Federal Manager's Daily Report

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