Several Workforce Bills Advance

The House Government Reform Committee has approved legislation (HR-2751) to revamp personnel rules at the General Accounting Office, an agency widely viewed as setting a precedent for personnel reform elsewhere in government. Although GAO is an arm of Congress, it operates under many of the same rules as executive branch agencies and has been experimenting in recent years with various alternative hiring, pay, promotion and other practices; GAO witnesses often testify about their system at hearings examining pay-for-performance and other changes in the executive branch. The legislation-the Senate has passed a similar bill (S-1522)-among other things would switch GAO to a complete pay-for-performance system, with employees no longer getting the government-wide raise. Meanwhile, Senate has approved a bill (S-589) to create an exchange program among agencies employees in national security-related jobs, to increase the maximum lifetime student loan repayment benefit for them to $80,000 and to create a fellowship program for students specializing in foreign languages and certain other courses. A similar House bill is expected to be introduced.