Stop Improper Federal Bonuses Act

II Calendar No. 273 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2119 [Report No. 116–152] To amend title 5, United States Code, to appropriately limit the authority to award bonuses to Federal employees. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 15, 2019 Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs OCTOBER 24, 2019 Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, without amendment A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to appropriately limit the authority to award bonuses to Federal employees. 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 ‘‘Stop Improper Federal 4 Bonuses Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2119.RS S2119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2119 RS SEC. 2. BONUSES. 1 (a) ADVERSE FINDINGS AND EMPLOYEES UNDER IN- 2 VESTIGATION.—Chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, 3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘Subchapter IV—Limitations on Bonus 5 Authority 6 ‘‘§ 4531. Certain forms of misconduct 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) ADVERSE FINDING.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘adverse 10 finding’ means a determination by the head of 11 the agency employing an employee that the con- 12 duct of the employee— 13 ‘‘(i) violated a policy of the agency for 14 which the employee may be removed or 15 suspended for a period of not less than 14 16 days; or 17 ‘‘(ii) violated a law for which the em- 18 ployee may be imprisoned for more than 1 19 year. 20 ‘‘(B) BASIS.—A determination described in 21 subparagraph (A) may be based on an inves- 22 tigation by, a determination of, or information 23 provided by the Inspector General or another 24 senior ethics official of an agency or the Comp- 25 troller General of the United States, as part of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2119.RS S2119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2119 RS carrying out an activity, authority, or function 1 of the Inspector General, senior ethics official, 2 or Comptroller General, respectively, under a 3 provision of law other than this section. 4 ‘‘(2) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ has the 5 meaning given the term in section 551. 6 ‘‘(3) BONUS.—The term ‘bonus’ means any 7 performance award or cash award under— 8 ‘‘(A) section 4505a; 9 ‘‘(B) section 5384; or 10 ‘‘(C) section 5754. 11 ‘‘(4) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’ means 12 an employee of an agency. 13 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—The head of an agency may not 14 award a bonus to an employee of the agency until the date 15 that is 5 years after the end of the fiscal year during which 16 the head of an agency makes an adverse finding relating 17 to the employee. 18 ‘‘(c) AFTER BONUS AWARDED.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For a bonus awarded to an 20 employee after the date of enactment of this section, 21 if the head of the agency employing the employee 22 makes an adverse finding relating to the employee 23 during the fiscal year in which the bonus is awarded, 24 the head of the agency, after notice and an oppor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2119.RS S2119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2119 RS tunity for a hearing, shall issue an order directing 1 the employee to repay the amount of the bonus. 2 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT PLAN.—An agency shall allow 3 an employee who is required to repay a bonus under 4 paragraph (1) to repay that bonus using a repay- 5 ment plan. 6 ‘‘(3) HEARINGS.—A hearing under this sub- 7 section shall be conducted in accordance with regula- 8 tions relating to hearings promulgated by the head 9 of the agency under chapter 75. 10 ‘‘(d) CONDITION OF RECEIPT.—As a condition of re- 11 ceiving a bonus awarded after the date of enactment of 12 this section, an employee shall sign a certification stating 13 that the employee shall repay the bonus in accordance with 14 a final order issued under subsection (c). 15 ‘‘(e) APPEAL.—An employee determined to be ineli- 16 gible for a bonus under subsection (b) or against whom 17 an order is issued under subsection (c) may submit an 18 appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board under sec- 19 tion 7701.’’. 20 (b) RULEMAKING.—The head of each agency, as de- 21 fined in section 551 of title 5, United States Code, may 22 promulgate rules to carry out section 4531 of title 5, 23 United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2119.RS S2119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2119 RS (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 1 The table of sections for chapter 45 of title 5, United 2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—LIMITATIONS ON BONUS AUTHORITY ‘‘4531. Certain forms of misconduct.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2119.RS S2119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 273 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2119 [Report No. 116–152] A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to appro- priately limit the authority to award bonuses to Federal employees. OCTOBER 24, 2019 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S2119.RS S2119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS