House panel backs government-industry tech executive exchange program

Federal employees could work in the private sector for up to two years--while still on the federal payroll--in order to learn cutting edge information technology skills and management practices under legislation approved Thursday by the House Government Reform Committee.

The Digital Tech Corps Act, H.R. 3925, which the committee approved by voice vote, would create an exchange program allowing federal agencies and private sector companies to exchange mid-level information technology managers for one-year assignments with an optional one-year extension.

"It would ... help us solve some of the tough information technology problems that we have," Committee Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., said of the bill, which is designed to assist federal managers in adopting some of the private sector's "best practices," and apply those practices to their agencies' IT programs once their private sector assignments are over.

Those managers would be required to continue working for the federal government for at least as long a period of time as their private sector assignment lasted.

Private sector managers, in turn, would be able to work within federal agencies for up to two years, helping them solve specific IT problems while remaining on their companies' payrolls.

Bill sponsors said the legislation would help to maintain homeland security by improving the federal government's information and communications infrastructure.

"Government employees, both civilian and military, are at the heart of our war against terrorism," said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who chairs the Technology and Procurement Policy Subcommittee and is the bill's chief sponsor.

"It's an important step to help the federal government keep up with information technology changes," said Rep. Jim Turner of Texas, the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, adding that he had worked with Davis to resolve several concerns that Democrats had raised about the bill.

Those compromises were incorporated into a manager's amendment that cleared the panel by voice vote. The amendment included several new "ethical provisions" to prevent potential conflicts of interest within the exchange program. For example, a "sunshine provision" would require federal agencies and companies to disclose the names of all employees participating in the program.

But Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said that even with the new provisions, he still had serious concerns about the bill. "I believe blurring the line between the public and private sectors creates unnecessary conflicts of interest," Waxman said. "I'm not sure rules alone will prevent abuses."

Waxman also called the proposed exchange program "a type of corporate welfare," noting that the legislation would place no limits on the number of federal workers who could be sent to the private sector at taxpayer expense. He also pointed out that the exchange program does not include any specific training requirement for federal employees participating in the program.

Waxman offered an amendment calling for a comprehensive training program for federal information technology workers, which would have been administered by the Office of Personnel Management and would have allowed outplacements for private companies as part of that training. But the committee defeated Waxman's amendment by voice vote.