[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 5, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS AND PUBLIC DEFENDER 
          SERVICE VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 5, 2022

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of 
Columbia Courts and Public Defender Service Voluntary Separation 
Incentive Payments Act. This bill, which passed the House in the 114th 
Congress, would make a small but important change to the authorities of 
the District of Columbia Courts (D.C. Courts) and the Public Defender 
Service for the District of Columbia (PDS), giving them the same 
authority federal agencies and federal courts already have to offer 
voluntary separation incentive payments, or buyouts, to their 
employees.
  Congress has provided this authority to the D.C. Courts and PDS on an 
annual basis in the last several appropriations bills. However, my bill 
is necessary to make this authority permanent. This authority would 
allow the D.C. Courts and PDS to respond to future administrative and 
budgetary needs, and would provide the flexibility to extend buyout 
offers to their employees.
  The U.S. Government Accountability Office has opined that voluntary 
separation incentive payments may be made only where statutorily 
authorized. Federal agencies and federal courts already have permanent 
statutory authority to offer buyouts, and there is no reason why the 
D.C. Courts and PDS, which are both federally funded entities, should 
not have the same permanent authority to manage their workforce as 
budget conditions and needs change.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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