S. 59 — what changed

changed This Act may be cited as the “Chance to Compete Act of 2023”.2024”.

added “(a) Definitions—In this section:

added “(1) Agency—The term agency means an Executive agency.

added “(2) Director—The term Director means the Director of the Office.

added “(3) Examination—The term examination means the process by which an applicant demonstrates knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies.

added “(4) Examining agency—The term examining agency means—

added “(A) the Office; or

added “(B) an agency to which the Director has delegated examining authority under section 1104(a)(2).

added “(5) Office—The term Office means the Office of Personnel Management.

added “(6) Passing score—The term passing score means a minimum acceptable score or rating, consistent with applicable law, that may include a quantitative or qualitative assessment that an applicant can pass or fail.

added “(7) Relevant committees—The term relevant committees means—

added “(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and

added “(B) the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives.

added “(8) Subject matter expert—The term subject matter expert means an employee or selecting official—

added “(A) who possesses an understanding of the duties of, and knowledge, skills, and abilities required for, the position for which the employee or selecting official is developing or administering an examination; and

added “(B) whom the delegated examining unit of the examining agency that employs the employee or selecting official designates to assist in the development and administration of technical assessments.

added “(9) Technical assessment—The term technical assessment means a position-specific tool that is relevant to the position for which the tool is developed that—

added “(A) allows for the demonstration of job-related skills, abilities, knowledge, and competencies;

added “(B) is based upon a job analysis; and

added “(C) does not solely include or principally rely upon a self-assessment from an automated examination.”

added Section 3304 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (b), as redesignated by section 2, the following:

added “(c) Examinations

added “(1) In general—For the purpose of testing applicants for appointment for a position, or class of positions, in the competitive service, an examining agency shall conduct an examination pursuant to subsection (b).

added “(2) Interim examination period

added “(A) Preference for technical assessment—During the 3-year period beginning on the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2024, an examining agency shall preference the use of a technical assessment, to the maximum extent practicable, to assess the job-related skills, abilities, knowledge, and competencies of an applicant for a position in the competitive service.

added “(B) Use of alternative assessment—During the 3-year period beginning on the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2024, if an examining agency determines that the use of a technical assessment to assess the job-related skills, abilities, knowledge, and competencies of an applicant for a position in the competitive service is not practicable, the examining agency may use an alternative assessment for that purpose if the examining agency includes a brief description of the rationale for the use of the alternative assessment in the job posting.

added “(3) Transition planning

added “(A) In general—Not later 18 months after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2024, the Director shall submit to the relevant committees a plan to transition Federal hiring practices to adopt technical assessments in accordance with subsection (d), which shall include—

added “(i) the prioritization of—

added “(I) job classifications; and

added “(II) resource requirements; and

added “(ii) a timeline for full implementation of the transition.

added “(B) Additional consultation—In developing the plan under subparagraph (A), the Director shall consult with, at minimum—

added “(i) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

added “(ii) the Chair of the Chief Human Capital Officers Council;

added “(iii) employee representatives; and

added “(iv) relevant external stakeholders.

added “(4) Implementation of technical assessments

added “(A) Implementation of plan—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2024, the Director shall implement the plan submitted under paragraph (3).

added “(B) Adoption of technical assessments—On and after the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2024, an examining agency shall use a technical assessment to examine applicants for positions in the competitive service in accordance with subsection (d).

added “(C) Waiver

added “(i) In general—The requirement under subparagraph (B) shall not apply to an examining agency with respect to a particular job series if—

added “(I) the examining agency determines that use of a technical assessment is impracticable for the job series; and

added “(II) the head of the examining agency submits to the Director and the relevant committees a certification that use of the technical assessment is impracticable, which certification shall include—

added “(aa) identification of the job series;

added “(bb) identification of the number of positions that are included in the job series within the agency for which the examining agency is conducting examinations; and

added “(cc) a description of the rationale for the determination.

added “(ii) Effectiveness of waiver—A waiver under this subparagraph shall be effective for the period—

added “(I) beginning on the date that is 1 day after the date on which the applicable certification is submitted under clause (i)(II); and

added “(II) ending on the date that is 3 years after the date on which the applicable certification is submitted under clause (i)(II).

added “(iii) No delegation of certification authority—The head of an examining agency may not delegate the authority to submit a certification under clause (i)(II).

added “(d) Technical assessment

added “(1) In general—For the purpose of conducting an examination for a position in the competitive service, an individual who is determined by an examining agency to be a subject matter expert in the subject and job field of the position may—

added “(A) develop, in partnership with human resources employees of the examining agency, a position-specific assessment that is relevant to the position, based on job analysis, which may include—

added “(i) a structured interview;

added “(ii) a work-related exercise;

added “(iii) a custom or generic procedure used to measure an applicant’s employment or career-related qualifications and interests; or

added “(iv) another assessment that—

added “(I) allows for the demonstration of job-related technical skills, abilities, and knowledge; and

added “(II) is relevant to the position for which the assessment is developed; and

added “(B) administer the assessment developed under subparagraph (A) to—

added “(i) determine whether an applicant for the position has a passing score to be qualified for the position; or

added “(ii) rank applicants for the position for category rating purposes under section 3319.

added “(2) Feasibility study on sharing and customization of assessment—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2024, the Director shall—

added “(A) conduct a feasibility study that examines the practicability, including a cost benefit analysis, of—

added “(i) the sharing of technical assessments by an examining agency with another examining agency;

added “(ii) mechanisms for each examining agency to maintain appropriate control over examination material that is shared by the examining agency as described in clause (i);

added “(iii) limits on customization of a technical assessment that is shared as described in clause (i) and mechanisms to ensure that the resulting technical assessment satisfies the requirements under part 300 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation); and

added “(iv) the development of an online platform on which examining agencies can share and customize technical assessments as described in this subparagraph; and

added “(B) submit to the relevant committees a report on the study conducted under subparagraph (A).

added “(e) Federal agency talent teams

added “(1) In general—An agency may establish 1 or more agency talent teams, including at the component level.

added “(2) Duties—An agency talent team shall provide hiring support to the agency, including by—

added “(A) improving examinations;

added “(B) facilitating the writing of job announcements for the competitive service;

added “(C) sharing high-quality certificates of eligible applicants; and

added “(D) facilitating hiring for the competitive service using examinations.

added “(f) Office of Personnel Management talent team—The Director may establish a Federal talent team to support agency talent teams by—

added “(1) facilitating hiring actions across the Federal Government;

added “(2) providing training;

added “(3) creating tools and guides to facilitate hiring for the competitive service; and

added “(4) developing technical assessments.

added “(g) Rulemaking—The Director shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to implement and interpret this section.”

removed “(c) Examinations

removed “(1) Definitions

removed “(A) Examination defined for purposes of this chapter—For purposes of this chapter, the term examination—

removed “(i) means an opportunity to directly demonstrate knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies, through a passing score assessment;

removed “(ii) includes a résumé review that is—

removed “(I) conducted by a subject matter expert; and

removed “(II) based upon indicators that—

removed “(aa) are derived from a job analysis; and

removed “(bb) bear a rational relationship to performance in the position for which the examining agency is hiring; and

removed “(iii) on and after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2023, does not include a self-assessment from an automated examination, a résumé review (except as provided in clause (ii)), or any other method of determining the experience or level of educational attainment of an individual, alone.

removed “(B) Other terms—In this subsection—

removed “(i) the term agency means an agency described in section 901(b) of title 31;

removed “(ii) the term Director means the Director of the Office;

removed “(iii) the term examining agency means—

removed “(I) the Office; or

removed “(II) an agency to which the Director has delegated examining authority under section 1104(a)(2) of this title;

removed “(iv) the term Office means the Office of Personnel Management;

removed “(v) the term passing score assessment means an assessment that an individual can pass or fail;

removed “(vi) the term subject matter expert means an employee or selecting official—

removed “(I) who possesses understanding of the duties of, and knowledge, skills, and abilities required for, the position for which the employee or selecting official is developing or administering an assessment; and

removed “(II) whom the delegated examining unit of the agency that employs the employee or selecting official designates to assist in the development and administration of technical assessments under paragraph (2); and

removed “(vii) the term technical assessment means an assessment developed under paragraph (2)(A)(i) that—

removed “(I) allows for the demonstration of job-related technical skills, abilities, and knowledge;

removed “(II)

removed “(aa) is based upon a job analysis;

removed “(bb) is relevant to the position for which the assessment is developed; and

removed “(cc) does not discriminate on the basis of a protected status, as established by the Director in regulations implementing this subsection; and

removed “(III) may include—

removed “(aa) a structured interview;

removed “(bb) a work-related exercise;

removed “(cc) a custom or generic procedure used to measure an individual’s employment or career-related qualifications and interests; or

removed “(dd) another assessment that meets the criteria under subclauses (I) and (II).

removed “(2) Technical assessments

removed “(A) In general—For the purpose of conducting an examination for a position in the competitive service, a subject matter expert who is determined by the subject matter expert's agency to be an expert in the subject and job field of the position, as affirmed and audited by the Chief Human Capital Officer or Human Resources Director (as applicable) of that agency, may—

removed “(i) develop, in partnership with human resources employees of the examining agency, a position-specific assessment that is relevant to the position; and

removed “(ii) administer the assessment developed under clause (i) to—

removed “(I) determine whether an applicant for the position has a passing score to be qualified for the position; or

removed “(II) rank applicants for the position for category rating purposes under section 3319.

removed “(B) Sharing and customization of assessments

removed “(i) Sharing—An examining agency may share a technical assessment with another examining agency if each agency maintains appropriate control over examination material.

removed “(ii) Customization—An examining agency with which a technical assessment is shared under clause (i) may customize the assessment as appropriate, provided that the resulting assessment satisfies the requirements under part 300 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).

removed “(iii) Platform for sharing and customization

removed “(I) In general—The Director shall establish and operate a platform on which examining agencies can share and customize technical assessments under this subparagraph.

removed “(II) Guidance—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2023, the Director shall issue guidance to examining agencies on how to efficiently and effectively share assessments using the platform established under subclause (I).

removed “(C) Adoption of determinations by other agencies—For purposes of sections 3318(b) and 3319(c), an appointing authority, other than the appointing authority requesting a certificate of eligibles, that selects an individual from that certificate in accordance with such section 3318(b) or 3319(c) may adopt the determination described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph of a subject matter expert employed by the requesting appointing authority instead of administering an additional technical assessment of the individual.”

removed “(5) Platform for sharing résumés of individuals on certificates of eligibles—The Director of the Office shall establish and operate a platform on which an appointing authority can share, with other appointing authorities and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council established under section 1303 of the Chief Human Capital Officers Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 1401 note; Public Law 107–296), the résumés of individuals who are on a certificate of eligibles requested by the appointing authority.”

removed “(c) Maximizing sharing of applicant information

removed “(1) Definitions—In this subsection—

removed “(A) the terms agency, Director, and Office have the meanings given those terms in section 3304(c)(1) of title 5, United States Code; and

removed “(B) the term competitive service has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code.

removed “(2) Maximizing sharing—The Director shall maximize the sharing of information among agencies regarding qualified applicants for positions in the competitive service, including by—

removed “(A) providing for the delegation to other agencies of the authority of the Office to host multi-agency hiring actions to increase the return on investment on high-quality pooled announcements; and

removed “(B) sharing certificates of eligibles and accompanying résumés for appointment.”

added Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that—