The House could vote at any time on legislation (S-129)
recently cleared by its Government Reform Committee that
in Capitol Hill-speak will be the “only train out of the
station” this year on civil service reform. The action
effectively means that Congress has dropped for at least
until next year the concept of expanding “demonstration
project” authority in federal agencies.
Under demonstration projects, agencies may waive many
standard civil service rules governing hiring, job
classification, ratings, advancement and others and create
a tailored personnel system unique to a workforce or a
particular facility. The main sponsor of S-129, Senate
civil service subcommittee chairman Sen. George Voinovich,
R-Ohio, has tried for the last several Congresses to
expand that authority, by simplifying the approval
process by the Office of Personnel Management and by
lifting the current maximum