Chance to Compete Act of 2024
Latest action. Became 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) No: 118-188.
Chance to Compete Act of 2024
This act requires federal agencies to use technical assessments to fill most positions in the competitive service. Under the act, a technical assessment is a tool relevant and specific to a position for which it is developed that allows for the demonstration of job-related skills, abilities, knowledge, and competencies. A technical assessment must be based upon a job analysis and may not solely or principally rely upon a self-assessment from an automated examination.
(Sec. 3) Under the act, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must develop and implement a plan for transitioning to using technical assessments for hiring into competitive service positions unless the hiring agency certifies that it is impracticable. No later than 18 months after the act's enactment, OPM must provide Congress with the plan for federal agencies to transition to the use of technical assessments. The plan must be implemented within three years after the act's enactment.
In the three-year period following the bill's enactment, executive agencies must preference the use of technical assessments for hiring into competitive service positions to the maximum extent practicable. An agency that determines that the use of a technical assessment is impracticable must describe its rationale for using an alternative assessment in the applicable job posting.
The act authorizes agencies to identify subject matter experts (SMEs) and agency talent teams to provide hiring support to the agency. SMEs in the job field of a given position may develop position-specific assessments that allow for an applicant to demonstrate job-related technical skills, abilities, and knowledge relevant to the position. OPM may establish a federal talent team to provide support to agency talent teams.
No later than one year after the act's enactment, OPM must study and report to Congress regarding the feasibility of examining agencies sharing technical assessments and the development of an online platform where agencies can share and customize technical assessments.
(Sec. 4) The act requires OPM to conduct a review of examinations for positions in the competitive service for which agencies have established a minimum educational requirement because the position is of a scientific, technical, or professional nature. OPM must determine whether such requirements are justified based on data, evidence, and other relevant information and provide Congress with recommendations to amend the hiring practices in accordance with the review's findings. The review must be conducted in consultation with appropriate agencies, employee representatives, external experts, and other relevant stakeholders. The report shall be provided within one year after the act's enactment.
The summary continues for 4 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on December 23, 2024. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on December 23, 2024: Became Public Law No: 118-188.
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?
Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) introduced it on January 24, 2023, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 2 Republicans.
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.
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
- SenatePassed
- HousePassed
- PresidentSigned into law