[House Report 117-136]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                   {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session      }                                   {       117-136

======================================================================

 
 RECOMMENDATIONS TO INCREASE STAFF CAPACITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION, 
   STRENGTHEN CONGRESSIONAL INTERNSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS, AND EXPAND 
                       ACCESSIBILITY TO CONGRESS

                                _______
                                

October 8, 2021.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Kilmer, from the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress 
(Select Committee) has been charged with the important 
responsibility of recommending improvements to the U.S. House 
of Representatives to help members of Congress and their staff 
better serve the American people. During the 116th Congress, 
the Select Committee passed 97 recommendations to make Congress 
a more efficient and effective institution. These 
recommendations addressed many issues within the Select 
Committee's jurisdiction and were detailed in the Committee's 
Final Report for the 116th Congress.
    The Select Committee met on July 29, 2021, to pass its 
sixth set of recommendations. These recommendations are the 
first set passed in the 117th Congress and reflect the work of 
the Select Committee's new roster of members. The 
recommendations are broadly focused on issues connected to 
congressional staff and focus on increasing staff capacity, 
diversity and inclusion, strengthening the congressional 
internship and fellowship experience, and expanding 
accessibility to Congress for staff as well as the general 
public. The recommendations address issues the Select Committee 
took up in public hearings, virtual discussions, member 
meetings, and in meetings with stakeholders.

              II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

    Increasing staff capacity, diversity and inclusion, 
strengthening the congressional internship and fellowship 
experience, and expanding accessibility to Congress will 
improve the way Congress works on behalf of the American 
people. The Select Committee identified the following issues to 
be addressed with recommendations:
          1. Congressional staff are often promoted based on 
        their political or policy expertise more so than their 
        management experience or potential. Moreover, many 
        staff coming onto the Hill to serve as chiefs of staff 
        or in other management positions sometimes lack 
        management experience or prior training before taking 
        leadership positions. Poor management in an office can 
        lead to poor office culture, high turnover, less job 
        satisfaction for employees, and decreased overall 
        productivity.
          2. Without access to the clearest, most accurate 
        salary data, congressional hiring managers lack the 
        information they need to offer competitive pay to 
        employees and employees do not have important 
        information they need to negotiate salaries. Existing 
        congressional staff compensation surveys, while 
        helpful, are done infrequently and are only snapshots 
        in time. In addition, response rates tend to be low. 
        For example, it is the Committee's understanding that 
        past employee surveys captured information for only 
        about half of the House's employees. The surveys can 
        also be costly and time consuming to undertake.
          3. Congress is an institution that relies on customs 
        and procedures that can take time for a new staff 
        member to learn. In addition to a lack of proper on-
        the-job training and helpful management, a lack of 
        mentorship opportunities can make it more difficult for 
        less experienced staff to quickly learn how the 
        institution works and how to be effective at their 
        jobs. Some staff associations run mentorship programs, 
        but the programs, while valuable, are informal, 
        inconsistent, and can be difficult to maintain on a 
        volunteer basis.
          4. If congressional offices are prohibited from 
        paying for training that provides staff with a 
        certification, staff may not be able to access training 
        that could bolster their professional skills and 
        capabilities.
          5. The information provided to new congressional 
        staff when they are hired often does not provide 
        comprehensive information on available benefits and 
        resources. Unless an office proactively provides the 
        information through HouseNet or by other means, staff 
        must search for it independently, with no knowledge of 
        what they are looking for.
          6. Current processes for recruiting and hiring new 
        congressional staff are unorganized and inefficient. 
        Additionally, the large number of applicants that 
        generally apply to Hill positions can be overwhelming 
        to hiring managers.
          7. The current process for surveying congressional 
        staff demographics is costly, time consuming, and 
        provides only a snapshot in time. Moreover, 
        participation rates tend to be low. Past employee 
        surveys captured information for only about half of the 
        House's employees. These challenges prevent Congress 
        from effectively tracking progress on staff diversity 
        across the House and efficiently using resources to 
        improve staff diversity.
          8. According to testimony received by the Committee, 
        the average congressional internship stipend is 
        insufficient to cover the monthly cost of living in the 
        D.C. area. Moreover, information on the gap between the 
        average stipend offered and the actual cost of living 
        in D.C. is lacking, which makes it difficult for hiring 
        managers to set appropriate intern stipend rates and 
        for applicants to financially plan for a potential 
        internship.
          9. The quality of congressional internships and 
        fellowships varies from office to office. It is also 
        difficult and time consuming for congressional offices 
        to develop and maintain an effective internship and 
        fellowship program.
          10. Congressional fellows and detailees need access 
        to computers and secure communications devices while 
        working in congressional offices. The current rules 
        limiting devices that offices can provide to fellows 
        and detailees are confusing and may present challenges, 
        especially to freshman offices that might not have 
        extra equipment available.
          11. Remote internships, which some congressional 
        offices offered during the COVID-19 pandemic, may 
        remain a permanent option in other sectors. If the 
        House does not offer similar remote opportunities, it 
        could negatively impact the institution's ability to 
        recruit talented and diverse interns by limiting 
        opportunities to those who can travel and live in 
        Washington D.C. At the same time, before the House 
        considers a policy change that would make remote 
        interns a permanent fixture in the House, it makes 
        sense to consider the lessons learned from the remote 
        internship experience during the pandemic, and whether 
        sufficient guardrails could be adopted to allow a 
        permanent remote program to continue in a way that 
        protects security and maintains the spirit of the 
        educational component of internships required by House 
        rules.
          12. Currently, there is no designated ADA drop-off 
        point for House office buildings. For visitors with 
        mobility impairments, finding a safe location on 
        Capitol Hill to deploy a ramp or transfer from a 
        vehicle into a wheelchair is unnecessarily difficult 
        and a barrier to accessing House offices.
          13. For Capitol Hill visitors with disabilities, an 
        unexpected and invasive security screen is uninviting. 
        Lack of public information about the security process 
        can cause disabled visitors to experience anxiety and 
        to feel like the Hill's security processes treat them 
        differently. This may discourage visitors with 
        disabilities from coming to Capitol Hill.
          14. Testimony received by the Committee indicated 
        that inaccessible doorways are one of the top physical 
        barriers that limit access around the Capitol complex 
        to persons with disabilities.
          15. At the time Committee staff was briefed, more 
        than 250 existing member and committee web sites did 
        not meet accessibility compliance standards (as set 
        forth in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act). 
        Although Congress is not currently required to comply 
        with Section 508, the CAO is in the process of bringing 
        member, committee, and leadership websites into 
        compliance as a proactive measure. CAO ensured all new 
        member websites in the 117th Congress began in 
        compliance. However, once the sites meet compliance 
        standards, staff maintaining and updating the sites 
        must know and understand how to post content 
        appropriately to maintain accessibility standards. 
        Staff that publish web content often do not follow 
        these standards, which makes maintaining Section 508 
        compliance difficult.
          16. According to staff surveys, inadequate 
        opportunities for professional development is among the 
        top reasons congressional staff leave their current job 
        or current office. The Student Loan Repayment Program 
        (SLRP) only pays for qualifying education loans already 
        incurred and in repayment status but does not cover 
        tuition and other expenses for staff attending an 
        ongoing educational program. However, such tuition 
        assistance programs are widely available in the private 
        sector and in federal agencies.
          17. According to the 2019 House Compensation and 
        Diversity study, staff in member offices have been in 
        their positions for 2.5 years on average while staff in 
        committee and leadership offices average 2.7 years in 
        their positions. When staff turnover is high, the House 
        loses valuable expertise. More experienced staff with 
        the institutional knowledge to properly advise members 
        on policy and constituent issues can help strengthen 
        the institution. While staff depart their positions for 
        a variety of reasons, comparatively low compensation 
        (including benefits) is often cited as one of the major 
        drivers of turnover, especially for the mid-career 
        staff who might not be as interested in the retirement 
        programs Congress offers.
          18. The CAO does not currently require contractors to 
        offer employee assistance programs comparable to those 
        provided to congressional employees. The Office of 
        Employee Assistance (OEA) has indicated that some 
        contractors do provide some services, but these 
        services are not universally available for contract 
        employees. Because contract workers are considered part 
        of the Capitol community, they should be able to access 
        mental health services just as congressional staff do.
          19. Working on Capitol Hill can be challenging, and 
        mental health issues can lead to decreased productivity 
        and job satisfaction, as well as to more serious 
        issues. While the OEA provides important services to 
        House staff, there is insufficient awareness among 
        staff about the resources and support available. 
        Additionally, OEA needs a diverse workforce that can 
        provide bilingual services and offer trauma services 
        that meet the needs of the diverse community it serves.
          20. As the House transitions to offering internship 
        stipends, committees may be disincentivized from 
        bringing on interns because the funding to cover 
        stipends comes out of their committee budgets and 
        counts against their capped allocation of staff slots. 
        Providing committees with a separate fund from which 
        they can offer internship stipends will make it easier 
        for committees to offer internships just as other House 
        offices do.

                             III. HEARINGS

    The COVID-19 pandemic compelled changes in committee 
operations and procedures, beginning in March 2020. Because 
members were unable to meet in person, many committees, 
including the Select Committee, continued to meet by 
videoconference. The Select Committee held one virtual 
listening session with members of the Fix Congress Cohort and 
five virtual hearings early in the 117th Congress which helped 
shape these recommendations. The hearings included:
           ``Member Hearing Day,'' on April 15, 2021.
           ``Professionalizing and Enriching the 
        Congressional Internship and Fellowship Experience,'' 
        on April 29, 2021. The Select Committee received 
        testimony from:
                   Dr. James R. Jones, Assistant 
                Professor at Rutgers University-Newark on 
                behalf of themselves
                   Carlos Vera, Co-Founder and 
                Executive Director of Pay Our Interns
                   Audrey Henson, CEO and Founder 
                of College to Congress
                   Travis Moore, Founder and 
                Director of TechCongress
                   Emily Hashimoto, Director of 
                Career Content at Idealist.org
                   Amiko Matsumoto, Senior 
                Executive Coach and Facilitator at the 
                Partnership for Public Service
                   Rod Adams, US and Mexico Talent 
                Acquisition and Onboarding Leader at 
                PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
           ``Congressional Staff Capacity: Improving 
        Staff Professional Development, Increasing Retention 
        and Competing for Top Talent,'' on May 6, 2021. The 
        Select Committee received testimony from:
                   Catherine Szpindor, Chief 
                Administrative Officer at House of 
                Representatives
                   Brad Fitch, President and CEO of 
                Congressional Management Foundation (CMF)
                   Aaron Jones, Director of 
                Congressional Relations at the Wilson Center
                   Lynnel Ruckert, Former Chief of 
                Staff to Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA)
                   Greta Engle, The Society for 
                Human Resource Management
                   Dao Nguyen, Former Executive 
                Director of the Congressional Future Forum 
                Caucus
                   Fran Peace, Former District 
                Director for Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA)
           ``Recruiting, Empowering and Retaining a 
        Diverse Congressional Staff,'' on May 13, 2021. The 
        Select Committee received testimony from:
                   Kemba Hendrix, Director of the 
                House Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI)
                   Keenan Austin Reed, Former Chief 
                of Staff to Congressman Donald McEachin (D-VA) 
                and Co-Founder of the Black Women's 
                Congressional Alliance (BWCA)
                   Gregg Orton, National Director 
                of the National Council of Asian Pacific 
                Americans and former Chief of Staff of 
                Congressman Al Green (D-TX)
                   Maria Meier, Former Director of 
                the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Senate 
                Democratic Diversity Initiative
         ``Making the House More Accessible to the Disability 
        Community,'' on May 27, 2021. The Select Committee 
        received testimony from:
                   Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), 
                Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Disability Caucus
                   Phoebe Ball, Disability Counsel 
                for the House Committee on Education and Labor 
                on behalf of themselves
                   Heather Ansley, Associate 
                Executive Director at Paralyzed Veterans of 
                America (PVA)
                   Judy Brewer, Director of Web 
                Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at the World 
                Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
                   John Uelmen, General Counsel of 
                the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

                          IV. RECOMMENDATIONS

    The Select Committee made the following 20 recommendations 
to address the problems identified above (see II. BACKGROUND 
AND NEED FOR RECOMMENDATIONS):
          (1) Recommendation: Supervisors should receive 
        formal, personalized management training that includes, 
        but is not limited to, management skills, strategic 
        planning, cultural competency, and how to support an 
        inclusive work environment. Training offerings should 
        also include opportunities for supervisors to receive 
        ongoing, one-on-one skills coaching.
    Specifically . . . Improved management will improve office 
culture, increase staff satisfaction and retention, and improve 
overall office productivity. While the Congressional Staff 
Academy (CSA) recently began offering leadership training 
courses, there currently are no formal training programs for 
managing a congressional office, mid-level managers, or intern 
management. The CAO and other offices have identified the need 
for this kind of training and some programs are already in 
development. For example, the CSA is on a path to providing 
one-on-one job coaching for every position; the Office of 
Workplace Rights mandates a supervisory training; and the 
Office of Employee Assistance offers leadership coaching. The 
recommendation also envisions and supports CSA partnering with 
universities to expand management program offerings.
          (2) Recommendation: The House should create a 
        searchable database of anonymized average staff 
        compensation information, by position, using available 
        information on staff salaries and payroll data.
    Specifically . . . A database of staff salary information 
would provide timely information that would help hiring 
managers set staff salaries (and potentially benefits, if the 
system is crafted to track that as well), create transparency 
for employers and internal job seekers, and provide current 
salary data at a lower cost than surveying staff. Current 
congressional employees could also use the information when 
they are considering a new job or requesting a raise. The 
database would be viewable and collated in a way that is most 
beneficial to managers and staff, and include comparisons by 
region and state delegation, as well as differentiation between 
freshman and more senior offices.
    For the last few years, the Senate has operated a 
voluntary, ``live'' database of staff compensation. The 
Committee understands that, based on information received 
shortly before this report was completed, the database was used 
by approximately 42 offices-30 personal offices and 12 
committees.
          (3) Recommendation: The House should initiate and 
        facilitate a formal mentorship program for matching 
        more experienced staff open to serving as mentors with 
        less experienced staff seeking mentors.
    Specifically . . . Mentorships are an inexpensive and 
effective way to share traditions and impart knowledge to more 
junior staff, especially those who began their careers on 
Capitol Hill without established networks to tap into. While 
some mentorships happen informally, a formal program could help 
increase mentorship opportunities and the quality of 
mentorships, thereby improving training, institutional 
knowledge, professional development, office culture, and staff 
retention. A formal House mentorship program should support and 
utilize best practices already developed by staff association 
mentorship programs.
    This new program could be run by a variety of entities 
within the CAO's office. The CAO's office, or another 
appropriate office, could also determine how to best fund and 
implement the new program.
          (4) Recommendation: The House should allow member, 
        committee, and leadership offices to pay for certain 
        professional development opportunities for staff that 
        include a certification.
    Specifically . . . Staff should have more flexibility to 
participate in relevant professional training opportunities, 
specifically those that directly relate to the employee's job 
duties and/or otherwise benefit the office. Examples of 
relevant certifications include, but are not limited to, Adobe 
Certified Expert, Leadership Essentials, Project Management 
Certifications, Budget and Public Finance Certificate, and 
Cybersecurity Risk Management. Additional certification 
opportunities may evolve organically.
    Note: According to the Office of Personnel Management, 
federal agencies can pay for training that includes 
professional certifications.
          (5) Recommendation: The Chief Administrative Officer 
        should provide offices with an expanded standard 
        onboarding packet that includes comprehensive 
        information on available resources and benefits for 
        staff.
    Specifically . . . A standard and comprehensive onboarding 
packet is an effective and inexpensive way to ensure new 
employees understand all the resources and benefits available 
to them as House employees. The information could be presented 
in various formats, including through a supplementary 
educational video, and at different stages of onboarding--
either in the initial payroll packet or shortly after an 
employee has been registered in the system.
          (6) Recommendation: The Chief Administrative Officer 
        should provide access to industry-leading talent 
        acquisition software to assist House offices in 
        managing their recruitment and hiring process.
    Specifically . . . By providing offices with tools to 
methodically track, sort, and score candidates, offices will 
create greater efficiency and realize better hiring outcomes. 
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) will work with the 
CAO to ensure that any software offered does not introduce 
algorithmic bias into the hiring process.
    Note: The CAO has received feedback from chiefs of staff 
that they would like tools to assist their hiring processes. 
The CAO is thus looking into making commercial, off-the-shelf 
talent acquisition software available. The Office of Diversity 
and Inclusion has also expressed support for offices to begin 
using talent acquisition software to professionalize the 
recruitment and hiring process to improve diversity.
          (7) Recommendation: The Chief Administrative Officer 
        should work with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion 
        to improve the collection of anonymized demographic 
        data through an optional form at staff onboarding that 
        requests a broad range of data including, but not 
        limited to race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, 
        veteran status, geography and disability for House 
        staff and interns.
    Specifically . . . By collecting data during the onboarding 
process, the House can increase the amount of information 
gathered, reduce costs, and provide more accurate and up-to-
date demographic information, which will in turn help the 
institution more efficiently target efforts to diversify the 
workforce and ensure it is broadly representative of the 
American people. The data collection form should be developed 
in conjunction with the ODI, or use already available 
information and forms, and gathered during the employee 
onboarding process. Consistent with previous compensation and 
diversity reports produced by the CAO, all data collected 
through the form will remain strictly confidential and 
anonymized. Data is not to be used to identify or evaluate 
individuals or specific offices and should not be reported by 
party or office. All data will be aggregated for reporting 
purposes.
    Note: The FY2022 Legislative Branch Appropriations report 
directs the Office of Payroll and Benefits to work with ODI to 
identify the best method for inserting a voluntary question on 
demographic diversity to employee onboarding paperwork for all 
employees. The report directs implementation by January 2022.
          (8) Recommendation: The Chief Administrative Officer 
        should provide information to congressional offices on 
        the cost of living for interns to help inform intern 
        stipend levels.
    Specifically . . . Internships are on-the-job training that 
can provide a pathway to a full-time position on the Hill. With 
more data, managers will be able to better align stipend levels 
for interns with the cost of living in the D.C. area, thereby 
allowing Congress to recruit the most talented and diverse 
applicants. In gathering cost of living information, the CAO 
might also consider evaluating other similar internship 
programs in the D.C. area as a helpful reference point for 
living costs and comparative compensation levels.
    Member offices are currently provided a separate allotment 
of $25,000 annually to compensate interns, and there is a 
monthly cap of $1,800 per intern. By House rules, internships 
are primarily of educational benefit and interns may not be 
employed by the member for more than 120 calendar days. Intern 
compensation is intended to help interns cover the cost of 
living while residing temporarily in the D.C. area during their 
internship. Assessing the cost of living for an internship is 
different than assessing the cost of living for a full-time 
employee, and any cost analysis should cover those differences 
(for example, short term versus long term housing costs).
    Note: The FY2022 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill 
would increase the member office allocation to $35,000 but 
would not change the monthly cap of $1,800 per intern.
          (9) Recommendation: The House should establish an 
        Intern and Fellowship Program Office or Coordinator 
        that helps with onboarding, training individual office 
        internship and fellowship coordinators, developing 
        educational curriculum, and providing professional 
        development opportunities for interns and fellows.
    Specifically . . . This office or coordinator would help 
professionalize and standardize congressional internship and 
fellowship programs, alleviate some of the burden on offices, 
and ensure a more consistent and high-quality educational 
experience for interns and fellows. The onboarding and 
management of interns and fellows is currently the 
responsibility of the individual employing office. While many 
offices offer robust programs, very little guidance or 
additional resources are provided by the House to assist 
offices with their programs, including orientation, onboarding, 
and educational programming.
    Note: Language in the FY2022 Legislative Branch 
Appropriations report directs the Office of Diversity and 
Inclusion, working in coordination with the Chief 
Administrative Officer, to conduct a study on the feasibility 
of creating a centralized House internship and fellowship 
office to provide support services to congressional interns as 
well as act as a resource hub for standing committees, 
leadership offices, and House member offices.
          (10) Recommendation: Congress should clarify rules 
        and regulations to allow fellows and detailees to 
        receive the same resources (phones, laptops, etc.) as 
        professional staff.
    Specifically . . . This would align House rules regarding 
fellows and detailees with office needs and ensure they are 
using devices that are secure and up to date.
    Current rules in the Members' Congressional Handbook state 
that fellows are only able to use ``existing office resources'' 
that were already purchased and used by another staffer. Rules 
clarifying the use of House resources by fellows and detailees 
should tie resource access to a bona fide agreement to provide 
formality and additional details, as well as other precautions 
to ensure that House security protocols are being followed.
          (11) Recommendation: The House should study the 
        feasibility of permanently allowing remote internships. 
        This study should include recommendations for meeting 
        internship educational requirements (including through 
        robust online programming), procedures for maintaining 
        an inventory of equipment, and ensuring proper 
        cybersecurity protocols.
    Specifically . . . Allowing interns to telework could 
expand opportunities for individuals who cannot travel to and 
live in Washington, D.C. A study will provide information on 
whether the House should make remote internships a permanent 
option by addressing the following concerns: (1) Ensuring the 
educational requirements of House internships are being met, 
which may be more challenging in a remote situation; (2) 
Oversight of program participants; and (3) Providing, tracking, 
and accounting for House resources and equipment, and ensuring 
security and confidentiality, including network security.
    Note: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee 
on House Administration temporarily authorized all compensated 
House interns to be eligible to telework in the event of a 
disaster, pandemic or other emergency. This authorization 
allows offices to lend House resources (laptops, phones) to 
compensated interns who telework.
          (12) Recommendation: As part of ongoing security and 
        accessibility studies, the House should designate a 
        drop-off and pick-up zone near an accessible entrance 
        for members of the public with mobility impairments and 
        develop a well-understood process for accessing and 
        utilizing the new drop-off point.
    Specifically . . . Providing a designated drop-off or pick-
up zone near an accessible entrance, and a well-understood 
process for utilizing it, would help to mitigate this barrier 
to entry and help people with disabilities more easily plan 
their visits to the Capitol.
    The House is currently engaged in separate studies, 
including an ongoing ``Transportation and Mobility Study'' as 
well as a security study, which should prioritize the 
establishment of an ADA drop-off and pick-up zone that balances 
and incorporates security and other transportation needs. The 
zone must be accessible to the public and allow for vehicles to 
park long enough to transfer passengers into and out of a 
vehicle. In addition, a process should be developed for how the 
public can access and utilize the new drop-off point, including 
information on whom to call with questions or requests for 
additional information. The Office of Accessibility Services 
should be consulted as various options for the drop-off zone 
itself, and the process for accessing it, are considered.
          (13) Recommendation: Visitors and staff with 
        disabilities should have access to information on the 
        standard security screening techniques they will 
        encounter upon entering the Capitol complex.
    Specifically . . . Providing more information about the 
security screening techniques that visitors and staff with 
disabilities can expect when entering the Capitol complex would 
increase public awareness, ensure visitors are informed and 
prepared, and potentially improve consistency in visitors' 
experiences.
          (14) Recommendation: The House should improve 
        accessibility around the Capitol complex by 
        prioritizing the installation of additional automatic 
        or power-assisted doors and replace door hardware that 
        cannot be grasped easily with one hand or that requires 
        tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist to 
        operate.
    Specifically . . . Prioritizing door improvements to ensure 
accessibility will allow members, staff, and visitors with 
disabilities to easily access and move more freely around House 
offices and the Capitol complex without assistance.
    A joint accessibility report from November 2020 identified 
a number of doors for remediation where ``existing door 
hardware cannot be grasped easily with one hand or requires 
tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist to 
operate.'' For example, the round historic knobs require users 
to `grasp and twist' to open the door, which does not comply 
with accessibility codes and standards. The report also 
identified doors that have insufficient clear width for a 
wheelchair. Further, some doors are designed for fire 
protection and therefore inordinately heavy and completely 
inaccessible to individuals in wheelchairs. While each door 
requires an individual solution, some of these doors may be 
made accessible with an automatic door operator.
          (15) Recommendation: The House should promote 
        awareness of accessibility requirements for member and 
        committee websites and provide training and tools for 
        staff to help them properly maintain and update those 
        sites.
    Specifically . . . CAO identified a need for office content 
managers to have a greater understanding of compliance issues 
and best practices for how to ensure the websites they manage 
are accessible.
    If staff are knowledgeable about website access standards 
and tools are put into place to encourage compliance, House 
websites are more likely to remain accessible as staff learn to 
follow and implement compliance best practices when updating 
the websites they are responsible for maintaining. Staff should 
also be made aware of training at the time they are granted 
authority to publish to a House website.
          (16) Recommendation: The House should expand the 
        Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) to include a 
        Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) that assists House 
        employees in paying for higher education programs. 
        Participation in a House TAP should include a retention 
        requirement set by the participant's employing office.
    Specifically . . . The program should be modeled after the 
House's SLRP which has a service commitment built into the 
agreement and requires payments to be recouped if the employee 
is terminated or involuntarily separates before the end of the 
term. However, that provision can be waived at the discretion 
of the office. Existing SLRP annual ($10,000) and lifetime 
($80,000) caps would apply to the TAP. Most private sector TAP 
programs are capped at $5,250 per year because an amount over 
this threshold is considered taxable income. Staff should be 
fully informed about the annual income tax implications of 
receiving benefits above a certain level.
          (17) Recommendation: The House should establish and 
        maintain a ``Task Force on the House Workforce,'' led 
        by the Chief Administrative Officer and comprised of 
        the Office of House Employment Counsel, the Office of 
        Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Employee 
        Assistance, the House Wellness Center, and any other 
        House office as may be necessary to make ongoing policy 
        recommendations on updating staff benefits for the 
        purpose of increasing staff retention.
    Specifically . . . Providing benefits that are more 
competitive with the private sector and executive branch can be 
a cost-effective way to encourage mid-career, highly qualified, 
and more experienced staff to remain in Congress. With less 
turnover, particularly at the mid-career level, Congress will 
see an increase in policy specialization and institutional 
knowledge. Diversity in senior staff positions will also 
increase. Fundamentally, a more highly skilled, experienced, 
and diverse staff will make Congress a stronger institution, 
better positioned to fulfill its Article I responsibilities and 
more effectively serve the American people.
    With a broad representation of House offices responsible 
for various workforce benefits and other issues important for 
staff retention, the Task Force can approach the issue of staff 
benefits wholistically, examine surveys and studies already 
done or in progress, and make specific, actionable policy 
recommendations each Congress. In addition to considering 
updates and improvements to better align House staff benefits 
with the workforce practices in the Senate, executive branch, 
and private sector, the Task Force should also consider the 
advantages of providing individual offices greater flexibility 
in determining specific benefit offerings.
    Note: The FY2022 Legislative Branch Appropriations report 
contains language that similarly directs the establishment a 
Task Force on a Diverse and Talented House Workforce to 
regularly study and make policy recommendations that improve 
human resources management practices throughout the House.
          (18) Recommendation: Where feasible, the House should 
        work with contractors to ensure they provide Capitol 
        campus employees with services comparable to those 
        offered by the House through the Office of Employee 
        Assistance.
    Specifically . . . Ensuring the health and well-being of 
everyone who works on the Capitol campus, including 
contractors, will make for a better working environment. 
Contract workers are part of the Capitol community and should 
be able to access the same mental health services available to 
congressional staff.
          (19) Recommendation: The Office of Employee 
        Assistance (OEA) should seek to retain a diverse 
        workforce, offer access to bilingual services, and 
        retain staff capable of providing various forms of 
        trauma services. The OEA should be allocated additional 
        resources to provide outreach and awareness of 
        services.
    Specifically . . . A diverse OEA workforce that can provide 
bilingual services and offer trauma services that meet the 
needs of all staff is better positioned to serve a diverse 
community with various mental health needs. In addition, 
providing increased resources to improve awareness will help 
staff know and better understand the OEA and the services it 
offers, thereby improving utilization. Taken together, this 
will improve mental health, create a more resilient Capitol 
Hill community, and improve overall staff productivity and 
retention.
    The OEA provides confidential assistance to members, 
employees, and their family members for personal and work-
related problems. The OEA's caseload more than doubled in the 
first half of 2020, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon 
request, the OEA is currently able to connect employees to 
bilingual support services but the office currently does not 
have in house capacity to do this.
          (20) Recommendation: Committees should be provided a 
        program allowance, separate from their budgets, for 
        compensation of interns.
    Specifically . . . Unlike personal and leadership offices, 
committees currently have no separate fund for providing 
internship stipends, and interns count against their capped 
allocation of staff slots. Committees are thus disincentivized 
from bringing on interns. This fund would be separate from 
committee budgets and will provide additional slots for 
committee interns.
    Note: The FY 2022 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill 
allocates $2.3 million to compensate up to 106 committee 
interns.

                  V. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION AND VOTES


                             Consideration

    On July 29, 2021, the Select Committee held a Business 
Meeting, a quorum being present, and reported favorably the 
recommendations herein contained in this report.

                                 Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, there were no recorded votes 
taken on these recommendations. The recommendations herein 
contained in this report were adopted by voice vote, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative. A motion by Chair Derek Kilmer of 
Washington to report these recommendations to the House of 
Representatives was adopted by voice vote, two-thirds being in 
the affirmative.

                                  [all]