:‘DNGRESS|ONAL RESEARCH SERVICE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Ulllll Universi 01 I M»; s uri- umnfiflmmiilttim 860 - HATCH ACT: Paopoiszri AMENDMENTS ISSUE BRIEF NUMBER IB75071 AUTHOR: Mcnurtry , Virg inia Government Div i sion THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE MAJOR ISSUES SYSTEM DATE ORIGINATED DATE UPDATED IOIO lO\l\D lfli‘ I833 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CALL 287-5700 062R cRs— 1 1375071 UPDATE-06/24/80 l§§Q§-DEElElEl9E Since 1939, many government employees in the United States have been, to a considerable extent, prohibited from participating actively in partisan political activities by the provisions of the Hatch Act, as amended. Advocates of pending proposals to amend the Hatch Act seek to expand substantially the rangeeof permissible participatory activities and, at the same time, to maintain safeguards against abuses. Clearly, a balance is necessary between the individual rights of public employees to participate in political activities as private citizens and the societal need for a neutral, efficient government bureaucracy. §A§K§B9Q§2-A£2.EQLlQZ-éEALl§l§ Since 1791, the Congress has from time to time considered the matter of limiting the range of'permissible political activities of executive branch employees in order to further the objective of a politically neutral civil service. Over the years, various measures were introduced, but Congress took no comprehensive action until 1939. Prior to the passage of the Hatch Act, however, many regulations restricting the political activities of public employees had been promulgated by the executive branch, beginning with directives issued by President Jefferson in 1801. The provisions of th Hatch Act as originally approved by Congress in 1939 ‘S3 Stat. 11fl7) applied only to federal executive branch employees; but in 19uo, amendments were added (54 Stat. 767) to include state and local government employees whose principal employment was in connection with an activity funded by the federal government. The Act has been amended six other times -- in 1942, 19ua, 19fl6, 1950, 1962, and 197fl. The Hatch Act, as amended, prohibits an employee subject to its restrictions from using official authority or influence to interfere with an election. It further prohibits an employee from taking an "active part in political management or political campaigns," defined as those activities on the part of competitive civil service employees that were prohibited before July 19, 19fi0. Thus, the Hatch Act incorporated over 3,000 prior administrative determinations of the United States Civil Service Commission. The alleged ambiguities inherent in such a plethora of regulations has been a major source of criticism directed to the Hatch Act provisions. Under the Hatch Act, as amended, a covered employee retains the right to vote, to express a political opinion, to make political contributions, to engage in nonpartisan activity, and to participate in partisan activity at the local level if he lives in an area where a majority of the residents are subject to the Hatch Act restrictions. The passage of the Batch Act in 1939 represented the culmination of several years of debate in the country; this discussion had focused upon the "pernicious" political activities of public employees, allegedly associated with the emergency public relief programs, such as the Works Progress ‘dministration (HPA) in the 19305. An investigation by the Special _enatorial Campaign Expenditures and Use of Government funds Committee, chaired by Senator Morris Sheppard, resulted in a report to Congress, in January 1939, which documented numerous cases of political coercion in ten states that involved WPA supervisors and their workers. While there was CRS- 2 1375071 . UPDATE-06/2!!/80 widespread agreement in the Congress after the appearance of the Sheppard Committee's report that some legislation was needed to curb political abuses of and by workers in various federal agencies, some thought that the provisions of the Hatch Act might be unnecessarily restrictive and vague. In the ensuing years, debate in the Congress has continued concerning the propriety of the Hatch Act restrictions, although no substantial changes in the legislation occurred until 1974. The Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1970 (P.L. 93-H43) contain a provision in Title IV, Sec. H01, that lifts most of the restrictions from state and local government employees who had previously been subject to the Hatch Act. As of Jan. 1, 1975, these state and local government workers could serve as officers in political parties, could solicit votes on behalf of partisan candidates, and so on down the list of activities previously prohibited under the Hatch Act's dictum of “no active participation in political management or in political campaigns." The major restriction remaining on these state and local government employees who» are subject to the Hatch Act is that they may not run as candidates for public office in partisan elections. However, federal government employees did not receive any liberalization of the restrictions on their political participation as Ea result of the 197R law. 1 Various bills were introduced in the 9uth Congress to amend the Hatch Act. A major concern of these bills was to extend to federal employees the same rights now enjoyed by federally funded state and local government employees as a result of the 197a legislation. In the House, attention was originally focused on H.R. 3000, a bill introduced by Representative William Clay, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Employee Political Rights and Intergovernmental Programs of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee. Ten bills identical to H.R. 3000, with a total of an cosponsors, and several similar measures were also introduced in the House. Clay's Subcommittee held some 11 days of hearings on H.R. 3000, and ultimately reported out a clean bill, H.R. 8617, on July 10, 1975. Two weeks later, on July 24, 1975, the full Committee on Post office and Civil Service favorably reported out H.R. 8617, as amended. Subsequently, several bills identical to H.R. 8617, cosponsored by Clay and others, were introduced. Over 25 bills relating to amendments to the Hatch Act were introduced in the House in the 9Hth Congress. In the Senate, 3. 372, very similar to the original House bill (H.R. 3000), was cosponsored by Senators McGee and Burdick. 3 H.R. 8617 contained two significant changes from the original provisions in H.R. 3000 (and S. 372). H.R. 3000 contained a listing of several specific kinds of political activities (e.g., distributing campaign literature) that were to be permissible; whereas, H.R. 8617 allowed all activities except those specifically prohibited. The subcommittee bill also created a new mechanism, the Board of Political Activities of Federal Employees, to assist in administering the law. 8 On Oct. 21, 1975, the House debated H.R. 8617 and passed the bill, with amendments, by a vote of 288-119. The House agreed to various committee amendments; 14 additional amendments were moved on the floor, of which eight were passed, five rejected, and one withdrawn. _The Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service held hearings on H.R. 8617 and S. 372 on Hov. 5 and 6, 1975. The committee reported H.R. 8617, with amendments, on Nov. 19, 1975. On Feb. 25, 1976, the Senate briefly considered H.R. 8617; on March 9, 10, CRS- 3 IB75071 UPDATE-06/24/80 and 11, the Senate debated the bill. on Mar. 11, 1976, the Senate passed ‘.3. 8617, with amendments, by a vote of 47-32. The Senate agreed to the «arious committee amendments (largely of a technical nature) en bloc; 19 additional amenments were moved on the floor, of which 11 were adopted and 9 rejected. Both the House and the Senate insisted on their amendments, but agreed to a conference. The Conference Report was filed on Mar. 23,1976, and approved by the House on Mar. 30, 1976, by a vote of 241-164, and by the Senate on Mar. 31, 1976, by a vote of 54-36. President Ford vetoed H.R. 8617 on Apr. 12, 1976. An attempt to override the veto in the House on Apr. 29, 1976, failed by a vote of 243-160, falling 26 votes short of the two-thirds necessary. Early in the 95th Congress bills to amend the Hatch Act, virtually identical to the conference version of H.R. 8617, were introduced. H.R. 10 was introduced on Jan. 4, 1977, and the House Subcommittee on Civil Service held hearings o H.R. 10 and companion bills on Feb. 23 and 24, 1977. On Apr. 20, the subcommittee approved H.R. 10, as amended, by a roll call vote of 6-4, and on Apr. 27, the full Committee on Post Office and Civil Service ordered H.R. 10, as further amended, reported to the House by roll call vote of 18-7. On June 7, 1977, H.R. 10 passed the House by vote of 244-164, with several floor amendments added. On the Senate side, 5. 80 was introduced on Jan. 10, 1977, and on July 19, 1977, the Subcommittee on Civil Service and General Services began hearings. No bill to amend the Hatch Act was reported to the Senate during the 95th Congress, however. As passed by the House, H.B. 10 would have amended the Hatch Act by replacing the current regulations with the following provisions: states that federal employees are encouraged .o exercise their right of voluntary political participation; retains under the prohibitions of existing law employees in foreign intelligence positions and certain supervisory employees in law enforcement, auditing, and contracting positions which have been designated as "restricted"; prohibits the use of official authority, influence, or coercion with respect to the right to vote, not to vote, or otherwise to» engage in political activity; prohibits solicitation of political contributions by superior officials and making or soliciting political contributions in government .rooms or buildings; prohibits, with certain limited exceptions, political activity while on official duty, in federal buildings, or in uniform; prohibits the extortion of money for political purposes from employees; requires that employees who seek elective office do so on their own time, and that employees shall, upon request, be granted accrued annual leave or leave without pay to seek elective office; designates the General Counsel of the Civil Service Commission as the enforcing authority and the Commissioners as the adjudicatory authority, provides for judicial review of adverse decisions, and limits investigations of prohibited activities to 90 days; subjects violators of law to removal, suspension, or lesser penalties at the discretion of the commissioners, and requires a minimum 30-days suspension without pay for any employee found guilty of violating the prohibition against use of official authority or influence for political purposes; requires the Civil Service Commission to conduct a program for informing employees of their rights of political participation, to establish an office to counsel and advise employees, and totreport annually to the Congress on its implementation of this act. Another attempt to amend the Hatch Act was made by the House during the 95th Congress. On July 19, 1978, the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service amended the Civil Service‘Reform Act of 1978 by incorporating, virtually intact, H.R. 10 as Title IX of the Act, and then reported the bill CBS‘ H IB75071 UPDATE-O6/2Q/80 to the full House. During floor debate on Sept. 7, 1978, Title IX was ruled non-germane and was stricken from the bill. President Carter signed the measure, without the Hatch Act amendment title, into law (P.L. 95-usu) on Oct. 13, 1978. In the 96th Congress Rep. Clay has introduced two bills relating to Hatch Act reform. In a new approach, H.R. zuoo applies only to Postal Service employees, while H.R. 2no1 would serve to lift Hatch Act restrictions for most other federal civilian employees. In other respects, both bills are similar to H.R. 10, as passed by the House in 1977. 7 Meanwhile, the constitutionality of the Hatch Act has been tested in the judicial arena. The Supreme Court upheld the Hatch Act in the case of gnitgd §:e2§§.._C.i!.i..1.-§.;e;!..i.222-29-lmifie2 v- .I1e.t.is.>I.1al Ass-gciation 2:- Letter- .<.?a£r..ier§. 413 0.5. 5&8 (1973). However, this decision of the Supreme Court, which reversed a lower court's ruling in the case, has become the target of considerable criticism in some professional journals. Legal debate over the Hatch Act provisions has been stimulated most recently by a Court of Appeals decision in January 1977 that held that federal workers residing in the District of Columbia and otherwise cowered by the Hatch Act could pg; participate in local partisan campaigns on behalf of independent candidates; previously D.C. had been excluded from. the list of locales where concentrations of federal workers live and which have been excepted by Civil Service Commission regulations from Hatch Act restrictions to the extent of allowing such participation in local politics. Subsequently, the CSC has issued a rule to include D.C. in this grouping. In the continuing debate regarding the modification lof the Hatch Act provisions, several issues are raised, including the following: T (1) Do the Hatch Act provisions represent an unnecessary and undesirable (albeit Constitutional) infringement upon the individual rights of public employees? ‘ (2) How can one protect federal employees from coercion —— direct and indirect -—-frtn their superiors as regards participating involuntarily in political activities, if most cf the Hatch Act restrictions are lifted? 1 (3) will allowing federal employees the opportunity for far greater participation in partisan politics threaten the preservation of the merit system and an impartial.civil service? ' (4) Is the Hatch Act hopelessly out of date, or is it still relevant to the circumstances of the 19705? H.B. 2'-I00 (Clay)/S. 1758 (Levin et al.) The Postal ServiceeEmployees' Political Activities Act of 1979. Amends Title 39, 0.5. Code, to restore to Postal Service employees their rights to participate voluntarily, as private citizens, in the political processes of the nation, to protect such employees from improper political solicitations, and for other purposes. H.R. 2400 introduced Feb. 26, 1979; referred t’- Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. 5. 1758 introduced Sept. 17, 1979; referred to Committee on Governmental Affairs. H.R. 2401 (Clay) cns- 5 1375071 UPDATE-06/2Q/80 The Federal Employees’ Political Activities Act of 1979. Amends Title ‘8, 0.3. Code, to restore to federal civilian employees their rights to participate voluntarily, as private citizens, in the political processes of the nation, to protect such employees from improper political solicitations, and for other purposes. Introduced Feb. 26, 1979; referred to Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. Efléflltlfié 0.5. Congress. House. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. Subcommittee on Civil Service. Federal Employees‘ Political Activities Act of 1977. Hearings, 95th Congress, 1st session, on H.R. 10. Washington, 0.5. Govt. Print. Off., 1977. 225 p. Hearings held Feb. 23 and 24, 1977. 0.5. Congress. House. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. Subcommittee on Employee Political Rights and Intergovernmental Programs. Federal Employees’ Political Activities Act of 1975. Hearings, 9uth Congress, 1st session. Washington, 0.5. Govt. Print. Off., 1975. 711 p. ‘ Hearings held on Mar. 25; Apr. 8, 9, 19, 1975 (Part I); and Apr. 1h, 15, 19; Hay 2, 3; and June 13, 1975 (Part II). 0.5. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Legislation to amend the Hatch Act. Hearings, 95th Congress, 1st session, on S. 80, S. 980, and H.R. 10. Washington, 0.5. Govt. Print. Off., 1977. 558 p. Hearings held July 18, 19; and Sept. 22 and 26, 1977. 0.5. Congress. Senate. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. Federal Employees‘ Political Activities. Hearings, 94th Congress, 1st session, on S. 372 and H.R. 8617. Washington, 0.5. Govt. Print. Off., 1975. #16 p. Hearings held Nov. 5 and 6, 1975. ----- Hatch Act. Hearings, 92d Congress, 2d session, on S. 337fl and S. 3017. Washington, 0.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1972. 278 p. Hearings held on Apr. 26, 27, and 28, 1972. 3213935-53.1>.;s9§§.1:1z.§§192uL_129§9..n§2I.2§ Federal Employees’ Political Activities Act of 1975. [Debate and vote in the House] Congressional record [daily ed.] v. 121, Oct. 21, 1975: H10121-H10162. Federal Employees‘ Political Activities Act of 1975. [Debate and vote in the Senate] Congressional record [daily ed.] v. 122, pnar. 9, 1976: S2987-S3108; Mar. 10, 1976: S3179—S3207; and Mar. 11, 1976: S3213-S3259. 0.5. Congress. Conference Committees, 1976. Federal Employees‘ Political Activities Act; conference report to accompany H.R. 8617. Washington, 0.5. Govt. Print. Off., 1976. 10 p. (9nth Congress, 2d session. House. Report no. 94-9&3) 0.5. Congress. House. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. CRS- 6 IB75071 UPDATE-06/24/80 Federal Employees‘ Political Activities Act of 1977; report together with additional and minority views to accompany H.R 10. (95th Congress, 1st session. U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1977. 86 p. House. Report no. 95-292). Washington, ----- Federal Employees‘ Political Activities Act of 1975; report together with minority, additional, and separate views to accompany H.R. 8617. 70 U.S. P. Congress. 0.5. Govt. House. Print. Off., 1975. Report no . 9'-I-I-ll-Ill) Washingto, (9tIth Congress, 1st session. senate. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. Documentary background to the Federal Employees‘ Political Activities Act of 1975. At head of title: NOV print. U.S Senate . 1975. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 242 p. 9uth Congress, 1st session. Committee Federal Employees‘ Political Activities Act of 1975; report together with minority views to accompany H.R. 8617. Govt . Pr int. Washington, Off., 1975. 1st session. Report no. 94-512) H9 p. (9flth Congress, OTHER CONGRESSION AI. ACTION 09/07/78 07/19/73 02/26/78 07/18/77 06/07/77 05/18/77 During House floor debate on H.R. 11280, Title IX was ruled non-germane and was stricken from the bill. The ruling was based on the fact that Title IX would have added two entirely new classes of employees (postal workers and District of Columbia employees) to the bill. The House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service amended H.R. 11280 (Civil Service Reform Act of 1978) by adding Title IX (Political Activities), which is virtually identical to H;R. 10, and then ordered the bill reported by a vote of 18 to 7. During its mid—winter conference in Bal Harbour, Florida, the AFLrCIO's executive council issued an official policy statement calling upon the Congress to revise the Hatch Act to allow federal employees to engage in political activities. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee began hearings on H.R. 10, S. 80, and S. 980. The House resumed debatelon H.R. 10 and, following passage of some and rejection of other amendments, approved the bill as amended by a vote of 244-164. The House debated H.R. 10 for several hours, but the bill was withdrawn from the floorprior to a final vote, O5/12/77 OH/27/77 on/2o/77 03/22/77 02/23/77 01/10/77 01/04/77 07/13/76 04/29/76 04/12/76 03/31/76. 03/30/76 03/23/76 03/15/76 03/11/76 cns- 7 1375071 UPDATE-06/2a/do following the unexpected approval of the Ashbrook amendment containing a broadly worded prohibition on using union funds for political purposes. House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service filed report on H.R. 10 (H.Rept. 95-292). House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service voted 18-7 to report H.R. 10, as amended, to full House. House Subcommittee on Civil Service completed markup of H.R. 10 and reported the bill, as amended, to the full Committee. President Carter, in his message to the Congress concerning reforms in the electoral system, stated that his "fifth and final recommendation concerns the political rights of federal employees.... I favor revising the Hatch Act to free those federal employees not in sensitive positions from these restrictions...." The House Subcommittee on Civil Service began hearings on H.R. 10. S. 80 was introduced by Sen. Burdick. H.R. 10 was introduced by Rep. Clay. Delegates at the Democratic National Convention debated and endorsed on the floor a minority report from the platform committee (the only minority plank so approved) calling for legislation to revise the Hatch Act. The House attempted to override the veto of H.R. 8617, but the vote of 2fl3—160 fell 26 votes short of the two—thirds need ed . President Ford vetoed H.R. 8617. The Senate ageed to the Conference Report on H.R. 8617 by a vote of 50.-36. The House agreed to the Conference Report on H.R. 8617 by a vote of 2H1-16u. The Conference Committee filed its report on H.R. 8617 (H. Rept. 9u—9u3). The House disagreed to Senate amendments to H.R. 8617, but agreed to a conference, and conferees were appointed. The Senate insisted on its amendments to H.R. 8617, but requested a conference, and conferees were appointed. The Senate concluded debate and passed H.R. 8617, with amendments, by a vote of 47-32. H 11/19/75 11/05/75 10/21/75 09/23/75 07/24/75 07/14/75 03/25/75 02/06/75 01/23/75 10/15/74 10/08/74 Bolton, John R. DDlIlQEAL-B§E§B§H§E_§9EB§ES CRS- 8 IB7 5071 UPDATE-0 6/24/80 H.R. 8617, with amendments, was reported by the Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. The Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service began hearings on S. 372 and H.R. 8617. The House debated and passed H.R. 8617, with amendments, by a vote of 288-119. The House Committee on Rules reported H.Res. 731 (H.Rept. 94-501), providing for consideration of H.R. 8617. The House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service reported H.R. 8617, as amended. The Subcommittee on Employee Political Rights and Intergovernmental Programs reported a clean bill, H.R. 8617, which was introduced in the House by Representative Clay. The Subcommittee on Employee Political Rights and Intergovernmental Relations of the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service began hearings on H.R. 3000. H.R. 3000 was introduced by Representative Clay. S. 372 was introduced by Senator McGee. The Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974 were enacted as P.L. 93-443. Sec. 401 of Title IV lifts most of the restrictions on political activities of state and local government employees who are paid with federal monies, hence subject to the Hatch Act, effective Jan. 1, 1975. H.Res. 988, the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, were approved. Beginning with the 94th Congress, jurisdiction over all Hatch Act related legislation in the House was transferred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. I The Hatch Act: A civi1.libertarian defense. Washington, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1976. Controversy over permitting greater political activity by Federal employees: December,1977: Jones, Martin, Philip L. Public administration review, Charles 0. Commission on Political Activity of Government Personnel. administration review, v. 29, Pro and con. Congressional digest, v. 56, 289-314 [entire issue]. Reevaluating the Hatch Act: A report on the Public Hay/June 1969: 249-254. The Hatch Act in court: v. 33, Sept./Oct. Some recent developments. 1973: 443-447. Rosenbloom, David H. (1.5. Vaughn, Robert G. CRs- 9 IB75071 UPDATE-O6/2H/80 service and the Constitution: employee relationship. Ithaca, Cornell 267 p. Federal Development of the public University press [C1971] Commission on Political Activity of Government Personnel. Findings and recommendations (v. 1 of Commission's report). Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off. [1968] 73 p. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. The. Hatch Act proscription against participation by State and Federal employees in political management and political campaigns: a legislative history [by] Elizabeth Yadlosky and David Bird; [updated] by Patricia Fiori. [Washington] Feb. 5, 1975. 71 uultilith 75-31.A P. Restrictions on the political activities of public employees: the Hatch Act and beyond. George Washington law review, v. 44, Hay 1976: 516-553. L LIBRARY OF 1 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY L ST. LOUEIS - MO.