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Norton Introduces Bill to Allow D.C. Courts and Public Defender Service to Offer Buyouts to Employees

April 21, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a bill to provide the District of Columbia Courts (D.C. Courts) and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) with the same authority that federal courts and federal agencies have to offer voluntary separation incentive payments, or buyouts, to their employees. She said that buyouts for staff who are ready to retire or who otherwise want to leave an agency open jobs for others, right-size an agency, and improve its efficiency. The fiscal year 2016 omnibus bill already gives D.C. Courts buyout authority—but Norton’s bill would make this authorization permanent, and would extend it to PDS in addition to the courts. Norton’s bill is part of her efforts to improve parts of the District’s justice system under federal control. A separate Norton bill to modernize and improve the daily operations of the D.C. Courts, PDS, and the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia was signed into law by President Obama in January.

Norton, in her statement introducing the bill, said, “Buyouts would allow the D.C. Courts and PDS to respond to their future administrative and budget needs, and would provide the flexibility to extend buyout offers to their employees.”

Norton’s full introductory statement is below.

Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on the Introduction of the District of Columbia Courts and Public Defender Service Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments Act

Today, I introduce the District of Columbia Courts and Public Defender Service Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments Act. The bill would make a minor change to the authorities of the District of Columbia Courts (D.C. Courts) and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS), placing these entities in the same position as their federal counterparts for more effective management and operation.

The bill would give the D.C. Courts and PDS the same authority federal agencies and federal courts already have to offer voluntary separation incentive payments, or buyouts, to their employees. The fiscal year 2016 omnibus bill already gives D.C. Courts buyout authority—but my bill would make this authorization permanent, and would extend it to PDS in addition to the courts. Buyouts would allow the D.C. Courts and PDS to respond to their future administrative and budget needs, and would provide the flexibility to extend buyout offers to their employees.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has determined that voluntary separation incentive payments may be made only where statutorily authorized. While federal agencies and federal courts have the statutory authority to offer buyouts, PDS and the D.C. Courts have not been expressly permitted to permanently provide them to their employees. PDS and the D.C. Courts seek the same buyout authority in order to manage their workforce as budget conditions and needs change.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.