Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Many Federal agencies provide essential constituent services, including processing benefits, responding to casework inquiries, administering grants, conducting outreach, and maintaining public facing operations. (2)Federal reductions in force may significantly alter agency staffing levels, affecting the delivery of constituent facing services across the Federal Government. (3)Workforce reductions may increase service backlogs, lengthen processing times, reduce access to in person or telephone assistance, and diminish the overall responsiveness of agencies to constituents. (4)Reductions in force may disproportionately affect agencies with high volumes of public interaction, including those administering Social Security, veterans benefits, immigration services, tax administration, and disaster assistance. (5)There is currently no comprehensive Federal assessment of how reductions in force affect constituent services, service delivery performance, or the ability of agencies to meet statutory and mission critical obligations. (6)During and after a reduction in force, agencies may be unable to provide timely information or case specific responses to Members of Congress or congressional staff, impairing the ability of Congress to assist constituents in resolving issues involving Federal programs.

GAO study on impact of reductions in force on agency constituent services

(a)

In general

The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a comprehensive study on the impacts of reductions in force on constituent services provided by Federal agencies. (b)

Scope of study

Such study shall examine, at a minimum— (1)changes in constituent service performance metrics following a reduction in force, including— (A)processing times for benefits, claims, and applications; (B)casework responsiveness and resolution rates; (C)call center wait times and service availability; and (D)public facing operational capacity, including field office hours and staffing; (2)impacts on service backlogs and delays across agencies with significant constituent interaction; (3)effects on agencies ability to meet statutory deadlines or mission critical service obligations; (4)operational and administrative challenges faced by agencies in maintaining constituent services during and after a reduction in force; (5)differences in impacts based on— (A)size and scale of the reduction in force; (B)geographic distribution of affected employees; and (C)agency mission, service volume, and workforce composition; (6)historical case studies of significant reductions in force occurring within the previous 20 years and their effects on constituent services; (7)strategies used by agencies to mitigate service disruptions; (8)the extent to which reductions in force impede agencies’ ability to respond to congressional casework inquiries, including situations in which agencies cannot provide necessary information for Members of Congress to assist constituents; (9)whether an agency changed the definition of a backlog, completed case, processing time, service target, or other performance measure before or after the workforce reduction; (10)whether the agency reduced or restricted access to services, including shorter office hours, fewer appointments, abandoned calls, website problems, or people being turned away before a case was formally opened; (11)error rates, appeals, reversals, reopened cases, repeat contacts, missed inspections, and whether an issue was actually resolved rather than simply closed; (12)workload effects on the employees who remain, including caseloads, overtime, leave denials, burnout, morale, safety issues, and subsequent resignations or retirements; (13)whether work was shifted somewhere else, including to another agency component or contractors; (14)the full cost of the reductions in force, including overtime, contracting, severance, relocation, litigation, rehiring, and retraining, rather than just the initial payroll savings; (15)localized impacts, including at field offices, geographic regions, occupations, or programs; (16)longer-term impacts, including institutional knowledge loss and increased attrition; and (17)whether the mitigation efforts were sustainable or depended on overtime, deferred work, reduced quality control, or employees temporarily absorbing additional duties. (c)

Consultation

In conducting the study, the Comptroller General shall seek to consult with— (1)Federal agencies with substantial constituent service responsibilities; (2)the Office of Personnel Management; (3)labor unions representing Federal employees; and (4)public administration experts, service delivery researchers, and workforce analysts. (d)

Data Sources

The study may use administrative data, surveys, performance metrics, economic modeling, and publicly available service delivery statistics. (e)

GAO Report

(1)

Deadline

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report on the study conducted under subsection (a) to— (A)the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives; (B)the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; (C) the Committee on Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives; and (D)the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. (2)

Contents

The report shall include— (A)findings and analysis from the study, including— (i)an assessment of how reductions in force affected constituent service delivery across agencies; (ii)identification of agencies experiencing the greatest service disruptions; (iii)evaluation of whether reductions in force improved or impaired agency efficiency; and (iv)recommendations for statutory or administrative changes to strengthen constituent service continuity during workforce reductions; (B)projected short term and long term impacts of reductions in force on constituent services; (C)policy options for Congress to consider, including potential Federal assistance, coordination mechanisms, or service continuity planning tools to address any identified delays in constituent services resulting from reductions in force; and (D) an evaluation of how a reduction in force-related staffing shortages affected agencies’ ability to respond to congressional casework inquiries and provide information necessary for Members of Congress to assist constituents. (3)

Public availability

The Comptroller General shall make the report publicly available on the website of the Government Accountability Office. (f)

Definitions

In this Act— (1)the term constituent services means services provided by Federal agencies, including processing benefits, responding to casework inquiries, administering applications, providing public information, responding to inquiries and requests from Congress, and maintaining public facing operations; and (2)the term reduction in force means— (A)a reduction in force under subchapter I of chapter 35 or section 3595 of title 5, United States Code; and (B)any other significant downsizing action with respect to the Federal civilian employees, including the Deferred Resignation Program, the mass termination of probationary employees, the use of the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments, hiring freezes, non-renewal of term or temporary employees, and forced relocations or directed reassignments leading to separation.