VET Protection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3995 To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit an annual report to Congress relating to the use of official time by employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to limit the instances in which official time may be granted for certain purposes to employees of the Department, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. ARRINGTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Over- sight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to submit an annual report to Congress relating to the use of official time by employ- ees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to limit the instances in which official time may be granted for cer- tain purposes to employees of the Department, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3995 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans, Employees, 2 and Taxpayers Protection Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘VET Pro- 3 tection Act of 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. LABOR MANAGEMENT IN DEPARTMENT OF VET- 5 ERANS AFFAIRS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 38, United 7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing new subchapter: 9 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—LABOR MANAGEMENT 10 ‘‘§ 751. Records on use of official time 11 ‘‘(a) TRACKING OF OFFICIAL TIME.—The Secretary 12 shall track the use of official time by employees of the 13 Department of Veterans Affairs in a manner that accounts 14 for such time accurately and to a specific degree without 15 the use of estimates or ranges of time. 16 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—(1) Not later than Decem- 17 ber 31 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to the Of- 18 fice of Personnel Management and the Committees on 19 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 20 Senate a report on the use of official time by employees 21 of the Department during the most recently ended fiscal 22 year. 23 ‘‘(2) Each report under paragraph (1) shall include, 24 with respect to the fiscal year covered by the report, the 25 following information: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3995 IH ‘‘(A) The total amount of official time granted 1 to employees. 2 ‘‘(B) The total amount of official time expended 3 and the amount of official time expended per em- 4 ployee for term negotiations, mid-term negotiations, 5 general labor-management relations, and dispute 6 resolution. 7 ‘‘(C) The specific types of activities or purposes 8 for which official time was granted, and the impact 9 which the granting of such official time for such ac- 10 tivities or purposes had on the operations of the De- 11 partment. 12 ‘‘(D) The total number of employees to whom 13 official time was granted, and, of that total, the 14 number who were not engaged in any activities or 15 purposes except activities or purposes involving the 16 use of official time. 17 ‘‘(E) The total annual salary, job title, and 18 amount of official time afforded to any employee. 19 ‘‘(F) A description of any room or space des- 20 ignated at the Department where official time activi- 21 ties will be conducted, including the square footage 22 of any such room or space. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3995 IH ‘‘(G) A list of any employee granted a waiver 1 under section 752(d) and justification for each such 2 waiver. 3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF OFFICIAL TIME.—For purposes 4 of this section, the term ‘official time’ means any period 5 of time— 6 ‘‘(1) which may be granted to an employee 7 under chapter 71 of title 5 (including a collective 8 bargaining agreement entered into under such chap- 9 ter) or chapter 74 of this title to perform represen- 10 tational or consultative functions; and 11 ‘‘(2) during which the employee would otherwise 12 be in a duty status. 13 ‘‘§ 752. Limitations on use of official time for certain 14 purposes and individuals 15 ‘‘(a) POLITICAL ACTIVITIES AND LOBBYING.—Not- 16 withstanding section 7131 of title 5 or any other provision 17 of law, any employee of the Department may not use offi- 18 cial time to carry out political activities or activities relat- 19 ing to lobbying. 20 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON USE OF OFFICIAL TIME BY 21 CERTAIN EMPLOYEES.—The following employees of the 22 Department may not use official time for any purpose: 23 ‘‘(1) Any employee appointed under section 24 7401(1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3995 IH ‘‘(2) Any employee with an annual rate of basic 1 pay equal to or greater than $100,000. 2 ‘‘(3) Any employee who is serving a proba- 3 tionary period. 4 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON ALL EMPLOYEES.—Any em- 5 ployee of the Department not covered by subsection (b) 6 may spend no more than 25 percent of the time such em- 7 ployee would otherwise be in a duty status on official time. 8 ‘‘(d) WAIVER.—(1) The Secretary may waive the re- 9 quirements of subsection (b) or (c) with respect to an em- 10 ployee of the Department if the Secretary certifies, in writ- 11 ing, that the waiver is reasonable, necessary, and in the 12 best interests of veterans. 13 ‘‘(2) The authority provided to the Secretary under 14 this subsection shall not be subject to bargaining under 15 this title or chapter 71 of title 5, and the exercise of, or 16 failure to exercise, such authority shall not be an unfair 17 labor practice under this title or such chapter. 18 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF OFFICIAL TIME.—For purposes 19 of this section, the term ‘official time’ has the meaning 20 given that term in section 751(c). 21 ‘‘§ 753. Termination of collection of dues 22 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 7115 of title 5, any exclu- 23 sive bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to chap- 24 ter 71 of such title by the Department shall provide that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3995 IH an employee of the Department may terminate a voluntary 1 allotment for the payment of dues at any time. Any deduc- 2 tions for dues made pursuant to such allotment shall cease 3 beginning on the first pay period after the termination is 4 made.’’. 5 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Sections 752 and 753 of title 6 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall 7 apply with respect to any collective bargaining agreement 8 entered into before, on, or after the date of enactment of 9 this Act. 10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 11 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 12 at the end the following: 13 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—LABOR MANAGEMENT ‘‘751. Records on use of official time. ‘‘752. Limitations on use of official time for certain purposes and individuals. ‘‘753. Termination of collection of dues.’’. SEC. 3. REQUIRED PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR NEW EM- 14 PLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 15 FAIRS. 16 (a) PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 38, United 18 States Code, is further amended by inserting after 19 section 715 the following new section: 20 ‘‘§ 716. Probationary period for employees 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections 3321 22 and 3393(d) of title 5, the appointment of a covered em- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3995 IH ployee shall become final only after such employee has 1 served a probationary period of 2 years. 2 ‘‘(b) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—In this section, the term 3 ‘covered employee’— 4 ‘‘(1) means any individual— 5 ‘‘(A) appointed to a permanent position 6 within the competitive service at the Depart- 7 ment; or 8 ‘‘(B) appointed as a career appointee (as 9 that term is defined in section 3132(a)(4) of 10 title 5) within the Senior Executive Service at 11 the Department; and 12 ‘‘(2) does not include any individual with a pro- 13 bationary period prescribed by section 7403 of this 14 title. 15 ‘‘(c) PERMANENT HIRES.—Not later than 90 days 16 before the expiration of a covered employee’s probationary 17 period under subsection (a), the supervisor of the em- 18 ployee shall determine whether the appointment becomes 19 final based on regulations prescribed for such purpose by 20 the Secretary. 21 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—With respect to any individual 22 described in subsection (b)(1)(A) and to whom this section 23 applies, sections 7501(1) and 7511(a)(1)(A)(ii) of title 5 24 shall be applied to such individual by substituting ‘com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3995 IH pleted 2 years’ for ‘completed 1 year’ in each instance it 1 appears.’’. 2 (2) CLERICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 3 MENTS.— 4 (A) CLERICAL.—The table of sections at 5 the beginning of such chapter, as amended by 6 section 2, is further amended by inserting after 7 the item relating to section 715 the following 8 new item: 9 ‘‘716. Probationary period for employees.’’. (B) CONFORMING.—Title 5, United States 10 Code, is amended— 11 (i) in section 3321(c)— 12 (I) by striking ‘‘Service, or’’ and 13 inserting ‘‘Service,’’; and 14 (II) by inserting at the end be- 15 fore the period the following: ‘‘, or 16 any individual covered by section 716 17 of title 38’’; 18 (ii) in section 3393(d), by inserting at 19 the end before the period the following: ‘‘or 20 section 716 of title 38’’; 21 (iii) in sections 7501(1) and 22 7511(a)(1)(A)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or section 23 716 of title 38’’ after ‘‘title 10’’ in each in- 24 stance it appears; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3995 IH (iv) in section 7541(1)(A)— 1 (I) by striking ‘‘title or’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘title,’’; and 3 (II) by inserting at the end be- 4 fore the semicolon the following: ‘‘, or 5 section 716 of title 38’’. 6 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 716 of title 38, United 7 States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1), shall apply 8 to any covered employee (as that term is defined in sub- 9 section (b) of such section 716, as so added) appointed 10 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS