What This Bill Does
This bill changes how federal agencies can reward employees who identify wasted money. It increases the maximum cash award agencies can give to employees and expands the types of wasteful spending that qualify for these awards.
Who It Affects
Federal agency employees who report wasteful spending. Chiefs Financial Officers of federal agencies. Agency heads. The Office of Personnel Management. Congress. The Comptroller General of the United States.
Key Provisions
* Federal agencies can now pay cash awards to employees who identify wasteful expenses to the agency's Chief Financial Officer if it results in cost savings (Sec. 2(b)).
* The maximum cash award an agency can pay increases from $10,000 to $20,000 (Sec. 2(b)).
* "Wasteful expenses" means money in salary, operations, or similar accounts that an employee reports and the Chief Financial Officer determines are not needed (Sec. 2(a)).
* When wasteful expenses are identified, the agency head must notify the President to propose rescinding (canceling) those expenses through a specific congressional budget process (Sec. 2(b)).
* The Director of the Office of Personnel Management must certify each year that all agency cash award programs follow this law (Sec. 2(b)).
What Changes
Agencies gain new authority to reward employees for identifying wasteful spending. The reward limit doubles from $10,000 to $20,000. Agencies must report wasteful spending disclosures to the President for potential budget rescission. The Office of Personnel Management must monitor compliance and report annually to Congress.
Important Definitions
"Wasteful expenses" means money set aside for salaries, operations, or similar accounts that an employee identifies as wasteful and the Chief Financial Officer determines is not actually needed for its intended purpose.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 249
To amend title 5, United States Code, to enhance the authority under which
Federal agencies may pay cash awards to employees for making cost
saving disclosures, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 10, 2023
Mr. FLEISCHMANN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to enhance the author-
ity under which Federal agencies may pay cash awards
to employees for making cost saving disclosures, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bonuses for Cost-Cut-
4
ters Act of 2023’’.
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SEC. 2. COST SAVINGS ENHANCEMENTS.
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(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 4511 of title 5, United
7
States Code, is amended—
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•HR 249 IH
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘Defi-
1
nition’’ and inserting ‘‘Definitions’’; and
2
(2) in subsection (a)—
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(A) by striking the period at the end and
4
inserting ‘‘; and’’;
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(B) by striking ‘‘this subchapter, the
6
term’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘this sub-
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chapter—
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‘‘(1) the term’’; and
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(C) by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘(2) the term ‘wasteful expenses’ means
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amounts made available for salaries and expenses
12
accounts, operations and maintenance accounts, or
13
other equivalent accounts—
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‘‘(A) that are identified by an employee of
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the agency under section 4512(a) as wasteful;
16
and
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‘‘(B) that the Chief Financial Officer of
18
the agency determines are not required for the
19
purpose for which the amounts were made
20
available.’’.
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(b) AUTHORITY.—Section 4512 of title 5, United
22
States Code, is amended—
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(1) in subsection (a)—
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•HR 249 IH
(A) by inserting ‘‘The head of an agency
1
may pay a cash award to any employee of such
2
agency whose identification of wasteful expenses
3
to the Chief Financial Officer of the agency has
4
resulted in cost savings for the agency.’’ after
5
the first sentence;
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(B)
in
paragraph
(1)
by
striking
7
‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000’’;
8
(C) in paragraph (2)—
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(i) by inserting ‘‘Chief Financial Offi-
10
cer,’’ after ‘‘Inspector General,’’;
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(ii) by striking ‘‘employee designated
12
under subsection (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘des-
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ignated employee’’; and
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(iii) by inserting ‘‘or identification’’
15
after ‘‘disclosure’’; and
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(D) in the matter following paragraph
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(2)—
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(i) by inserting ‘‘, Chief Financial Of-
19
ficer,’’ after ‘‘Inspector General’’; and
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(ii) by inserting ‘‘or identification’’
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after ‘‘disclosure’’;
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(2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘awards per-
23
mitted under this section’’ and inserting ‘‘awards for
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•HR 249 IH
the disclosure of fraud, waste, or mismanagement
1
under this section’’; and
2
(3) by adding at the end the following:
3
‘‘(c)(1) If the Chief Financial Officer of the agency
4
determines that potential wasteful expenses identified by
5
an
employee
meet
the
requirements
of
section
6
4511(a)(2)(B), the head of the agency shall notify the
7
President for purposes of proposing the expenses for re-
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scission under title X of the Congressional Budget and
9
Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.).
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‘‘(2) In the case of an agency for which there is no
11
Chief Financial Officer, the head of the agency shall des-
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ignate an agency employee who shall have the authority
13
to make the determinations for identification of wasteful
14
expenses under this section.
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‘‘(d) The head of each agency shall make available,
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along with, and in the same manner and form as, the pro-
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vision of information required under section 1116 of title
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31, information on disclosures of wasteful expenses under
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this section, including—
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‘‘(1) a description of each disclosure of possible
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wasteful expenses identified by an employee and de-
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termined by the agency to have merit; and
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‘‘(2) the number and amount of cash awards
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provided by the agency under subsection (a).
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•HR 249 IH
‘‘(e) An individual may not receive a cash award
1
under this subchapter if the individual is—
2
‘‘(1) an officer or employee of the Office of the
3
Inspector General of an agency; or
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‘‘(2) ineligible for a cash award under section
5
4509.
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‘‘(f) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage-
7
ment shall—
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‘‘(1) ensure that the cash award program of
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each agency complies with this section; and
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‘‘(2) submit to Congress an annual certification
11
indicating whether the cash award program of each
12
agency complies with this section.
13
‘‘(g) Not later than 3 years after the date of enact-
14
ment of the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2023, and
15
every 3 years thereafter for 6 years, the Comptroller Gen-
16
eral of the United States shall submit to Congress a report
17
on the operation of the cost savings and awards program
18
under this section, including any recommendations for leg-
19
islative changes.’’.
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(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—
21
The table of sections for subchapter II of chapter 45 of
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title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking the
23
item relating to section 4511 and inserting the following:
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‘‘4511. Definitions and general provisions.’’.
Æ
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