General Accounting Office Personnel Act of 1979
Latest action. public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) 96-191.
(Measure passed Senate, amended, in lieu of S. 1879) General Accounting Office Personnel Act of 1980 - Authorizes the Comptroller General to appoint, pay, assign, and direct the personnel which the Comptroller General determines are necessary to perform the functions and duties of the General Accounting Office (GAO). Directs the Comptroller General to establish a personnel management system for the GAO after providing notice and an opportunity for public comment. Requires that such personnel system conform with specified provisions of title 5 of the United States Code (Government Organization and Employees) concerning: (1) the merit system principles; (2) prohibited personnel practices; (3) prohibited political activities; (4) the pay comparability systems; (5) performance appraisal; (6) employee organizations; (7) labor-management relations; (8) suspensions and actions against employees based on unacceptable service; and (9) the minority recruitment program. States that GAO employees shall be appointed, assigned, and promoted without regard to provisions governing personnel actions in the competitive service. Requires that such system provide preference to an eligible individual in a manner consistent with preference accorded to preference eligible individuals, including veterans, in the executive branch. Directs the Comptroller General to publish a pay schedule for GAO employees under which the highest rate of pay does not exceed the maximum rate for a GS-15 under the General Schedule. Authorizes special rates not to exceed the maximum rate for a GS-18 for up to 100 employees. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed as abolishing or diminishing any right or remedy granted to an employee or applicant for employment in the GAO by any law prohibiting discrimination in Federal employment. Transfers authorities granted by any such law in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Merit Systems Protection Board to either the General Accounting Office Appeals Board or the Comptroller General with respect to GAO employees and applicants. Establishes the General Accounting Office Personnel Appeals Board. Sets forth provisions governing the appointment, qualifications, terms of office, and compensation of the five members of the Board. Provides for the appointment of a general counsel of the Board who shall investigate: (1) allegations concerning prohibited personnel practices and prohibited political activities; and (2) as requested, other matters under the Board's jurisdiction. Authorizes the Board (or a member or panel of members as may be designated by the Board) to consider and order the Comptroller General to take corrective or disciplinary action in cases concerning: (1) employee appeals regarding removal from work or reduction in grade or pay; (2) prohibited personnel or labor practices; (3) prohibited political activities; and (4) collective bargaining units and representatives. Sets forth procedures for review and appeal of decisions of the Board. Directs the Board to prescribe regulations: (1) providing for employee appeals; and (2) establishing its operating procedure. Authorizes the Comptroller General to establish: (1) a GAO Senior Executive Service which conforms to specified provisions of law governing the Senior Executive Service; and (2) a merit pay system for GAO employees to carry out purposes consistent with the merit pay system for Federal employees. Declares that any GAO employee who completes one year of continuous service under the personnel system established by this Act acquires a competitive status for appointment in the competitive service. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to assist the Comptroller General, on request, in establishing the GAO personnel system. Sets forth conforming and technical amendments. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate amended" stage on January 30, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Public Law 96-191.
Civibrief does not map this action to a stage in the process. See the official record.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on February 15, 1980: Public Law 96-191.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
PATRICIA SCHROEDER (D-CO) introduced it on September 5, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 5, 1979, 17173 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17010 days ago, on February 15, 1980.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePublic Law 96-191.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action