The House passed on Wednesday a bill that would give NASA additional powers to hire and retain people. The NASA Work Force Flexibility Act of 2003 (HR1085 and S.610) gives NASA the ability to give better pay and other benefits to critical employees and also create a “scholarship for service” program to financial aid to college students in exchange for working at NASA after graduation. (I suspect this could be a very popular program.) The bill wasn’t terribly controversial: it passed the House on a voice vote, and the Senate approved it in November by unanimous consent.
