Image: A G Baxter/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe path has been cleared for final voting in the last weeks of the current Congress on a new set of federal management-related bills, with issuance by the Congressional Budget Office of the needed estimates of their costs. They include:
* HR-2662, to strengthen authorities of IGs by granting them the authority to subpoena witnesses who are not currently government employees for testimony and requiring them to notify Congress if agencies deny access to requested information, and to add protections for IGs against interference by agency management.
* S-1330, to promote reskilling of current federal employees for occupations in which the government has difficulty filling positions.
* S-2902, to require agencies to report all cyber-attacks to DHS and report major incidents to Congress; provide additional authorities to DHS for responding to incidents and breaches on federal networks; codify aspects of President Biden’s executive order on improving the nation’s cybersecurity to enforce higher level security protections for federal information systems; and require OMB to issue guidance for agencies to allocate cybersecurity resources.
* S-3423, to specify that hiring in the competitive service may not be based only on a candidate’s self-evaluation or educational level or on a review of a resume by someone other than a subject matter expert; allow agencies to use such experts in developing position-specific assessment methods; and create a database of applicants deemed qualified by one agency for other agencies to use without the need to conduct additional assessments.
* S-4128, to require an annual report from GAO listing recommendations it has made but that agencies have not carried out, organized by policy topic and including the amount of time the recommendations have been unimplemented.
* S-4167, to update the Government Performance and Results Act by requiring regular strategic reviews of federal agencies’ performance goals and improving the data that is publicly available regarding how agencies are achieving those goals.
* S-4623, to require OMB and GSA to streamline purchasing of commercial technology and to require certain training for employees involved with acquisition of information and communications technology.
* S-4629, to strengthen protections of federal data centers against disasters or attacks, require agencies to report new data centers to Congress and OMB, and allow agencies to use commercial cloud options for data storage and other functions.
* S-4828, to make permanent and expand the GSA’s Office of Executive Councils, which provides administrative and project management services for federal agencies and government-wide councils in complying with the President’s Management Agenda.
* S-4894, to formally authorize and provide an ongoing source of funding for Federal Executive Boards, which coordinate emergency response, employee training and other interagency activities in more than two dozen city areas, and enhance FEB workforce development-related activities, such as supporting recruitment into federal internship and apprenticeship programs.
* S-4908, to require agencies to assess their software purchasing practices and report to Congress, OMB and GSA, which would use those assessments to increase oversight of those contracts to streamline operations and reduce spending.
Partisan Clashes over Federal Workforce All but Assured in New Congress
OPM Erases Personnel Rules It Had Issued Under Trump Orders
Rules Changes Set Tone on Federal Employee Performance, Conduct Issues
OPM Paves Way to Suspend New FLTCIP Enrollments, ‘Reprice’ Premiums
Reasons Federal Employees Stay Vary by Generation, Study Says
Report Sees Reluctance to Take Management Roles among SSA Employees
Open Season Just Ahead; Offers Choices of Plans, Options
Pay Gap Increases; New, Expanded Localities Again Recommended
Early Marker for 2024 Raise Set: 5.2 Percent
Pay Attention to Family vs. Self Plus One Rates in FEHB, OPM Advises
See also,
FEHB: Federal Benefits Fast Facts
FEHB Open Season Ahead – Time to Shop
Watch for ‘Significant’ FEHB Plan Changes, OPM Says
Enrollee Share of FEHB Premiums to Rise 8.7 Percent on Average for 2023
FERS Retirement Planning Bundle: 2022 FERS Guide & TSP Handbook
