Letter to Senator Voinovich supporting for the Federal Workforce Improvement Act of 2002 June 24, 2002

Senator George V. Voinovich
Ranking Member Oversight of Government Management
Restructuring and the District of Columbia Subcommittee
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
613 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510


Dear Senator Voinovich:

The Coalition for Effective Change (CEC) represents 32 managerial, executive, and professional associations with a combined membership of approximately 600,000 current and former public employees. The CEC is committed to the goal of assisting the federal government devise and implement constructive changes that lead to management improvements in government operations and services.

I am writing in my capacity as Chair of the CEC to express our appreciation to you for introducing S. 2651, the Federal Workforce Improvement Act of 2002, and for your leadership on this important issue. We greatly appreciate all of your hard work on the behalf of civil service employees.

As a Coalition that supports a high-performing federal government, we know that the quality of the people in the federal government is key to the quality of government services. The American people deserve and expect a government that is well-staffed, well-managed, and able to produce results. The Federal Workforce Improvement Act is an important step toward making the federal government an employer of choice for the talented, technology-savvy people who are needed to meet the government's challenges today and in the future.

The Federal Workforce Improvement Act addresses many issues that we believe are important to the future of the civil service. The legislation ties agency human capital strategic planning and personnel training to the Government Performance and Results Act, to ensure that people are aligned with an agency's mission and goals. Our coalition supports the bill's management flexibilities, including expedited hiring authority for hard-to-fill positions, permanent extension of voluntary separation incentive payments, and voluntary early retirement payments as a workforce shaping tool, and enhanced recruitment, relocation and retention bonuses. The bill makes important improvements in the federal government's training programs for its employees, and proposes several other civil service reforms as well.

While there are differences of opinion among some members of the group with respect to some specific provisions of the bill, we look forward to a final package of civil service reforms that will be the product of deliberation and compromise. We encourage the Committee to consider this legislation at its earliest opportunity in order to highlight areas of agreement and identify a consensus package of civil service reforms that could pass this year.

Our coalition stands ready to be of assistance to you and to the Committee as it moves forward on human capital legislation. We thank you in advance for your efforts.

Sincerely,

Rosslyn S. Kleeman
Chair

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