§ 76k — Powers Of Board

(a) The Board is authorized to solicit and accept for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution, and to hold and administer gifts, bequests, or devises of money, securities, or other property of whatsoever character for the benefit of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Unless otherwise restricted by the terms of the gift, bequest, or devise, the Board is authorized to sell or exchange and to invest or reinvest in such investments as it may determine from time to time the moneys, securities, or other property composing trust funds given, bequeathed, or devised to or for the benefit of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The income as and when collected shall be placed in such depositaries as the Board shall determine and shall be subject to expenditure by the Board. (1) The Board shall appoint and fix the compensation and duties of a Chairperson of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, who shall serve as the chief executive officer of the Center, and a Secretary of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Chairperson and Secretary shall be well qualified by experience and training to perform the duties of their respective offices. (2) The Chairperson of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts may appoint— (A) a senior level executive who, by virtue of the background of the individual, shall be well suited to be responsible for facilities management and services and who may, without regard to the provisions of title 5, be appointed and compensated with appropriated funds, except that the compensation may not exceed the maximum rate of pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5; and (B) such other officers and employees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as may be necessary for the efficient administration of the functions of the Board. (c) Not later than October 1, 1995, the property, liabilities, contracts, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds employed, held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made available in connection with the functions transferred from the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the amendments made by the John F. Kennedy Center Act Amendments of 1994 shall be transferred, subject to section 1531 of title 31, to the Board as the Board and the Secretary of the Interior may determine appropriate. Unexpended funds transferred pursuant to this subsection shall be used only for the purposes for which, and subject to the terms under which, the funds were originally authorized and appropriated. (1) Employees of the National Park Service assigned to duties related to the functions being undertaken by the Board shall be transferred with their functions to the Board not later than October 1, 1995. (2) Transferred employees shall remain in the Federal competitive service and retain all rights and benefits provided under title 5. For a period of not less than 3 years after the date of transfer of an employee under paragraph (1), the transferred employee shall retain the right of priority consideration under merit promotion procedures or lateral reassignment for all vacancies within the Department of the Interior. (3) All United States Park Police and Park Police guard force employees assigned to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts shall remain employees of the National Park Service. (4) All usual and customary costs associated with any adverse action or grievance proceeding resulting from the transfer of functions under this section that are incurred before October 1, 1995, shall be paid from funds appropriated to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (5) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the Board from reorganizing functions at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in accordance with laws governing reorganizations. (e) The actions of the Board relating to performing arts and to payments made or directed to be made by the Board from any trust funds shall not be subject to review by any officer or agency other than a court of law. (1) As used in this subsection, the term “theatrical employee” means a nonappropriated fund employee of the Board, who is engaged in a box office, performing, or theatrical trade that is the subject of a collective bargaining agreement as of January 1, 1994, including any change in the trade as a result of a technological advance. (A) For the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and the Labor-Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 141 et seq.)— (i) each theatrical employee shall be considered to be an “employee” within the meaning of section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(3)); and (ii) with respect to a theatrical employee, the Board shall be considered to be an “employer” within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(2)). (B) With respect to each theatrical employee, the theatrical employee and the Board shall have all of the rights and obligations specified in such Acts. (g) Subject to approval of the Secretary of the Interior under section 76j(a)(2)(F) of this title, the Board shall develop plans and carry out projects to improve pedestrian and vehicular access to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.