H.R. 2721

Senior Executive Service Diversity Assurance Act

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I

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2721

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 4, 2009

Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself, Mr. Cummings, Ms. Norton, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, and Mr. Clay) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

A BILL

To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy direction and oversight of, the Senior Executive Service.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Senior Executive Service Diversity Assurance Act.

2.

Findings

Congress finds that—

(1)

according to the Government Accountability Office—

(A)

minorities made up 22.5 percent of the individuals serving at the GS–15 and GS–14 levels and 15.8 percent of the Senior Executive Service in 2007;

(B)

women made up 34.3 percent of the individuals serving at the GS–15 and GS–14 levels and 29.1 percent of the Senior Executive Service in 2007; and

(C)

although the number of career Senior Executive Service members increased from 6,110 in 2,000 to 6,555 in 2007, the representation of African-American men in the career Senior Executive Service declined during that same period from 5.5 percent to 5.0 percent; and

(2)

according to the Office of Personnel Management—

(A)

black employees represented 6.1 percent of employees at the Senior Pay levels and 17.8 percent of the permanent Federal workforce compared to 10.1 percent in the civilian labor force in 2007;

(B)

Hispanic employees represented 4.0 percent of employees at the Senior Pay levels and 7.8 percent of the permanent Federal workforce compared to 13.3 percent of the civilian labor force in 2007; and

(C)

women represented 28.2 percent of employees at the Senior Pay levels and 43.9 percent of the permanent Federal workforce compared to 45.7 percent of the civilian labor force in 2007.

3.

Definitions

For purposes of this Act—

(1)

the term Director means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management;

(2)

the term Senior Executive Service has the meaning given such term by section 2101a of title 5, United States Code;

(3)

the terms agency, career appointee, and career reserved position have the meanings given them by section 3132 of title 5, United States Code; and

(4)

the term SES Resource Office means the Senior Executive Service Resource Office, established under section 4.

4.

Senior Executive Service Resource Office

(a)

Establishment

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish within the Office of Personnel Management an office to be known as the Senior Executive Service Resource Office. The mission of the SES Resource Office shall be—

(1)

to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of the Senior Executive Service through policy formulation and oversight;

(2)

to advance the professionalism of the Senior Executive Service; and

(3)

to ensure that, in seeking to achieve a Senior Executive Service reflective of the Nation’s diversity, recruitment is from qualified individuals from appropriate sources.

(b)

Functions

It shall be the function of the SES Resource Office to make recommendations to the Director with respect to regulations, and to provide guidance to agencies, concerning the structure, management, and diverse composition of the Senior Executive Service. In order to carry out the purposes of this section, the SES Resource Office shall—

(1)

take such actions as the SES Resource Office considers necessary to manage and promote an efficient, elite, and diverse corps of senior executives by—

(A)

creating policies for the management and improvement of the Senior Executive Service;

(B)

providing oversight of the performance, structure, and composition of the Senior Executive Service; and

(C)

providing guidance and oversight to agencies in the management of senior executives and candidates for the Senior Executive Service;

(2)

be responsible for the policy development, management, and oversight of the Senior Executive Service pay system;

(3)

develop standards for certification of each agency’s Senior Executive Service performance management system and evaluate all agency applications for certification;

(4)

be responsible for developing and monitoring programs for the advancement and training of senior executives, including the Senior Executive Service Federal Candidate Development Program;

(5)

provide oversight of, and guidance to, agency executive resources boards;

(6)

be responsible for the administration of the qualifications review board;

(7)

establish and maintain annual statistics (in a form that renders them useful to appointing authorities and candidates) on—

(A)

the total number of career reserved positions at each agency;

(B)

the total number of vacant career reserved positions at each agency;

(C)

of the positions under subparagraph (B), the number for which candidates are being sought;

(D)

the number of individuals who have been certified in accordance with section 3393(c) of title 5, United States Code, and the composition of that group of individuals with regard to race, ethnicity, sex, age, and individuals with disabilities;

(E)

the composition of the Senior Executive Service with regard to race, ethnicity, sex, age, and individuals with disabilities;

(F)

the composition of executive resources boards with regard to race, ethnicity, sex, and individuals with disabilities; and

(G)

the composition of qualifications review boards with regard to race, ethnicity, sex, and individuals with disabilities;

(8)

make available to the public through the official public internet site of the Office of Personnel Management, the data collected under paragraph (7);

(9)

establish mentoring programs for potential candidates for the Senior Executive Service, including candidates who have been certified as having the executive qualifications necessary for initial appointment as a career appointee under a program established pursuant to section 3396(a) of title 5, United States Code;

(10)

conduct a continuing program for the recruitment of women, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, and individuals with disabilities for Senior Executive Service positions, with special efforts directed at recruiting from educational institutions, professional associations, and other sources;

(11)

advise agencies on the best practices for an agency in utilizing or consulting with an agency’s equal employment or diversity office or official (if the agency has such an office or official) with regard to the agency’s Senior Executive Service appointments process; and

(12)

evaluate and implement strategies to ensure that agencies conduct appropriate outreach to other agencies to identify candidates for Senior Executive Service positions.

(c)

Protection of individually identifiable information

For purposes of subsection (b)(8), the SES Resource Office may combine data for any agency that is not named in section 901(b) of chapter 31, United States Code, to protect individually identifiable information.

(d)

Cooperation of agencies

The head of each agency shall provide the Office of Personnel Management with such information as the SES Resource Office may require in order to carry out subsection (b)(7).

5.

Career appointments

(a)

Promoting diversity in the career appointments process

Section 3393 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

(1)

in subsection (b), by inserting after the first sentence the following: In establishing an executive resources board, the head of the agency shall, to the extent practicable, ensure diversity of the board and of any subgroup thereof or other evaluation panel related to the merit staffing process for career appointees, by including members of racial and ethnic minority groups, women, and individuals with disabilities.; and

(2)

in subsection (c)(1), by adding after the last sentence the following: Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, consideration should also be given to improving diversity by including members of racial and ethnic minority groups, women, and individuals with disabilities on such boards..

(b)

Regulations

Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall promulgate regulations to implement the amendments made by subsection (a) and to improve diversity in executive resources boards and qualifications review boards.

(c)

Report

Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report evaluating agency efforts to improve diversity in executive resources boards and of the members designated by agencies to serve on qualifications review boards, based on the information collected by the SES Resource Office under subparagraphs (F) and (G) of section 4(b)(7).

6.

Encouraging a more diverse Senior Executive Service

(a)

Senior Executive Service diversity plans

Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, each agency, in consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, shall submit to the Office of Personnel Management a plan to enhance and maximize opportunities for the advancement and appointment of minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities in the agency to the Senior Executive Service. Agency plans shall address how the agency is identifying and eliminating barriers that impair the ability of minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities to obtain appointments to the Senior Executive Service and any actions the agency is taking to provide advancement opportunities, including—

(1)

conducting outreach to minorities, women, and individuals within the agency and outside the agency;

(2)

establishing and maintaining training and education programs to foster leadership development;

(3)

identifying career enhancing opportunities for agency employees;

(4)

assessing internal availability of candidates for Senior Executive Service positions; and

(5)

conducting an inventory of employee skills and addressing current and potential gaps in skills and the distribution of skills.

Agency plans shall be updated at least every 2 years during the 10 years following enactment of this Act. An agency plan shall be reviewed by the Office of Personnel Management and, if determined to provide sufficient assurances, procedures, and commitments to provide adequate opportunities for the advancement and appointment of minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities to the Senior Executive Service, shall be approved by such Office. An agency may, in updating its plan, submit to the Office of Personnel Management an assessment of the impacts of the plan.
(b)

Summary and evaluation

Within 180 days after the deadline for the submission of any report or update under subsection (a), the Director shall transmit to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report summarizing and evaluating the agency plans or updates (as the case may be) so submitted.

(c)

Coordination

The Office of Personnel Management shall, in carrying out subsection (a), evaluate existing requirements under section 717 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) and section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) and determine how agency reporting can be performed so as to be consistent with, but not duplicative of, such sections and any other similar requirements.