Oversight Advances Information Security Enhancements and Federal Workforce Reforms

WASHINGTON- Today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee advanced several pieces of legislation on unanimous voice votes, including H.R. 4257, legislation to update and improve the decade old Federal Information Security and Management Act (FISMA).

“FISMA reform is the result of a bipartisan collaborative effort with public and private sector partners to solve our nation’s information security crisis,” said Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. “Congress understands that some of our country’s greatest security threats come from cyber attacks. FISMA had become a compliance activity, even at times when compliance appeared to supersede security. ”

The committee also advanced several federal workforce reforms:

• H.R. 538, the Federal Customer Service Enhancement Act, introduced by Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas., would require the Office of Management and Budget to establish customer service standards for federal agencies, and ensures federal employees will be held accountable for meeting such standards.
• H.R. 4363, introduced by Chairman Issa, provides the authority to offer phased retirement to federal employees. Phased retirement allows federal employees to retire from a portion of their full time employment and receive a prorated pension for that service. 
• H.R. 4365, introduced by Rep. Anne Marie Buerkle, R-NY, clarifies that Federal tax levies may be enforced against “Thrift Saving Plan” accounts. Under current law, the IRS has authority to levy an individual’s 401K plan. to resolve an outstanding tax liability. TSP accounts are the federal employee equivalent of the private sector defined contribution retirement plan.

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