HIRE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2672 To require that the headquarters of certain Federal agencies and permanent duty stations of employees of certain Federal agencies be relocated in order to provide an opportunity to build needed infrastructure in certain areas and to share the benefits of Federal employment with economically distressed regions. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mr. HAWLEY (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To require that the headquarters of certain Federal agencies and permanent duty stations of employees of certain Federal agencies be relocated in order to provide an opportunity to build needed infrastructure in certain areas and to share the benefits of Federal employment with economically distressed regions. 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 ‘‘Helping Infrastructure 4 Restore the Economy Act’’ or the ‘‘HIRE Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2672 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Infrastructure is vital to the economy. 3 (2) Many areas in the United States have fallen 4 into economic distress. 5 (3) The benefits of Federal employment should 6 be shared widely and should not be concentrated in 7 the Washington metropolitan area. 8 (4) Moving the headquarters of Federal agen- 9 cies and the covered permanent duty stations of em- 10 ployees of Federal agencies out of the Washington 11 metropolitan area and to economically distressed re- 12 gions would provide an opportunity to— 13 (A) build infrastructure in areas of the 14 United States that need the infrastructure; and 15 (B) share employment and other financial 16 benefits of Federal employment with individuals 17 who live in economically distressed regions. 18 (5) Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, 19 New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, 20 Tennessee, and West Virginia are among the States 21 with regions that have experienced substantial eco- 22 nomic distress during the past 10 years. 23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 24 In this Act: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2672 IS (1) 2020 CENSUS.—The term ‘‘2020 census’’ 1 means the 2020 decennial census of population car- 2 ried out by the Secretary of Commerce under section 3 141 of title 13, United States Code. 4 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 5 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv- 6 ices. 7 (3) CABINET AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Cabinet 8 agency’’ means— 9 (A) the Department of Agriculture; 10 (B) the Department of Commerce; 11 (C) the Department of Education; 12 (D) the Department of Energy; 13 (E) the Department of Health and Human 14 Services; 15 (F) the Department of Housing and Urban 16 Development; 17 (G) the Department of the Interior; 18 (H) the Department of Labor; 19 (I) the Department of Transportation; and 20 (J) the Department of Veterans Affairs. 21 (4) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 22 agency’’ means— 23 (A) a Cabinet agency; or 24 (B) a non-Cabinet agency. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2672 IS (5) COVERED PERMANENT DUTY STATION.— 1 The term ‘‘covered permanent duty station’’ means, 2 with respect to employees of a covered agency, the 3 permanent duty station described in section 6(a)(2). 4 (6) DESIGNATED STATE.—The term ‘‘des- 5 ignated State’’ means— 6 (A) with respect to the Department of Ag- 7 riculture, Missouri; 8 (B) with respect to the Department of 9 Commerce, Pennsylvania; 10 (C) with respect to the Department of 11 Education, Tennessee; 12 (D) with respect to the Department of En- 13 ergy, Kentucky; 14 (E) with respect to the Department of 15 Health and Human Services, Indiana; 16 (F) with respect to the Department of 17 Housing and Urban Development, Ohio; 18 (G) with respect to the Department of the 19 Interior, New Mexico; 20 (H) with respect to the Department of 21 Labor, West Virginia; 22 (I) with respect to the Department of 23 Transportation, Michigan; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2672 IS (J) with respect to the Department of Vet- 1 erans Affairs, South Carolina; and 2 (K) with respect to a non-Cabinet agency, 3 a State that has a geographical or industrial 4 nexus to one or more of the principal subjects 5 regulated or studied by the non-Cabinet agency. 6 (7) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 7 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg- 8 et. 9 (8) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 10 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 11 105 of title 5, United States Code. 12 (9) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Ex- 13 ecutive department’’ has the meaning given the term 14 in section 101 of title 5, United States Code. 15 (10) HEADQUARTERS.—The term ‘‘head- 16 quarters’’— 17 (A) means the place or building serving as 18 the managerial and administrative center of a 19 covered agency; and 20 (B) does not include an office that the 21 head of a covered agency may maintain sepa- 22 rately from a place or building in the Wash- 23 ington metropolitan area. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2672 IS (11) LOCATION.—The term ‘‘location’’ means a 1 geographic area not larger than 100 square miles. 2 (12) NON-CABINET AGENCY.—The term ‘‘non- 3 Cabinet agency’’— 4 (A) means each Executive agency the 5 headquarters of which is located in the Wash- 6 ington metropolitan area; and 7 (B) does not include— 8 (i) an Executive department; 9 (ii) an Executive agency that is orga- 10 nized under— 11 (I) the Executive Office of the 12 President; or 13 (II) an Executive department; 14 (iii) the Smithsonian Institution or 15 any Executive agency the primary purpose 16 of which is to govern a museum, exhi- 17 bition, or library, preserve one or more 18 buildings, or produce performing arts; or 19 (iv) an Executive agency the primary 20 purpose of which is to— 21 (I) gather intelligence; 22 (II) prosecute criminal offenses; 23 or 24 (III) protect national security. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2672 IS (13) RELOCATION PROPOSAL.—The term ‘‘relo- 1 cation proposal’’ means a proposal developed by the 2 Director and the Administrator under section 3 4(a)(1)(A). 4 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State 5 of the United States. 6 (15) WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA.—The 7 term ‘‘Washington metropolitan area’’ has the mean- 8 ing given the term ‘‘National Capital region’’ in sec- 9 tion 8702 of title 40, United States Code. 10 SEC. 4. STUDIES AND RELOCATION PROPOSALS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 12 date on which the Secretary of Commerce completes the 13 2020 census, the Director and the Administrator shall— 14 (1) with respect to each covered agency, carry 15 out a study to— 16 (A) develop a proposal of 3 locations in the 17 designated State for the covered agency to 18 which the headquarters of the covered agency 19 and the covered permanent duty station of em- 20 ployees of the covered agency could be relo- 21 cated; and 22 (B) determine whether the covered agency 23 should be abolished or merged with another Ex- 24 ecutive agency, rather than being relocated; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2672 IS (2) submit each study carried out under para- 1 graph (1) to— 2 (A) Congress; and 3 (B) the designated State to which the relo- 4 cation proposal included in the study pertains. 5 (b) CRITERIA.— 6 (1) PRIORITY CRITERIA.—In selecting the loca- 7 tions to be included in a relocation proposal, the Di- 8 rector and the Administrator shall select locations— 9 (A) that, during the 10-year period ending 10 on the date on which the Director and the Ad- 11 ministrator submit the relocation proposal 12 under subsection (a)(2), have experienced eco- 13 nomic distress, which may be demonstrated by, 14 in comparison to locations in other States and 15 locations within the designated State— 16 (i) a low rate of education; 17 (ii) a low rate of workforce participa- 18 tion; 19 (iii) a low median income; 20 (iv) a high rate of poverty; and 21 (v) a high rate of housing vacancy, ex- 22 cluding housing properties that are pri- 23 marily used for seasonal or recreational 24 use; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2672 IS (B) that, with respect to the 10-year pe- 1 riod ending on the date on which the Director 2 and the Administrator submit the relocation 3 proposal under subsection (a)(2), have an aver- 4 age unemployment rate that is above the aver- 5 age unemployment rate of the United States, as 6 determined by the Secretary of Labor, during 7 that period. 8 (2) SECONDARY CRITERIA.—In selecting the lo- 9 cations to be included in a relocation proposal, the 10 Director and the Administrator may, as secondary 11 criteria, consider— 12 (A) the state of infrastructure in or near 13 a location; 14 (B) the ability to expand infrastructure in 15 or near a location; and 16 (C) the supply of labor in or near a loca- 17 tion. 18 (3) LIMITATION.—In selecting the locations to 19 be included in a relocation proposal, the Director 20 and the Administrator may not select any location 21 that is within 30 miles of a city that has a popu- 22 lation of more than 800,000 individuals, as deter- 23 mined by the Secretary of Commerce under the 24 2020 census. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2672 IS (4) SPECIFICITY.—In selecting the locations to 1 be included in a relocation proposal, the Director 2 and the Administrator shall minimize the geographic 3 size of each location selected to the maximum extent 4 that is reasonably possible. 5 SEC. 5. SELECTION. 6 (a) DESIGNATED STATE OFFICIALS SELECTING RE- 7 LOCATION LOCATIONS.—Unless the covered agency to 8 which a relocation proposal pertains is abolished, not later 9 than 1 year after the date on which the Director and the 10 Administrator submit the relocation proposal to the des- 11 ignated State to which the relocation proposal pertains 12 under section 4(a)(2), the designated State may, from the 13 proposed locations included in the relocation proposal and 14 by enacting a law of the designated State stating that a 15 location has been so selected, select 1 location to which 16 the headquarters of the covered agency and the covered 17 permanent duty station of employees of the covered agency 18 shall be relocated under section 6(a). 19 (b) FAILURE BY, OR INABILITY OF, DESIGNATED 20 STATE OFFICIALS TO SELECT AND APPROVE RELOCA- 21 TION LOCATIONS.—If a designated State to which a relo- 22 cation proposal is submitted fails to select a location, or, 23 under Federal or State law, is unable to select a location, 24 from the relocation proposal under subsection (a) by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2672 IS deadline described in that subsection, the Director and the 1 Administrator shall, from the locations included in the re- 2 location proposal, select the location to which the head- 3 quarters of the covered agency and the covered permanent 4 duty station of employees of the covered agency shall be 5 relocated under section 6(a). 6 SEC. 6. RELOCATION. 7 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—As soon as reasonably possible 8 after a location is selected under section 5, but in no event 9 later than 10 years thereafter, the Director, the Adminis- 10 trator, and the head of the covered agency to which the 11 selection pertains shall relocate to the selected location— 12 (1) the headquarters of the covered agency; and 13 (2) the permanent duty station for not less 14 than 90 percent of the positions as an officer or em- 15 ployee of the covered agency for which the perma- 16 nent duty station is located in the Washington met- 17 ropolitan area, without regard to whether the posi- 18 tion is vacant. 19 (b) PENALTIES.—If, on the date that is 10 years 20 after the date on which a location is selected under section 21 5, the headquarters of the covered agency and the covered 22 permanent duty station of employees of the covered agency 23 have not been relocated as required under subsection (a) 24 of this section— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2672 IS (1) for the fiscal year immediately following the 1 fiscal year in which such failure first occurs, and for 2 each fiscal year thereafter in which any such failure 3 continues, the head of the covered agency shall be 4 authorized to use funds made available to the cov- 5 ered agency for the relevant fiscal year in an amount 6 equal to not more than 85 percent of the funds 7 made available to the covered agency for the fiscal 8 year in which the failure first occurs, notwith- 9 standing any other provision of law authorizing the 10 head of the covered agency to use those funds in an 11 amount greater than that percent; and 12 (2) the head of the covered agency may not re- 13 ceive— 14 (A) pay during the period— 15 (i) beginning on the date on which the 16 failure first occurs; and 17 (ii) ending on the date on which the 18 head of the covered agency relocates the 19 headquarters of the covered agency and 20 the covered permanent duty station of em- 21 ployees of the covered agency as required 22 under subsection (a); or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2672.IS S2672 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2672 IS (B) backpay for any pay otherwise payable 1 to the head of t [Text truncated for display. 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