House passes bill to create exchange of tech workers

The House overcame security concerns on Wednesday to pass a bill that would create an exchange of mid-level information technology executives between the public and private sectors. The House passed the bill on a voice vote.

The "Digital Tech Corps Act," H.R. 3925, aims to bolster the federal government's understanding and use of information technology. It would allow private-sector IT experts to work for the federal government and federal employees to work for private companies for six to 12 months, with a one-year option. The private sector would bear the cost of the digital tech corps.

Bill sponsor Tom Davis, R-Va., said many parts of government are suffering from shortages of skilled tech workers and are using outdated technologies. He also said 34 percent of the government workforce becomes eligible to retire in the next few years, and little has been done to prepare for that loss of IT workers.

The federal government has been hurt by lower salaries, delays in hiring and the lack of a robust training program, Davis said.

Before passing the bill, the House adopted, by voice vote, an amendment that would require that 20 percent of government workers participating in the exchange go to small businesses. Lawmakers also adopted, by voice vote, language that would direct the Office of Personnel Management to report on the adequacy of training opportunities, and prohibits the charging of costs associated with the tech corps to contracts that companies receive from the government.

Lawmakers defeated an amendment, offered by California Democrat Henry Waxman, that would have restricted what government information private-sector workers in the tech corps could access. Waxman said the bill "blurs the line" between the public and private sectors, which would "invite abuse and conflict of interest."

For instance, he said, it could never be proved what an executive from one pharmaceutical company had done with competitors' confidential pricing information he accessed through the program. "You can't unscramble an egg in the same way you can't guarantee confidential information isn't abused," he said.

Waxman also criticized the idea of sending taxpayer-funded employees to work for private firms. "It's a new and egregious form of corporate welfare," Waxman said. He also noted that under the program, government workers could be paid up to $200 a day while working for private companies.

Waxman's amendment would have required that government workers follow clear training objectives while in the private sector. He also called for the OPM to conduct a comprehensive training program for IT workers.

Davis said his bill would go beyond federal requirements for disclosure and lobbying, including a lifetime restriction on disclosure for private-sector employees who participate in the program. It also would impose "very severe" penalties for violations.

Davis also noted that federal managers would decide whether to send their employees to work at companies, so they could determine the usefulness of each opportunity.

The high-tech industry supports the bill; government and private-sector employee organizations oppose it.