Federal

Chance to Compete Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 4,352 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes how federal agencies hire people for competitive service (government jobs open to the public). It requires agencies to test job applicants' actual skills and abilities instead of mainly looking at their degrees. The bill also sets up new systems for agencies to share job candidates with each other and to review whether certain jobs really need specific educational requirements. ##

Who It Affects

- Federal agencies that hire for the competitive service - People applying for federal government jobs - The Office of Personnel Management (the federal agency that oversees hiring) - Other examining agencies that conduct federal hiring tests - Chief Human Capital Officers at each federal agency ##

Key Provisions

- Federal agencies must use assessments where applicants can pass or fail to demonstrate job-related knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies instead of just reviewing resumes or using self-assessments alone (Sec. 3(a)(1)(A)(i)) - Subject matter experts (people with deep knowledge of a job) can develop and administer technical assessments (job-specific tests) to evaluate applicants, in partnership with human resources staff (Sec. 3(a)(2)(A)) - The Office of Personnel Management must create an online platform where agencies can share and customize technical assessments they develop (Sec. 3(a)(2)(B)(iii)) - Agencies can only waive the new skills-based testing requirement for up to 10 percent of positions filled in a fiscal year, and must get approval from the Office of Personnel Management to waive more than 5 percent (Sec. 3(a)(1)(A)(ii)(V)) - The Office of Personnel Management must maintain a public online tool showing what types of assessments agencies used, whether they hired someone, and what hiring authority they used (Sec. 3(c)(1)) - The Office of Personnel Management must review whether certain positions that require minimum educational degrees truly need those degrees based on job duties and create an online tool listing which duties require educational requirements (Sec. 5(a) and 5(b)) - Agencies can establish talent teams to improve job tests, write job announcements, share qualified candidate lists, and help with hiring (Sec. 6(a)) ##

What Changes

If this becomes law, federal agencies cannot rely primarily on resume reviews, self-assessments, or automated questionnaires to evaluate job applicants within two years of enactment. Instead, applicants must take skills-based tests where they can pass or fail. Agencies will share job candidates more widely across government using new online tools. The Office of Personnel Management will publicly report on what types of hiring tests agencies use and whether they successfully fill positions. Federal agencies will need to justify why certain jobs require specific college degrees rather than simply listing degree requirements. Agencies will have new guidance on using video and audio recordings in hiring evaluations while protecting applicant privacy. ##

Important Definitions

- **Examination**: An opportunity to directly demonstrate knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies through a passing score assessment. It includes resume reviews conducted by subject matter experts based on job analysis indicators that relate to job performance. Starting two years after this law passes, it cannot include self-assessments from automated systems, resume reviews (except those by subject matter experts), or methods that solely measure experience or educational level. - **Subject Matter Expert**: An employee or hiring official who understands the job duties and skills required for a position and is designated by their agency to help develop and administer technical assessments. - **Technical Assessment**: A job-related test developed by subject matter experts that allows applicants to show technical skills, abilities, and knowledge. It must be based on a job analysis and relate to the position. It can include structured interviews, work-related exercises, or questionnaires measuring job-related qualifications. - **Passing Score Assessment**: An assessment that an individual can pass or fail. - **Competitive Service**: Federal government jobs open to the public through a competitive hiring process. ##

Effective Date

Agencies must stop using hiring examinations that do not meet the new definition by two years after enactment of the bill. The Office of Personnel Management must issue regulations within one year. Not specified in bill text for the exact date the bill becomes law.

IIB 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 159 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 25, 2023 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To implement merit-based reforms to the civil service hiring system that replace degree-based hiring with skills- and competency-based hiring, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 159 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chance to Compete 2 Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 (a) TERMS DEFINED IN SECTION 3304 OF TITLE 5, 5 UNITED STATES CODE.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘agency’’, 6 ‘‘Director’’, ‘‘examining agency’’, ‘‘Office’’, ‘‘subject mat- 7 ter expert’’, and ‘‘technical assessment’’ have the mean- 8 ings given those terms in subsection (c)(1) of section 3304 9 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 3(a). 10 (b) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act, the term ‘‘competi- 11 tive service’’ has the meaning given the term in section 12 2102 of title 5, United States Code. 13 SEC. 3. DEFINING THE TERM ‘‘EXAMINATION’’ FOR PUR- 14 POSES OF HIRING IN THE COMPETITIVE 15 SERVICE. 16 (a) EXAMINATIONS; TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304 of title 5, 18 United States Code, is amended— 19 (A) by redesignating subsections (c) 20 through (f) as subsections (d) through (g), re- 21 spectively; and 22 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 23 following: 24 ‘‘(c) EXAMINATIONS.— 25 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 159 RFS ‘‘(A) EXAMINATION.— 1 ‘‘(i) In this chapter, the term ‘exam- 2 ination’— 3 ‘‘(I) means an opportunity to di- 4 rectly demonstrate knowledge, skills, 5 abilities, and competencies, through a 6 passing score assessment; 7 ‘‘(II) includes a re´sume´ review 8 that is— 9 ‘‘(aa) conducted by a subject 10 matter expert; and 11 ‘‘(bb) based upon indicators 12 that— 13 ‘‘(AA) are derived from 14 a job analysis; and 15 ‘‘(BB) bear a rational 16 relationship to performance 17 in the position for which the 18 examining agency is hiring; 19 and 20 ‘‘(III) on and after the date that 21 is 2 years after the date of enactment 22 of the Chance to Compete Act of 2023 23 does not include a self-assessment 24 from an automated examination, a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 159 RFS re´sume´ review (except as provided in 1 subclause (II)), or any other method 2 of determining the experience or level 3 of educational attainment of an indi- 4 vidual, alone. 5 ‘‘(ii)(I) An agency’s Chief Human 6 Capital Officer may waive clause (i)(III) 7 when needed to enable the filling of a posi- 8 tion or class of positions. 9 ‘‘(II) Not later than 180 days after 10 the date of enactment of the Chance to 11 Compete Act of 2023, the Director shall 12 provide agencies guidance and instruction 13 on the data, evidence, and circumstances 14 that Chief Human Capital Officers of 15 agencies should consider in determining 16 whether to grant a waiver under subclause 17 (I). 18 ‘‘(III)(aa) An agency shall post any 19 waiver granted under subclause (I) on a 20 public website within 30 days of the grant- 21 ing of the waiver. 22 ‘‘(bb) A waiver shall not be considered 23 in effect until it is posted on the public 24 website pursuant to item (aa). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 159 RFS ‘‘(IV)(aa) Each agency shall submit to 1 the Director on a semiannual basis a re- 2 port summarizing the number of waivers 3 granted by the Chief Human Capital Offi- 4 cer of the agency under subclause (I) dur- 5 ing the preceding 6-month period and the 6 reasons therefor. 7 ‘‘(bb) The Director shall submit annu- 8 ally to the Committee on Homeland Secu- 9 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 10 ate and the Committee on Oversight and 11 Accountability of the House of Representa- 12 tives a report summarizing the number of 13 waivers granted by the Chief Human Cap- 14 ital Officers of all agencies under subclause 15 (I) during the preceding year and the rea- 16 sons therefor provided by the agencies. 17 ‘‘(V) Not more than 10 percent of an 18 agency’s positions filled through competi- 19 tive hiring procedures during a fiscal year 20 may be filled under the authority of a 21 waiver granted under clause (I), and an 22 agency shall obtain the Director’s approval 23 to fill more than 5 percent of such posi- 24 tions under such authority. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 159 RFS ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this sub- 1 section— 2 ‘‘(i) the term ‘agency’ means an agen- 3 cy described in section 901(b) of title 31; 4 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘Director’ means the 5 Director of the Office; 6 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘examining agency’ 7 means— 8 ‘‘(I) the Office; or 9 ‘‘(II) an agency to which the Di- 10 rector has delegated examining au- 11 thority under section 1104(a)(2) of 12 this title; 13 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘passing score assess- 14 ment’ means an assessment that an indi- 15 vidual can pass or fail; 16 ‘‘(v) the term ‘subject matter expert’ 17 means an employee or selecting official— 18 ‘‘(I) who possesses understanding 19 of the duties of, and knowledge, skills, 20 and abilities required for, the position 21 for which the employee or selecting of- 22 ficial is developing or administering 23 an assessment; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 159 RFS ‘‘(II) whom the agency that em- 1 ploys the employee or selecting official 2 designates to assist in the develop- 3 ment and administration of technical 4 assessments under paragraph (2); and 5 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘technical assessment’ 6 means an assessment developed under 7 paragraph (2)(A)(i) that— 8 ‘‘(I) allows for the demonstration 9 of job-related technical skills, abilities, 10 and knowledge; 11 ‘‘(II)(aa) is based upon a job 12 analysis; and 13 ‘‘(bb) is relevant to the posi- 14 tion for which the assessment is 15 developed; and 16 ‘‘(III) may include— 17 ‘‘(aa) a structured interview; 18 ‘‘(bb) a work-related exer- 19 cise; 20 ‘‘(cc) a custom or generic 21 procedure used to measure an in- 22 dividual’s employment or career- 23 related qualifications and inter- 24 ests; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 159 RFS ‘‘(dd) another assessment 1 that meets the criteria under 2 subclauses (I) and (II). 3 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of 5 conducting an examination for a position in the 6 competitive service, an individual or individuals 7 whom an agency determines to have an exper- 8 tise in the subject and job field of the position, 9 as affirmed and audited by the Chief Human 10 Capital Officer or Human Resources Director 11 (as applicable) of that agency, may— 12 ‘‘(i) develop, in partnership with 13 human resources employees of the exam- 14 ining agency, a position-specific assessment 15 that is relevant to the position; and 16 ‘‘(ii) administer the assessment devel- 17 oped under clause (i) to— 18 ‘‘(I) determine whether an appli- 19 cant for the position has a passing 20 score to be qualified for the position; 21 or 22 ‘‘(II) rank applicants for the po- 23 sition for category rating purposes 24 under section 3319. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 159 RFS ‘‘(B) SHARING AND CUSTOMIZATION OF 1 ASSESSMENTS.— 2 ‘‘(i) SHARING.—An examining agency 3 may share a technical assessment with an- 4 other examining agency if each agency 5 maintains appropriate control over exam- 6 ination material. 7 ‘‘(ii) CUSTOMIZATION.—An examining 8 agency with which a technical assessment 9 is shared under clause (i) may customize 10 the assessment as appropriate, provided 11 that the resulting assessment satisfies the 12 requirements under part 300 of title 5, 13 Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc- 14 cessor regulation). 15 ‘‘(iii) PLATFORM FOR SHARING AND 16 CUSTOMIZATION.— 17 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Director 18 shall establish and operate an online 19 platform on which examining agencies 20 can share and customize technical as- 21 sessments under this subparagraph. 22 ‘‘(II) ONLINE PLATFORM.—The 23 Director shall ensure that the online 24 platform described in subclause (I) in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 159 RFS cludes the ability of its users to rate 1 the utility of the content and technical 2 assessments shared in the online plat- 3 form to allow for a ranking of such 4 contents. 5 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than one year 6 after the date of enactment of the Chance to Com- 7 pete Act of 2023, the Office of Personnel Manage- 8 ment shall prescribe regulations necessary for the 9 administration of this subsection with respect to em- 10 ployees in each agency.’’. 11 (2) ALTERNATIVE RANKING AND SELECTION 12 PROCEDURES.—Section 3319(a) of title 5, United 13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 14 following: ‘‘To be placed in a quality category under 15 the preceding sentence, an applicant shall be re- 16 quired to have passed an examination in accordance 17 with section 3304(b).’’. 18 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 19 MENT.—Section 3330a(a)(1)(B) of title 5, United 20 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 21 3304(f)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3304(g)(1)’’. 22 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF PASSING SCORE ASSESS- 23 MENT REQUIREMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 159 RFS (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 1 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director and 2 the head of any other examining agency shall elimi- 3 nate the use of any examination for the competitive 4 service that does not satisfy the definition of the 5 term ‘‘examination’’ in subsection (c)(1)(A) of sec- 6 tion 3304 of title 5, United States Code (as amend- 7 ed by subsection (a)(1)(B)). 8 (2) REPORT REQUIRED.—One year following 9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 10 submit to the Committee on Oversight and Account- 11 ability of the House of Representatives and the 12 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 13 Affairs of the Senate a report examining agencies’ 14 progress in implementing the requirement specified 15 in paragraph (1), identifying any significant difficul- 16 ties encountered in such implementation. 17 (c) OPM REPORTING.— 18 (1) PUBLIC ONLINE TOOL.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Of- 20 fice of Personnel Management shall maintain 21 and periodically update a publicly available on- 22 line tool that, with respect to each position in 23 the competitive service for which an examining 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 159 RFS agency examined applicants during the applica- 1 ble period, includes— 2 (i) the type of assessment used, such 3 as— 4 (I) a behavioral off-the-shelf as- 5 sessment; 6 (II) a re´sume´ review conducted 7 by a subject matter expert; 8 (III) an interview conducted by a 9 subject matter expert; 10 (IV) a technical off-the-shelf as- 11 sessment; or 12 (V) a cognitive ability test; 13 (ii) whether or not the agency selected 14 a candidate for the position; and 15 (iii) the hiring authority used to fill 16 the position. 17 (B) TIMING.— 18 (i) INITIAL DATA.—Not later than 19 180 days after the date of enactment of 20 this Act, the Director shall update the on- 21 line tool described in subparagraph (A) 22 with data for positions in the competitive 23 service for which an examining agency ex- 24 amined applicants during the period begin- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 HR 159 RFS ning on the date of enactment of this Act 1 and ending on the date of submission of 2 the report. 3 (ii) SUBSEQUENT UPDATES.—Not 4 later than October 1 of each fiscal year be- 5 ginning after the date on which the online 6 tool is initially updated under clause (i), 7 the Director shall update the online tool 8 described in subparagraph (A) with data 9 for positions in the competitive service for 10 which an examining agency examined ap- 11 plicants during the preceding fiscal year. 12 (2) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Direc- 14 tor, in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and 15 (C), shall make publicly available and submit to 16 Congress an overall progress report that in- 17 cludes summary data from examinations that 18 are closed, audited, and anonymous on the use 19 of examinations (as defined in subsection 20 (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of title 5, United 21 States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 22 section) for the competitive service, including 23 technical assessments. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H159.RFS H159 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 HR 159 RFS (B) CATEGORIES; BASELINE DATA.—In 1 carrying out subparagraph (A), the Director 2 shall— 3 (i) break the data down by applicant 4 demographic indicator, including veteran 5 status, race, gender, disability, and any 6 other measure the Director determines ap- 7 propriate; and 8 (ii) use the data available as of Octo- 9 ber 1, 2020, as a baseline. 10 (C) LIMITATIONS.—In carrying out sub- 11 paragraph (A), the Director may only make 12 publicly available and submit to Congress data 13 relating to examinations for which— 14 (i) the related announcement is 15 closed; 16 (ii) certificates have been audited; and 17 (iii) all hiring processes are com- 18 pleted. 19 (d) GAO REPORT.—Not late [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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