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. On June 24,2004, the House committee ordered the bill to be reported to the House of Representatives by voicevote, after agreeing, by voice vote, to an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered byRepresentative Jo Ann Davis. Another bill related to management of the federal workforce was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 3, 2003. 1601 ,the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2003, and it was referred to the House Committee onGovernment Reform. 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 forpart-time service, agency training, and annual leave. The bill also would amend current lawprovisions on recruitment and relocation bonuses and retention allowances (which would be renamedbonuses). As ordered to be reported to the House, S. 129 would amend the current 5U.S.C. ï¿½ï¿½5753 and 5754 language on such bonuses and allowances. As passed by the Senate, itwould add new sections 5754a and 5754b on recruitment, relocation, and retention bonuses to Title5 United States Code . ï¿½ï¿½5754a and 5754b. (16)
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 theywere dropped during Senate committee markup and are not included in the Senate-passed versionof the bill. Provisions that would amend current law on retirement service credit for cadet ormidshipman service and compensatory time off for travel were added to S. 129 duringSenate committee markup and are included in the legislation as passed by the Senate and as orderedto be reported to the House. Added during Senate Committee markup as well were provisions onSenior Executive Service authority for the White House Office of Administration that are in theSenate-passed bill, but are not in the legislation as ordered to be reported to the House (theprovisions were removed from the House version of the bill during the full House committeemarkup). Other provisions that would have amended current law provisions relating to contributionsto the Thrift Savings Plan, annuity commencement dates, and retirement for air traffic controllerswere included in S. 129, as forwarded by the House Civil Service and AgencyOrganization Subcommittee to the House Government Reform Committee, but were removed duringthe full committee markup. (25)
This report discusses each of the provisions in S. 129 , as passed by the Senate and as ordered to be reported to the House. Therefore, if the Senate-passed S. 129 were enacted, agencieswould be able to use the current law provisions on recruitment and relocation bonuses at 5 U.S.C.ï¿½5753 and the enhanced authority for recruitment and relocation bonuses proposed at 5 U.S.C.ï¿½5754a. S. 129 and H.R.
As in the previous Congress, management of the federal workforce continues to be an issue ofinterest 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 unanimousconsent on April 8, 2004. In the House, the Subcommittee on Civil Service and AgencyOrganization forwarded S. 129 to the House Committee on Government Reform on May18, 2004, after amending it by voice vote. On June 24, 2004, the House committee ordered the billto be reported to the House of Representatives, after amending it, by voice vote. The bill wasintroduced 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 JoAnn 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 forpart-time service, agency training, and annual leave. The bill also would amend current lawprovisions on recruitment and relocation bonuses and retention allowances (which would be renamedbonuses). As ordered to be reported to the House, S. 129 would amend the current 5U.S.C. ï¿½ï¿½5753 and 5754 language on such bonuses and allowances. As passed by the Senate, itwould add new sections 5754a and 5754b on recruitment, relocation, and retention bonuses to Title5 United States Code . Therefore, if S. 129 as passed by the Senate were enacted, agencieswould be able to use the current law provisions on recruitment and relocation bonuses and retentionallowances at 5 U.S.C. ï¿½ï¿½5753 and 5754 and the enhanced authority for recruitment, relocation, andretention bonuses proposed at 5 U.S.C. ï¿½ï¿½5754a 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, butthey were dropped during Senate committee markup and are not included in the Senate-passedversion of the bill. Provisions that would amend current law on retirement service credit for cadetor midshipman service and compensatory time off for travel were added to S. 129 duringSenate committee markup and are included in the legislation as passed by the Senate and as orderedto be reported to the House. Added during Senate Committee markup as well were provisions onSenior Executive Service authority for the White House Office of Administration that are in theSenate-passed bill, but are not in the legislation as ordered to be reported to the House. Otherprovisions that would have amended current law provisions relating to contributions to the ThriftSavings Plan, annuity commencement dates, and retirement for air traffic controllers were includedin S. 129 as forwarded by the House Civil Service and Agency Organization Subcommitteeto 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.