Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-102

§4701 Congressional Findings and Declaration of Policy

Title 42 › CHAPTER 62 — INTERGOVERNMENTAL PERSONNEL PROGRAM › § 4701

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Federal government provides money and technical help to state and local governments so they can run better public services by improving how they manage employees. The goal is stronger state and local institutions that work well in a complicated, connected nation. The help follows six merit principles: hire and promote people for their ability and consider qualified applicants openly; pay people fairly; train workers so they do quality work; keep or remove employees based on proper performance and try to fix problems first; treat applicants and workers fairly regardless of political views, race, color, national origin, sex, or religious beliefs and respect their privacy and rights; and protect employees from political pressure and stop officials from using their power to affect elections or nominations. Federal aid to support these steps is in the national interest.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §4701

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Congress hereby finds and declares— That effective State and local governmental institutions are essential in the maintenance and development of the Federal system in an increasingly complex and interdependent society. That, since numerous governmental activities administered by the State and local governments are related to national purpose and are financed in part by Federal funds, a national interest exists in a high caliber of public service in State and local governments. That the quality of public service at all levels of government can be improved by the development of systems of personnel administration consistent with such merit principles as— (1) recruiting, selecting, and advancing employees on the basis of their relative ability, knowledge, and skills, including open consideration of qualified applicants for initial appointment; (2) providing equitable and adequate compensation; (3) training employees, as needed, to assure high-quality performance; (4) retaining employees on the basis of the adequacy of their performance, correcting inadequate performance, and separating employees whose inadequate performance cannot be corrected; (5) assuring fair treatment of applicants and employees in all aspects of personnel administration without regard to political affiliation, race, color, national origin, sex, or religious creed and with proper regard for their privacy and constitutional rights as citizens; and (6) assuring that employees are protected against coercion for partisan political purposes and are prohibited from using their official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for office. That Federal financial and technical assistance to State and local governments for strengthening their personnel administration in a manner consistent with these principles is in the national interest.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 91–648, § 1, Jan. 5, 1971, 84 Stat. 1909, provided: “That this Act [enacting this chapter and sections 3371 to 3376 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, amending section 246(f) of this title, section 1304 of Title 5, repealing sections 1881 to 1888 of Title 7, Agriculture, and section 869b of Title 20, Education, and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 3371 of Title 5] may be cited as the ‘Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970’.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 4701

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102