II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1018 

To provide that transit pass transportation fringe benefits be made available 

to all qualified Federal employees in the National Capital Region; to 

allow passenger carriers which are owned or leased by the Government 

to be used to transport Government employees between their place of 

employment and mass transit facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2005 

Mr. SARBANES introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL

To provide that transit pass transportation fringe benefits 

be made available to all qualified Federal employees in 

the National Capital Region; to allow passenger carriers 

which are owned or leased by the Government to be 

used to transport Government employees between their 

place of employment and mass transit facilities, and for 

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employee 

5 Commuter Benefits Act of 2005’’. 
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•S 1018 IS

1 SEC. 2. TRANSIT PASS TRANSPORTATION FRINGE BENE2 FITS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective as of the first day of the 

4 next fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, each covered agency shall implement a pro6 gram under which all qualified Federal employees serving 

7 in or under such agency shall be offered transit pass trans8 portation fringe benefits, as described in subsection (b). 

9 (b) BENEFITS DESCRIBED.—The benefits described 

10 in this subsection are the transit pass transportation 

11 fringe benefits which, under section 2 of Executive Order 

12 13150, are required to be offered by Federal agencies in 

13 the National Capital Region on the date of enactment of 

14 this Act. 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

16 (1) the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means any agen17 cy, to the extent of its facilities in the National Cap18 ital Region; 

19 (2) the term ‘‘agency’’ means any agency (as 

20 defined by 7905(a)(2) of title 5, United States 

21 Code), the United States Postal Service, the Postal 

22 Rate Commission, and the Smithsonian Institution; 

23 (3) the term ‘‘National Capital Region’’ in24 cludes the District of Columbia and every county or 

25 other geographic area covered by section 2 of Execu26 tive Order 13150; 
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1 (4) the term ‘‘Executive Order 13150’’ refers to 

2 Executive Order 13150 (5 U.S.C. 7905 note); 

3 (5) the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ is used in the 

4 same way as under section 2 of Executive Order 

5 13150; and 

6 (6) any determination as to whether or not one 

7 is a ‘‘qualified Federal employee’’ shall be made ap8 plying the same criteria as would apply under sec9 tion 2 of Executive Order 13150. 

10 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec11 tion shall be considered to require that a covered agency— 

12 (1) terminate any program or benefits in exist13 ence on the date of the enactment of this Act, or 

14 postpone any plans to implement (before the effec15 tive date referred to in subsection (a)) any program 

16 or benefits permitted or required under any other 

17 provision of law; or 

18 (2) discontinue (on or after the effective date 

19 referred to in subsection (a)) any program or bene20 fits referred to in paragraph (1), so long as such 

21 program or benefits satisfy the requirements of sub22 sections (a) through (c). 
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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO USE GOVERNMENT VEHICLES TO 

2 TRANSPORT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES BETWEEN 

3 THEIR PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT AND MASS 

4 TRANSIT FACILITIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1344 of title 31, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 

8 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(g)(1) A passenger carrier may be used to transport 

12 an officer or employee of a Federal agency between the 

13 officer’s or employee’s place of employment and a mass 

14 transit facility (whether or not publicly owned) in accord15 ance with succeeding provisions of this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 1343, a Federal agency 

17 that provides transportation services under this subsection 

18 (including by passenger carrier) shall absorb the costs of 

19 such services using any funds available to such agency, 

20 whether by appropriation or otherwise. 

21 ‘‘(3) In carrying out this subsection, a Federal agency 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) to the maximum extent practicable, use al24 ternative fuel vehicles to provide transportation serv25 ices; 
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1 ‘‘(B) to the extent consistent with the purposes 

2 of this subsection, provide transportation services in 

3 a manner that does not result in additional gross in4 come for Federal income tax purposes; and 

5 ‘‘(C) coordinate with other Federal agencies to 

6 share, and otherwise avoid duplication of, transpor7 tation services provided under this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(4) For purposes of any determination under chap9 ter 81 of title 5, an individual shall not be considered to 

10 be in the ‘performance of duty’ by virtue of the fact that 

11 such individual is receiving transportation services under 

12 this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(5)(A) The Administrator of General Services, after 

14 consultation with the National Capital Planning Commis15 sion and other appropriate agencies, shall prescribe any 

16 regulations necessary to carry out this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) Transportation services under this subsection 

18 shall be subject neither to the last sentence of subsection 

19 (d)(3) nor to any regulations under the last sentence of 

20 subsection (e)(1). 

21 ‘‘(6) In this subsection, the term ‘passenger carrier’ 

22 means a passenger motor vehicle, aircraft, boat, ship, or 

23 other similar means of transportation that is owned or 

24 leased by the United States Government or the govern25 ment of the District of Columbia.’’. 
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1 (b) FUNDS FOR MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, ETC.—Sub2 section (a) of section 1344 of title 31, United States Code, 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (1), the transpor5 tation of an individual between such individual’s place of 

6 employment and a mass transit facility pursuant to sub7 section (g) is transportation for an official purpose.’’. 

8 (c) COORDINATION.—The authority to provide trans9 portation services under section 1344(g) of title 31, 

10 United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)) shall 

11 be in addition to any authority otherwise available to the 

12 agency involved.

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