Bill Tracker 2013: Proposals affecting fed pay, benefits and more

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Bill Tracker 2013: Proposals affecting fed pay, benefits and more

There's been no shortage of legislation introduced this year affecting the federal workforce. Federal News Radio's Bill Tracker follows the bills that would affect...

Federal News Network Staff

September 9, 2013 3:57 pm

4 min read

From barring employee bonuses to ending “official time,” there’s been no shortage of legislation introduced this year affecting the federal workforce. Federal News Radio’s Bill Tracker follows the bills affecting federal pay and benefits, the size of the workforce and more.

This page will be regularly updated. Check back for status changes and the addition of new bills.

(Last updated: Oct. 8, 2013)

Impact on feds	Description	Bill/Sponsor	Status
ENSURES BACKPAY FOR FEDS FURLOUGHED DURING THE SHUTDOWN	Would guarantee both those employees required to work through the shutdown and those placed on unpaid leave receive backpay once Congress restores funding. Read the full story	H.R.3223 Get tips and tactics to make informed IT and professional services buys across government in our Small Business Guide. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) / Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.)	Passed unanimously by the House, awaiting vote in the Senate (10/5/13/td>
REQUIRES ALL FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO PURCHASE HEALTH INSURANCE FROM AFFORDABLE CARE ACT EXCHANGES	Would amend the Affordable Care Act to require that all federal employees purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Currently, only members of Congress and their staffers are required to do so.	H.R.1780 Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.)	Referred to the House Ways and Means Committee’s Health subcommittee (5/3/13/td>
ELIMINATES THE USE OF OFFICIAL TIME BY FEDERAL EMPLOYES	Ends the practice of allowing federal employees to work on union activities during official work hours. Feds spent 3.4 million work hours on union activities in 2012. Read the full story	H.R.107 / S. 785 Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) / Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)	Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (1/3/2013)
ELIMINATES THE USE OF OFFICIAL TIME BY FEDERAL EMPLOYES	Ends the practice of allowing federal employees to work on union activities during official work hours. Feds spent 3.4 million work hours on union activities in 2012. Read the full story	H.R.107 / S. 785 Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) / Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)	Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (1/3/2013)
LIMITS AGENCY CONFERENCE SPENDING	Limits agencies’ conference spending to 80 percent of the amount spent on conferences in 2010 and caps the cost of a single conference to $500,000	S. 1347 Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)	Referred to Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (7/23/13)
REQUIRES ANNUAL REPORT ON OFFICIAL TIME	Requires the Office of Personnel Management to submit an annual report to Congress on how often feds use official work time to work on union business	S. 1338 Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)	Referred to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (7/23/13)
MAKES TAX-DELINQUENT EMPLOYEES INELIGIBLE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT	Makes any applicant or current federal employe with a “seriously delinquent” tax debt ineligible for federal employment	H.R.249 Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)	Failed to reach the two-thirds majority required for the bill to be adopted (4/15/13)
INDEFINITELY SUSPENDS ONLINE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR SES MEMBERS	Repeals expanded financial-disclosure reporting requirements for Senior Executive Service members under the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. Read the full story	S. 716 Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)	House and Senate unanimously approved the measure in April 2013, and the President signed into law (4/17/13)
ENDS FURLOUGHS of AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS	Grants Federal Aviation Administration authority to shift more than $250 million from separate budget accounts to halt furloughs of air-traffic controllers Read the full story	H.R.1765 Read more: Congress Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa)	The House and the Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure in late April 2013, and the President signed into law. (5/2/13)
ALLOWS FEDS FOUR WEEKS OF PAID PARENTAL LEAVE	Allows federal workers four weeks of paid parental leave when they give birth or adopt a child. Current law provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, but few feds can afford to take it.	H.R.517 Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.)	Referred to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (2/5/13)
REDUCES WORKFORCE BY 10 PERCENT THROUGH ATTRITION	Caps the number of federal employee positions at 90 percent of the total number of feds as of September 2012.	H.R.824 Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wis.)	Referred to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (2/26/13)
EXTENDS MSPB APPEAL RIGHTS TO USPS EMPLOYEES	Extends protections against adverse personnel actions, including right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, to U.S. Postal Service employees.	H.R. 1431 / S. 686 Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) / Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)	Introduced in the House and the Senate (4/9/13)
LIMITS DISCRETIONARY AWARDS	Establishes limits in fiscal 2013, 2014 and 2015 for discretionary awards and other payments to federal employees	H.R.1541 Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.)	Reported out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (7/24/13)
PROHIBITS SES BONUSES DURING SEQUESTRATION	Prohibits agencies from paying Senior Executive Service members’ performance awards when sequestration is in effect	H.R. 2222 Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.)	Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (6/3/13)
PROHIBITS ALL DISCRETIONARY BONUSES DURING SEQUESTRATION	Prohibits all discretionary bonuses for feds during sequestration; allows agency to place feds on “investigative leave” without pay during investigation of neglect of duty or serious misconduct	H.R. 2879 Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.)	Passed the House, heads to Senate for consideration (8/1/13)