[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 119 (Monday, June 29, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3713-S3714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2266. Mr. CASSIDY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2021 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place in title X, insert the following:
SEC. 10__. ADDRESSING INSUFFICIENT COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES
AND OTHER PERSONNEL OF THE FEDERAL ENERGY
REGULATORY COMMISSION.
(a) In General.--Section 401 of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7171) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(k) Addressing Insufficient Compensation of Employees and
Other Personnel of the Commission.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, if the Chairman publicly certifies that compensation for
a category of employees or other personnel of the Commission
is insufficient to retain or attract employees and other
personnel to allow the Commission to carry out the functions
of the Commission in a timely, efficient, and effective
manner, the Chairman may fix the compensation for the
category of employees or other personnel without regard to
chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5,
United States Code, or any other civil service law.
``(2) Certification requirements.--A certification issued
under paragraph (1) shall--
``(A) apply with respect to a category of employees or
other personnel responsible for conducting work of a
scientific, technological, engineering, or mathematical
nature;
``(B) specify a maximum amount of reasonable compensation
for the category of employees or other personnel;
``(C) be valid for a 5-year period beginning on the date on
which the certification is issued;
``(D) be no broader than necessary to achieve the objective
of retaining or attracting employees and other personnel to
allow the Commission to carry out the functions of the
Commission in a timely, efficient, and effective manner; and
``(E) include an explanation for why the other approaches
available to the Chairman for retaining and attracting
employees and other personnel are inadequate.
``(3) Renewal.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days before the date
of expiration of a certification issued under paragraph (1),
the Chairman shall determine whether the certification should
be renewed for a subsequent 5-year period.
``(B) Requirement.--If the Chairman determines that a
certification should be renewed under subparagraph (A), the
Chairman may renew the certification, subject to the
certification requirements under paragraph (2) that were
applicable to the initial certification.
``(4) New hires.--
``(A) In general.--An employee or other personnel that is a
member of a category of employees or other personnel that
would have been covered by a certification issued under
paragraph (1), but was hired during a period in which the
certification has expired and has not been renewed under
paragraph (3) shall not be eligible for compensation at the
level that would have applied to the employee or other
personnel if the certification had been in effect on the date
on which the employee or other personnel was hired.
``(B) Compensation of new hires on renewal.--On renewal of
a certification under paragraph (3), the Chairman may fix the
compensation of the employees or other personnel described in
subparagraph (A) at the level established for the category of
employees or other personnel in the certification.
``(5) Retention of level of fixed compensation.--A category
of employees or other personnel, the compensation of which
[[Page S3714]]
was fixed by the Chairman in accordance with paragraph (1),
may, at the discretion of the Chairman, have the level of
fixed compensation for the category of employees or other
personnel retained, regardless of whether a certification
described under that paragraph is in effect with respect to
the compensation of the category of employees or other
personnel.
``(6) Consultation required.--The Chairman shall consult
with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management in
implementing this subsection, including in the determination
of the amount of compensation with respect to each category
of employees or other personnel.
``(7) Experts and consultants.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
Chairman may--
``(i) obtain the services of experts and consultants in
accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code;
``(ii) compensate those experts and consultants for each
day (including travel time) at rates not in excess of the
rate of pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule under
section 5315 of that title; and
``(iii) pay to the experts and consultants serving away
from the homes or regular places of business of the experts
and consultants travel expenses and per diem in lieu of
subsistence at rates authorized by sections 5702 and 5703 of
that title for persons in Government service employed
intermittently.
``(B) Limitations.--The Chairman shall--
``(i) to the maximum extent practicable, limit the use of
experts and consultants pursuant to subparagraph (A); and
``(ii) ensure that the employment contract of each expert
and consultant employed pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
subject to renewal not less frequently than annually.''.
(b) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter for 10
years, the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on
information relating to hiring, vacancies, and compensation
at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(2) Inclusions.--Each report under paragraph (1) shall
include--
(A) an analysis of any trends with respect to hiring,
vacancies, and compensation at the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission; and
(B) a description of the efforts to retain and attract
employees or other personnel responsible for conducting work
of a scientific, technological, engineering, or mathematical
nature at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(c) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply beginning on the date that is 30 days after the
date of enactment of this Act.
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