House backs new Defense personnel system; Senate defers
Both the House and Senate passed their versions of the $400 billion Defense authorization bill late Thursday, but the House version included something the Senate's didn't: provisions that would give Pentagon officials wide latitude to create a new civilian personnel system. Under the House version of the authorization bill (H.R. 1588), Defense civilian employees would be shifted to a pay-banding system. A separate pay structure would be created for managers. Pentagon officials would be given authority to more easily hire and fire employees, modify job classifications and change reduction-in-force procedures.
Under the bill, approximately 300,000 military jobs would shift to civilian positions. The legislation also calls for giving the Defense secretary considerable leeway in crafting collective bargaining relationships at the department.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, pledged Thursday on the Senate floor to introduce separate legislation to overhaul the Defense civil service system.
"Quite simply, I believe civil service personnel reform of this magnitude is too important an issue for the Senate to remain silent," Collins said.
Collins and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, tried to introduce the bill as an amendment to the Defense authorization legislation, but their legislation was deemed inappropriate by the Senate parliamentarian.
The Collins-Voinovich proposal "would allow for a desperately needed overhaul of an antiquated system," said Collins. "But we do not give the [Defense] secretary all he asked for; instead, we have attempted to strike the right balance between promoting a flexible system and protecting employee rights."
One provision of the Collins-Voinovich bill would change the way employees are allowed to appeal adverse personnel decisions. It would mandate a gradual transition from the Merit Systems Protection Board appeals process to a new Defense Department-crafted process. Pentagon officials would be required to consult with MSPB while developing and testing the new system. The bill would also prevent the Defense secretary from waiving collective bargaining agreements and institute 180-day deadlines for resolution of issues by the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
In the House, Democrats complained that the civil service proposals in the authorization bill, which would affect more than 700,000 employees, were too ambiguous, too overreaching and trampled on the rights of civilian employees.
House Democrats, who insist they are not opposed to giving Pentagon officials some personnel flexibilities, had hoped to amend the bill to ensure that civil service protections remained intact, but their effort was stopped by the House Rules Committee on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., expressed confidence that the personnel provisions could be modified when the two bills went to conference.
Collins seemed amenable to working out a compromise.
"I have worked hard to find a consensus approach, and I don't intend to stop until this goal has been achieved," Collins explained. "I believe that the House approach can be improved upon."