Pay Workers What They've Earned Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1016 To amend title 31, United States Code, to reimburse employees of the Federal Government and the District of Columbia, Federal contractors, and the States for certain costs incurred as a result of a Government shutdown, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 6, 2019 Mr. HORSFORD (for himself and Mr. CASTEN of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To amend title 31, United States Code, to reimburse employ- ees of the Federal Government and the District of Co- lumbia, Federal contractors, and the States for certain costs incurred as a result of a Government shutdown, 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 ‘‘Pay Workers What 4 They’ve Earned Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1016.IH H1016 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1016 IH SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED BY 1 GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS. 2 Section 1341 of title 31, United States Code, as 3 amended by the Government Employee Fair Treatment 4 Act of 2019, is further amended by adding at the end the 5 following: 6 ‘‘(d)(1) In this subsection— 7 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered employee’ means— 8 ‘‘(i) any employee of the United States 9 Government or of a District of Columbia public 10 employer furloughed as a result of a covered 11 lapse in appropriations; 12 ‘‘(ii) any excepted employee who is re- 13 quired to perform work during such lapse; and 14 ‘‘(iii) any contractor with the Federal Gov- 15 ernment (or an employee of such contractor) 16 placed on unpaid leave as a result of such lapse; 17 ‘‘(B) the term ‘shutdown cost’ means any cost 18 incurred by a covered employee as a direct result of 19 a covered lapse in appropriations, including expenses 20 for loans and credit cards, and any fees, fine, or in- 21 terest resulting from the employees inability to make 22 payments as a direct result of a loss in salary due 23 to such lapse; 24 ‘‘(C) the terms ‘covered lapse in appropria- 25 tions’, ‘District of Columbia public employer’, ‘em- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1016.IH H1016 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1016 IH ployee’, and ‘excepted employee’ have the meaning 1 given those terms in subsection (c); and 2 ‘‘(D) the term ‘State’ means any of the 50 3 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 4 of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American 5 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 6 Islands, and any territory or possession of the 7 United States, and includes Indian Tribes. 8 ‘‘(2)(A) With respect to the covered lapse in appro- 9 priations beginning on or about December 22, 2018, each 10 covered employee shall be paid for any shutdown cost at 11 the earliest date possible after the date of enactment of 12 this subsection, and subject to the enactment of appropria- 13 tions Acts ending the lapse. 14 ‘‘(B) With respect to any other covered lapse in ap- 15 propriations of a duration of 14 days or longer, any cov- 16 ered employee shall, subject to the availability of appro- 17 priations, be paid for any shutdown cost at the earliest 18 date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends. 19 ‘‘(3)(A) Any State that makes an expenditure of 20 State funds for payments for assistance programs that 21 would be, but for a covered lapse in appropriations of a 22 duration of 14 days or longer (including the lapse de- 23 scribed in subparagraph (A)), provided by the Federal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1016.IH H1016 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1016 IH Government shall be reimbursed for such payments not 1 later than 90 days after the lapse in appropriations ends. 2 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to any State ex- 3 penditure with respect to which reimbursement is provided 4 by the Federal Government under any other provision of 5 law, including unemployment compensation. 6 ‘‘(4)(A) In order to receive reimbursement under 7 paragraph (2) or (3), a covered employee or State (as the 8 case may be) shall submit an application to the Secretary 9 of the Treasury, in such form and manner as the Sec- 10 retary deems appropriate, not later than 1 year after the 11 applicable lapse in appropriations ends. 12 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall determine what documenta- 13 tion shall be included with such an application to verify 14 the shutdown costs or expenditure submitted by a covered 15 employee or a State, respectively. 16 ‘‘(C) Upon approval by the Secretary, reimbursement 17 shall be provided to the covered employee or State, con- 18 sistent with the requirements of this subsection. 19 ‘‘(5)(A) There is established in the general fund of 20 the Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘Reserve Fund 21 for Employees Affected By Government Shutdowns’ (in 22 this paragraph referred to as the ‘Fund’), which shall con- 23 sist of amounts appropriated into the Fund after the date 24 of enactment of this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1016.IH H1016 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1016 IH ‘‘(B) Subject to the availability of appropriations, 1 amounts in the Fund shall be available for purposes of 2 paying the shutdown costs of any covered employee during 3 a covered lapse in appropriations beginning after the lapse 4 referred to in paragraph (2)(A).’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1016.IH H1016 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS