WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today introduced a bill to help the federal government hire and retain the effective, vibrant federal workforce needed to support local communities and businesses across the nation – particularly in areas where remoteness or unique economic circumstances create hiring challenges, such as along the Northern Border and in the Bakken region.

North Dakota and the country rely on an efficient, fully-functioning federal workforce – whether it’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents securing the border and our nation’s safety, or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees permitting wells in the oil patch. But in parts of North Dakota that are isolated or where an economic boom has driven up the cost of living and pulled federal workers to more lucrative jobs in the private sector, federal agencies face challenges filling positions and retaining workers. The resulting vacancies in federal jobs impact communities and businesses, and leave the federal government less efficient and less effective.

Heitkamp’s bill specifically responds to challenges she has heard from federal agencies, businesses, and workers in North Dakota about filling critical positions in law enforcement, Indian Country, energy, and national security. The bill would give federal agencies a toolkit of resources to make hiring and human resources more flexible – improving recruitment and retention of federal workers in areas with unique hiring challenges. The bill is endorsed by Partnership for Public Service and the National Border Patrol Council.

“It’s a problem for all of us when Customs and Border Protection can’t recruit agents to patrol our Northern Border and when there aren’t folks to permit wells in the Bakken,” said Heitkamp. “To tackle workforce challenges we’ve seen in North Dakota, my bill would give agencies a toolkit of resources for recruiting and retaining federal workers, which helps support law enforcement, permitting, agriculture, and many other jobs and businesses across the state. The growth in the Bakken is not the last time the federal workforce will respond to such a unique situation, and the remoteness of many rural communities isn’t going away. It’s critical that, as a nation, we prepare for the next time these challenges come up so federal workers are in place to support business and families.”

"Working on the Northern Border is rewarding, but also comes with its own set of challenges,” said Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council. “To protect our borders in these dangerous times we need to retain and recruit the best, and the Flexible HIRE Act of 2016 is a critical part of these efforts. We thank Senator Heitkamp for her support, and encourage the Senate to invest in public safety and approve this bill.”

“Introduction of the Flexible HIRE Act is a significant step forward in improving our broken federal hiring process because it addresses the problems at the enterprise level,” said Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service president and CEO. “The tools created by this legislation will provide federal agencies with greater hiring flexibilities and authorities, which will improve recruitment and retention in places where unique events or the remoteness of the location impacts the ability of agencies to achieve their missions. Thank you to Sen. Heitkamp for introducing this meaningful legislation and for her continued commitment to an effective and accountable federal workforce.”

Nationwide, the current vacancy rate at CBP ports of entry is 4.5 percent, with 28 ports having a vacancy rate over 15 percent. Six of those 28 ports are in North Dakota, underscoring the difficulties CBP faces filling positions on the Northern Border. And in Fiscal Year 2014, one in five North Dakota workers for the U.S. Department of the Interior – which includes BLM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – left their jobs, while only one in ten federal workers countrywide left their jobs.

Heitkamp’s bill would address hiring and retention obstacles in unique economic and geographic situations by giving agencies more flexibility to:

• Hire employees more quickly: Giving federal agencies more direct hire authority will make it easier for them to hire employees quickly, while still appropriately prioritizing the hiring of veterans.

• Offer special pay rates: In certain occupations, agencies would be able to offer higher rates of pay – particularly when federal agencies’ recruitment and retention efforts are compromised by offering pay that isn’t at parity with private sector pay for similar positions.

• Offer recruitment, relocation, retention bonuses: Federal agencies would be able to consider these circumstances when deciding whether to award a bonus to a newly-appointed employee, or to an employee relocating to a different area. Agencies would also be able to offer bonuses to retain employees, including those looking to move to a different location due to challenging geographic circumstances.

• Educate employees and about opportunities to boost recruitment: The bill would make sure federal agencies are aware of the tools they have access to as they work to recruit and retain employees. It would also hold agencies accountable for educating employees about opportunities that could boost recruitment and retention.     

Many federal agencies have struggled to recruit and retain workers in North Dakota to do critical energy, agriculture, and civilian military jobs, as salaries have not kept pace with the high cost of living in the state because of the energy and population booms. Heitkamp has also heard from border security officers about problems hiring workers in remote areas of the state, and the security risk such vacancies at the ports present.

The Flexible HIRE (Hiring and Improving Recruitment, Retention, and Education) Act of 2016 was inspired in part by an October 2015 U.S. Senate hearing Heitkamp led to develop solutions to recruit and retain federal workers in regions such as the Bakken and the Northern Border. Heitkamp is the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs’ Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs & Federal Management, which held the hearing and has oversight of the nation’s federal workforce.

In September 2014, Heitkamp brought U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta to North Dakota to hear firsthand about the challenges federal agencies face in maintaining a workforce in the face of North Dakota’s economic growth. Since Director Archuleta’s visit, three pay rate increases that Heitkamp pushed for have been approved, improving pay for nearly 500 employees across western North Dakota and civilian workers at Minot Air Force Base. While ultimately successful, the process to get those increases approved was an inefficient process, demonstrating the need to make real changes to federal recruitment and retention systems to make sure the federal government can meet the needs of our nation’s communities and families.

Heitkamp also brought the number two official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to North Dakota’s Northern Border in April 2015 to meet with local officials and hear firsthand about challenges in recruiting and retaining federal employees in remote communities.