[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2225 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2225
To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to revise
job classification and qualification standards for positions in the
competitive service regarding educational requirements for those
positions, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2021
Mr. Rubio introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to revise
job classification and qualification standards for positions in the
competitive service regarding educational requirements for those
positions, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Skills Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``agency'' means an agency that appoints
individuals to positions in the competitive service;
(2) the term ``competitive service'' has the meaning given
the term in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code;
(3) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office
of Personnel Management;
(4) the term ``education'' means the completion or
attainment of a postsecondary degree or other credential at an
institution of higher education (as defined in section 102 of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002));
(5) the term ``personnel assessment'' means a method of
collecting information regarding an individual for the purposes
of making a selection decision with respect to the individual;
(6) the term ``qualification standards'' means the minimum
requirements with respect to education, training, and
experience that an applicant for employment would need to
possess in order to make it likely that the applicant would
perform satisfactorily in the position or occupational series
that is the subject of the application for employment; and
(7) the term ``selection decision'' includes a decision
regarding an individual with respect to--
(A) appointment;
(B) placement;
(C) promotion;
(D) referral;
(E) retention; or
(F) entry into a program leading to career
advancement, such as an apprenticeship program, a
training program, or a career development program.
SEC. 3. REVISION OF JOB CLASSIFICATION AND QUALIFICATION STANDARDS.
(a) Review.--
(1) In general.--Consistent with the requirements of this
section, the Director, in consultation with the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget and the head of each agency,
shall review and revise all job classification and
qualification standards for positions in the competitive
service, as necessary.
(2) Publication; effective date.--With respect to any
change to a job classification or qualification standard made
under paragraph (1)--
(A) the Director shall, not later than 120 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, make that
change available to the public; and
(B) the change shall take effect not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Education Requirement.--The head of an agency may prescribe a
minimum requirement with respect to education for a position in the
competitive service only if a minimum qualification with respect to
education is legally required to perform the duties of a comparable
position in the State or locality where those duties are to be
performed.
(c) Consideration of Education.--Unless the head of an agency is
determining the satisfaction of a legally required minimum requirement
with respect to education for an applicant for employment with the
agency, the agency head may consider the education of the applicant in
determining the satisfaction by the applicant of another minimum
qualification only if the education of the applicant directly reflects
the competencies necessary to satisfy that qualification and perform
the duties of the position.
(d) Position Listing.--A position description and job posting
published by an agency for a position in the competitive service shall
be based on the specific skills and competencies required to perform
that position, as established in the position classifications and
qualification standards of the Office of Personnel Management.
SEC. 4. IMPROVING THE USE OF ASSESSMENTS IN THE FEDERAL HIRING PROCESS.
(a) In General.--The Director shall work with the head of each
agency to ensure that, not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, for a position in the competitive service, the
head of an agency assesses an applicant for employment in a manner that
does not rely solely on the education of the applicant to determine the
extent to which the applicant possesses relevant knowledge, skills,
competencies, and abilities for the position.
(b) Other Requirements.--With respect to the assessment practices
described in subsection (a)--
(1) the head of each agency shall develop or identify those
assessment practices; and
(2) those assessment practices--
(A) may not be substantively equivalent to
competencies only attainable through education; and
(B) shall be published by the applicable agency in
the human resources manual of the agency.
(c) Consideration of Self-Evaluation.--
(1) In general.--In assessing an applicant for employment--
(A) the head of an agency may not rely solely on
the self-evaluation of the stated abilities of the
applicant; and
(B) the applicant shall fulfill other assessment
standards in order to be certified for consideration,
as established by the Chief Human Capital Officer of
the applicable agency (or an equivalent official).
(2) Publication.--The standards described in paragraph
(1)(B) shall be published in the human resources manual of the
applicable agency.
(d) Evaluation.--The head of each agency shall continually evaluate
the effectiveness of different assessment strategies to promote and
protect the quality and integrity of the appointment processes of the
agency, which shall be reviewed by the Chief Human Capital Officer of
the agency (or an equivalent official), who shall make any necessary
changes or take any necessary remedial actions concurrent with the
review.
SEC. 5. APPLICATION.
(a) In General.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to impair or
otherwise affect--
(1) the authority granted by law to an executive department
or agency, or the head thereof; or
(2) the functions of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or
legislative proposals.
(b) Rights or Benefits.--This Act is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at
law or in equity by any party against the United States, its
departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents,
or any other person.
SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act may be construed to eliminate or otherwise
affect the student loan forgiveness or student loan cancellation
options available to borrowers under Federal law, as such options are
in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
<all>