Civil Service Reform on Plate

Another significant point of difference on the homeland security bill is that the Senate version contains an amendment offered by Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, that incorporates a wide-ranging package of civil service reforms that he has been pushing for many months. Those changes would include new flexibilities in hiring practices, greater use of recruitment, retention and relocation payments, and new governmentwide buyout and early retirement authorities, among other provisions. Voinovich had been looking for a legislative vehicle to carry his proposal, given the difficulty of enacting civil service reform as a freestanding bill. Along the way, he dropped many provisions of concern to federal unions, including one that would have widened authority to test alternative personnel practices in “demonstration projects.” But the House has not even held hearings on the ideas and may be reluctant to enact such sweeping civil service reforms as part of a homeland security bill.