Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 478 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2618 [Report No. 116–231] To strengthen employee cost savings suggestions programs within the Federal Government. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 17, 2019 Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. ERNST, Mr. LEE, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. ENZI, and Mr. TOOMEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs JUNE 9, 2020 Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with amendments [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To strengthen employee cost savings suggestions programs within the Federal Government. 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 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2618 RS SEC. 2. COST SAVINGS ENHANCEMENTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.— 2 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 4511 of title 5, 3 United States Code, is amended— 4 (A) in the section heading, by striking 5 ‘‘Definition’’ and inserting ‘‘Definitions’’; 6 and 7 (B) in subsection (a)— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘this subchapter, the 9 term’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘this 10 subchapter— 11 ‘‘(1) the term’’; 12 (ii) by striking the period at the end 13 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(2) the term ‘surplus salaries and expenses 17 funds’ means amounts made available for the sala- 18 ries and expenses account, or equivalent account, of 19 an agency— 20 ‘‘(A) that are identified by an employee of 21 the agency under section 4512(a) as unneces- 22 sary; 23 ‘‘(B) that the Inspector General of the 24 agency or other agency employee designated 25 under section 4512(b) determines are not re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2618 RS quired for the purpose for which the amounts 1 were made available; 2 ‘‘(C) that the Chief Financial Officer of 3 the agency determines are not required for the 4 purpose for which the amounts were made 5 available; and 6 ‘‘(D) the rescission of which would not be 7 detrimental to the full execution of the purposes 8 for which the amounts were made available.’’. 9 (2) AUTHORITY.—Section 4512 of title 5, 10 United States Code, is amended— 11 (A) in subsection (a)— 12 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 13 (1), by inserting ‘‘or identification of sur- 14 plus salaries and expenses funds’’ after 15 ‘‘mismanagement’’; 16 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or 17 identification’’ after ‘‘disclosure’’; and 18 (iii) in the matter following paragraph 19 (2), by inserting ‘‘or identification’’ after 20 ‘‘disclosure’’; and 21 (B) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(c)(1) The Inspector General of an agency or other 23 agency employee designated under subsection (b) shall 24 refer to the Chief Financial Officer of the agency any po- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2618 RS tential surplus salaries and expenses funds identified by 1 an employee that the Inspector General or other agency 2 employee determines meets meet the requirements under 3 subparagraphs (B) and (D) of section 4511(a)(2), along 4 with any recommendations of the Inspector General or 5 other agency employee. 6 ‘‘(2)(A) If the Chief Financial Officer of the agency 7 determines that potential surplus salaries and expenses 8 funds referred under paragraph (1) meet the requirements 9 under section 4511(a)(2), except as provided in subsection 10 (d), the head of the agency shall transfer the amount of 11 the surplus salaries and expenses funds from the applica- 12 ble appropriations account to the general fund of the 13 Treasury. 14 ‘‘(B) Any amounts transferred under subparagraph 15 (A) shall be deposited in the Treasury and used for deficit 16 reduction, except that in the case of a fiscal year for which 17 there is no Federal budget deficit, such amounts shall be 18 used to reduce the Federal debt (in such manner as the 19 Secretary of the Treasury considers appropriate). 20 ‘‘(3) The Inspector General or other agency employee 21 designated under subsection (b) for each agency and the 22 Chief Financial Officer for each agency shall issue stand- 23 ards and definitions for purposes of making determina- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2618 RS tions relating to potential surplus salaries and expenses 1 funds identified by an employee under this subsection. 2 ‘‘(d)(1) The head of an agency may retain not more 3 than 10 percent of amounts to be transferred to the gen- 4 eral fund of the Treasury under subsection (c)(2). 5 ‘‘(2) Amounts retained by the head of an agency 6 under paragraph (1) may be— 7 ‘‘(A) used for the purpose of paying a cash 8 award under subsection (a) to one or more employ- 9 ees who identified the surplus salaries and expenses 10 funds; and 11 ‘‘(B) to the extent amounts remain after paying 12 cash awards under subsection (a), transferred or re- 13 programmed for use by the agency, in accordance 14 with any limitation on such a transfer or reprogram- 15 ming under any other provision of law. 16 ‘‘(e)(1) Not later than October 1 of each fiscal year, 17 the head of each agency shall submit to the Secretary of 18 the Treasury a report identifying the total savings 19 achieved during the previous fiscal year through disclo- 20 sures of possible fraud, waste, or mismanagement and 21 identifications of surplus salaries and expenses funds by 22 an employee. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2618 RS ‘‘(2) Not later than September 30 of each fiscal year, 1 the head of each agency shall submit to the Secretary of 2 the Treasury a report that, for the previous fiscal year— 3 ‘‘(A) describes each disclosure of possible fraud, 4 waste, or mismanagement or identification of poten- 5 tially surplus salaries and expenses funds by an em- 6 ployee of the agency determined by the agency to 7 have merit; and 8 ‘‘(B) provides the number and amount of cash 9 awards paid by the agency under subsection (a). 10 ‘‘(3) The head of each agency shall include the infor- 11 mation described in paragraphs (1) and (2) in each budget 12 request of the agency submitted to the Office of Manage- 13 ment and Budget as part of the preparation of the budget 14 of the President submitted to Congress under section 15 1105(a) of title 31. 16 ‘‘(4) The Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to 17 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Com- 18 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, 19 and the Government Accountability Office an annual re- 20 port on Federal cost saving and awards based on the re- 21 ports submitted under paragraphs (1) and (2). 22 ‘‘(f) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage- 23 ment shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2618 RS ‘‘(1) ensure that the cash award program of 1 each agency complies with this section; and 2 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress an annual certification 3 indicating whether the cash award program of each 4 agency complies with this section. 5 ‘‘(g) Not later than 3 years after the date of enact- 6 ment of this subsection, and every 3 years thereafter, the 7 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 8 Congress a report on the operation of the cost savings and 9 awards program under this section, including any rec- 10 ommendations for legislative changes.’’. 11 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 12 MENT.—The table of sections for subchapter II of 13 chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 14 ed by striking the item relating to section 4511 and 15 inserting the following: 16 ‘‘4511. Definitions and general provisions.’’. (4) SUNSET.—Effective 6 years after the date 17 of enactment of this Act— 18 (A) section 4511 of title 5, United States 19 Code, is amended— 20 (i) in the section heading, by striking 21 ‘‘Definitions’’ and inserting ‘‘Defini- 22 tion’’; and 23 (ii) in subsection (a)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2618 RS (I) in paragraph (1), by striking 1 ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period; 2 (II) by striking ‘‘this sub- 3 chapter—’’ and all that follows 4 through ‘‘the term ‘agency’ means’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘this subchapter, the 6 term ‘agency’ means’’; and 7 (III) by striking paragraph (2); 8 (B) section 4512 of title 5, United States 9 Code, is amended— 10 (i) in subsection (a)— 11 (I) in the matter preceding para- 12 graph (1), by striking ‘‘or identifica- 13 tion of surplus salaries and expenses 14 funds’’; 15 (II) in paragraph (2), by striking 16 ‘‘or identification’’; and 17 (III) in the matter following 18 paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or identi- 19 fication’’; and 20 (ii) by striking subsections (c) 21 through (g); and 22 (C) the table of sections for subchapter II 23 of chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2618 RS amended by striking the item relating to section 1 4511 and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘4511. DefinitionsDefinition and general provisions.’’. (b) OFFICERS ELIGIBLE FOR CASH AWARDS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4509 of title 5, 4 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘§ 4509. Prohibition of cash award to certain officers 6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONSDEFINITION.—In this section, the 7 term ‘agency’— 8 ‘‘(1) has the meaning given that term under 9 section 551(1); and 10 ‘‘(2) includes an entity described in section 11 4501(1). 12 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—An officer may not receive a 13 cash award under this subchapter if the officer— 14 ‘‘(1) serves in a position at level I of the Execu- 15 tive Schedule; 16 ‘‘(2) is the head of an agency; or 17 ‘‘(3) is a commissioner, board member, or other 18 voting member of an independent establishment.’’. 19 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 20 MENT.—The table of sections for supchapter I of 21 chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 22 ed by striking the item relating to section 4509 and 23 inserting the following: 24 ‘‘4509. Prohibition of cash award to certain officers.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 478 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2618 [Report No. 116–231] A BILL To strengthen employee cost savings suggestions programs within the Federal Government. JUNE 9, 2020 Reported with amendments VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S2618.RS S2618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS