Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2003: S. 129 (108th Congress) (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
July 1, 2004 |
| Report Number |
RL31518 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Barbara L. Schwemle and L. Elaine Halchin, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
As in the previous Congress, management of the federal workforce continues to be an issue of
interest to the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 108th Congress. S. 129 ,
the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2003, passed the Senate with an amendment by unanimous
consent on April 8, 2004. In the House, the Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency
Organization forwarded S. 129 to the House Committee on Government Reform on May
18, 2004, after amending it by voice vote. On June 24, 2004, the House committee ordered the bill
to be reported to the House of Representatives, after amending it, by voice vote. The bill was
introduced by Senator George Voinovich on January 9, 2003. A similar bill, H.R. 1601 ,
the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2003, was introduced in the House by Representative Jo
Ann Davis on April 3, 2003.
S. 129 , as passed by the Senate and as ordered to be reported to the House, would
amend current law provisions on critical pay, civil service retirement system computation for
part-time service, agency training, and annual leave. The bill also would amend current law
provisions on recruitment and relocation bonuses and retention allowances (which would be renamed
bonuses). As ordered to be reported to the House, S. 129 would amend the current 5
U.S.C. Sections 5753 and 5754 language on such bonuses and allowances. As passed by the Senate,
it would add new sections 5754a and 5754b on recruitment, relocation, and retention bonuses to Title
5 United States Code . Therefore, if S. 129 as passed by the Senate were enacted,
agencies
would be able to use the current law provisions on recruitment and relocation bonuses and retention
allowances at 5 U.S.C. Sections 5753 and 5754 and the enhanced authority for recruitment,
relocation, and retention bonuses proposed at 5 U.S.C. Sections 5754a and 5754b.
S. 129 , as ordered to be reported to the House, would amend current law provisions
on pay administration. These amendments were included in S. 129 as introduced, but
they were dropped during Senate committee markup and are not included in the Senate-passed
version of the bill. Provisions that would amend current law on retirement service credit for cadet
or midshipman service and compensatory time off for travel were added to S. 129 during
Senate committee markup and are included in the legislation as passed by the Senate and as ordered
to be reported to the House. Added during Senate Committee markup as well were provisions on
Senior Executive Service authority for the White House Office of Administration that are in the
Senate-passed bill, but are not in the legislation as ordered to be reported to the House. Other
provisions that would have amended current law provisions relating to contributions to the Thrift
Savings Plan, annuity commencement dates, and retirement for air traffic controllers were included
in S. 129 as forwarded by the House Civil Service and Agency Organization Subcommittee
to the House Government Reform Committee, but were removed during the full committee markup.
This report, which will be updated as needed, discusses each of the provisions in S. 129 , as passed by the Senate and as ordered to be reported to the House.
