National Public Employee Merit System and Representation Act
Latest action. Referred to Senate Committee on Post Office and civil serviceThe career federal workforce, hired by merit and protected from being fired for political reasons. About 2 million people, the vast majority of the executive branch.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).
National Public Employee Merit System and Representation Act - Declares that it is the policy of the United States that public employees be selected, promoted, and retained on the basis of merit and fitness without regard to sex, race, religion, or political or organizational affiliation, and that they be afforded the rights to which all employees working in a free, democratic society are entitled. States that each public employee has the right of self-organization and to engage in collective bargaining through representatives of his choice free from interference, restraint, or coercion, and the right to refrain from any or all of such activities. Requires each State, as a condition for eligibility to receive any funds from the Federal Government which may be used to finance any program conducted in a State, to establish a public personnel system which shall be in effect and applicable to each public employer in such State. Requires each such personnel system, among other requirements, to: (1) provide, in the case of public employees, that permanent appointment, promotion, and retention in positions be made exclusively on the basis of merit, fitness, and efficiency, without regard to sex, race, religion, or political or organizational affiliation; (2) provide that the right of each public employee to freely join or not join and be represented by an employee organization be guaranteed; and (3) provide that the right of an employee organization to represent its membership in determining terms and conditions of employment be recognized. Outlines those acts which shall constitute unfair labor practices by both a public employer and employee. Establishes a National Public Employee Relation Commission which shall be responsible for the enforcement of the provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Commission to conduct hearing and investigations, and to issue subpenas in order to carry out the purposes of this Act. Extends immunity from prosecution to witnesses appearing at the Commissions hearings. States that any person who shall willfully resist, prevent, impede, or interfere with any member of the Commission or any of its agents or agencies on the performance of duties pursuant to this Act shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Authorizes the Commission to promulgate such rules and regulations as it deems necessary to carry out the provisions of the Act. Requires the Commission, at the close of each fiscal year, to submit a report in writing to the Congress and to the President stating the cases it has heard, the decisions it has rendered, the names, salaries, and duties of all employees and other individuals under the supervision of the Commission, and an account of all moneys disbursed. Authorizes necessary 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 "Introduced in Senate" stage on January 31, 1973. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on January 31, 1973: Referred to Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
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 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, 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?
GALE MCGEE (D-WY) introduced it on January 31, 1973. 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 January 31, 1973, 19628 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19628 days ago, on January 31, 1973.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers