 5 of the Roosevelt Scholars Act of
2009.
.
(b)The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable
years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
14.Authorization
of appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for fiscal year
2010 and such sums as may be necessary for succeeding fiscal years.