Federal Jobs Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1136 To establish a Government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the Federal workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 18, 2021 Mr. HASTINGS (for himself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, and Mr. MEEKS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a Government-wide initiative to promote diver- sity and inclusion in the Federal workforce, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Federal Jobs Act’’. 5 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 6 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 7 meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in sec- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1136 IH tion 105 of title 5, United States Code, and includes 1 the United States Postal Service and the Postal 2 Regulatory Commission. 3 (2) AGENCY PLAN.—The term ‘‘agency plan’’ 4 means an Executive agency-specific plan to carry out 5 the Diversity Plan, as described in section 3. 6 (3) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Deputy 7 Director’’ means the Deputy Director of Manage- 8 ment of the Office of Management and Budget. 9 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 10 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 11 (5) DIVERSITY.—The term ‘‘diversity’’ includes 12 characteristics such as national origin, language, 13 race, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, 14 sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic 15 status, and family structures. 16 (6) DIVERSITY PLAN.—The term ‘‘Diversity 17 Plan’’ means the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative 18 and Strategic Plan, as described in section 2. 19 SEC. 2. EXECUTIVE BRANCH DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION 20 INITIATIVE AND STRATEGIC PLAN. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of Per- 22 sonnel Management and the Deputy Director of Manage- 23 ment of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordi- 24 nation with the President’s Management Council and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1136 IH Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1 shall— 2 (1) establish a coordinated initiative to promote 3 diversity and inclusion in the executive branch work- 4 force that includes historically underrepresented ra- 5 cial, ethnic, and other groups; 6 (2) not later than 90 days after the date of the 7 enactment of this Act— 8 (A) develop and issue a Diversity and In- 9 clusion Strategic Plan applicable to the execu- 10 tive branch, to be updated at a minimum every 11 4 years, that— 12 (i) focuses on workforce diversity, 13 workplace inclusion, and agency account- 14 ability and leadership; and 15 (ii) highlights comprehensive strate- 16 gies for agencies to identify and remove 17 barriers to equal employment opportunity 18 that may exist in recruitment, hiring, pro- 19 motion, retention, professional develop- 20 ment, and training policies and practices; 21 (B) review applicable directives to agencies 22 related to the development or submission of Ex- 23 ecutive agency human capital and other work- 24 force plans and reports in connection with re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1136 IH cruitment, hiring, promotion, retention, profes- 1 sional development, and training policies and 2 practices, and develop a strategy for consoli- 3 dating such agency plans and reports where ap- 4 propriate and permitted by law; and 5 (C) provide guidance to agencies con- 6 cerning formulation of agency-specific plans 7 under section 3 to carry out the Diversity Plan; 8 (3) identify appropriate practices to improve 9 the effectiveness of each agency’s efforts to recruit, 10 hire, promote, retain, develop, and train a diverse 11 and inclusive workforce, consistent with merit sys- 12 tem principles; and 13 (4) establish a system for regular reporting on 14 agencies’ progress in implementing any Executive 15 agency-specific plan to carry out the Diversity Plan. 16 (b) APPLICATION.—For purposes of carrying out this 17 section— 18 (1) the term ‘‘diversity’’ includes characteristics 19 such as national origin, language, race, color, dis- 20 ability, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual ori- 21 entation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and 22 family structures; and 23 (2) recruitment should be from qualified indi- 24 viduals from appropriate sources in an endeavor to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1136 IH achieve a workforce from all segments of society 1 while avoiding discrimination for or against any em- 2 ployee or applicant on the basis of race, color, reli- 3 gion, sex (including pregnancy or gender identity), 4 national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or 5 any other prohibited basis. 6 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF AGENCIES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall— 8 (1) designate the agency’s Chief Human Capital 9 Officer, Director of Equal Employment Opportunity, 10 and Chief Diversity Officer (if any) to be responsible 11 for enhancing employment and promotion opportuni- 12 ties within the agency, including development and 13 implementation of the agency plan; 14 (2) not later than 120 days after the date the 15 Diversity Plan is issued or updated under section 1, 16 develop or update (as the case may be) and submit 17 for review to the Director and the Deputy Director 18 an agency plan for recruiting, hiring, training, devel- 19 oping, advancing, promoting, and retaining a diverse 20 workforce consistent with merit system principles, 21 the agency’s overall strategic plan, its human capital 22 operating plan prepared pursuant to part 250 of 23 title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, and any other 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1136 IH applicable workforce planning strategies and initia- 1 tives; 2 (3) implement the agency plan after incor- 3 porating the plan into the agency’s human capital 4 operating plan; and 5 (4) provide information as specified by the re- 6 porting requirements developed under paragraph (4) 7 of section 1. 8 (b) ANNUAL UPDATES.—Not later than 90 days after 9 the date of the enactment of this Act and every six months 10 thereafter, the head of each agency, in consultation with 11 the Director and the Deputy Director, shall publish a re- 12 port on the agency’s public Internet website that in- 13 cludes— 14 (1) disaggregated demographic data that in- 15 cludes historically underrepresented racial, ethnic, 16 and other groups; 17 (2) an analysis of applicant flow data, as avail- 18 able; 19 (3) disaggregated demographic data relating to 20 participants in professional development programs of 21 the agency and the rate of placement into senior po- 22 sitions for participants in such programs; and 23 (4) data related to employment, retention, and 24 promotion. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1136 IH (c) RETENTION AND EXIT INTERVIEWS OR SUR- 1 VEYS.— 2 (1) DEPARTING EMPLOYEES.—The head of 3 each agency shall provide an opportunity for an exit 4 interview or survey to each agency employee who 5 separates from service with the agency to better un- 6 derstand the employee’s reasons for leaving such 7 service. 8 (2) USE OF ANALYSIS FROM INTERVIEWS AND 9 SURVEYS.—The head of each agency shall analyze 10 demographic data and other information obtained 11 through interviews and surveys under paragraphs 12 (1) and (2) to determine— 13 (A) if and how the diversity of those par- 14 ticipating in such interviews and surveys im- 15 pacts the results; and 16 (B) whether to implement any policy 17 changes or make any recommendations. 18 (3) TRACKING DATA.—The head of each agency 19 shall— 20 (A) track demographic data relating to 21 participants in professional development pro- 22 grams and the rate of placement into senior po- 23 sitions for participants in such programs; 24 (B) annually evaluate such data— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1136 IH (i) to identify ways to improve out- 1 reach and recruitment for such programs, 2 consistent with merit system principles; 3 and 4 (ii) to understand how participation in 5 any program offered or sponsored by the 6 agency under subparagraph (A) differs 7 among the demographic categories of the 8 workforce; and 9 (C) actively encourage participation from a 10 range of demographic categories, especially 11 from categories with consistently low participa- 12 tion, including historically underrepresented ra- 13 cial and ethnic groups. 14 SEC. 4. LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES. 15 (a) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.—Each office treated as 16 an employing office under the Congressional Account- 17 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) shall, to the 18 greatest extent practicable, carry out the requirements of 19 sections 2 and 3 with respect to the legislative branch of 20 Government. 21 (b) JUDICIAL BRANCH.—The Director of the Admin- 22 istrative Office of the United States Courts shall, to the 23 greatest extent practicable, carry out the requirements of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1136 IH sections 2 and 3 with respect to the judicial branch of 1 Government. 2 SEC. 5. DIVERSITY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT AND 3 GRANTMAKING. 4 (a) PRIME CONTRACTOR REPORTING TO AGEN- 5 CIES.—Each prime contractor shall submit to the head of 6 the agency with which the contractor is under contract a 7 report every six months, that includes a list of prime con- 8 tractors and subcontractors, and the amounts they receive 9 from the agency, that are economically and socially dis- 10 advantaged businesses as defined by part 124 of title 13, 11 Code of Federal Regulations. 12 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 14 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 15 thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to 16 the appropriate congressional committees a com- 17 prehensive report on activities to increase economi- 18 cally and socially disadvantaged businesses (as de- 19 fined by such part 124) or organizations in procure- 20 ment and as grant recipients. 21 (2) CONTENT.—Each report required under 22 paragraph (1) shall include a description of the ef- 23 forts of the agency— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1136 IH (A) to list, describe, and evaluate all activi- 1 ties used to increase the capacity of minority- 2 led businesses and nongovernmental organiza- 3 tions to win bids and obtain contracts and 4 grants and serve as subcontractors; and 5 (B) to review any impact the restrictions 6 related to the foreign exemption in Federal con- 7 tracting under part 19 of the Federal Acquisi- 8 tion Regulation have had on economically and 9 socially disadvantaged businesses (as defined by 10 such part 124). 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1136.IH H1136 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS