Revised Civil Service Reform Bill Offered

A revised civil service reform plan has been offered in the Senate, with prime sponsor Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, hoping to have the measure approved this year, either as free-standing legislation or as an amendment to another bill such as the Homeland Security department authorizing bill. Like the earlier version of his measure, the plan would authorized permanent government-wide buyout and early out authorities that would be available for agencies to use to reshape their work forces-and not just for their traditional uses in downsizing. The measure also would: encourage agencies to make greater use of recruitment, retention and relocation allowance payments as recruiting and retention tools: reform the competitive service hiring process by allowing federal agencies to rank applicants in categories while maintaining veterans’ preference and merit principles; correct technical problems arising for certain special rate and part-time employees; and increase the limit on total annual compensation from level I of the executive schedule (currently $161,200) to the vice-president’s salary ($175,400).