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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5647 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5647

 To require Federal agencies to impose in-person work requirements for 
  employees of those agencies and to occupy a certain portion of the 
        office space of those agencies, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            December 20 (legislative day, December 16), 2024

  Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To require Federal agencies to impose in-person work requirements for 
  employees of those agencies and to occupy a certain portion of the 
        office space of those agencies, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reinforce Occupancy Obligations for 
Maximized Interagency Efficiency Act'' or the ``ROOMIE Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of General Services.
            (2) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 621 of title 40, United 
        States Code.
            (3) Federal civilian real property.--The term ``Federal 
        civilian real property'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 3 of the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 
        (40 U.S.C. 1303 note; Public Law 114-287).
            (4) Usable square feet.--The term ``usable square feet'' 
        has the meaning given the term by the Administrator.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) according to a 2023 review of Federal agencies by the 
        Government Accountability Office--
                    (A) 17 Federal agencies ``used on average an 
                estimated 25 percent or less of the capacity of their 
                headquarters buildings''; and
                    (B) 1 Federal agency headquarters examined would 
                only occupy 67 percent of the office space of the 
                Federal agency if 100 percent of the employees of the 
                Federal agency worked in-person;
            (2) according to a 2024 report by the Public Buildings 
        Reform Board established by section 4(a) of the Federal Assets 
        Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (40 U.S.C. 1303 note; Public Law 
        114-287)--
                    (A) in the National Capital Region, the Federal 
                Government owns or leases almost 90,000,000 square feet 
                of property;
                    (B) a sample of Federal properties in Washington, 
                D.C., maintained only 12 percent capacity on average;
                    (C) ``billions of dollars are being expended on 
                buildings that should be disposed of given the new 
                normal of low occupancy''; and
                    (D) some Federal agencies have developed cultural 
                expectations that they should retain a ``flagship'' 
                property despite significant under usage of that 
                property; and
            (3) according to a 2023 report by the Office of Audits of 
        the Office of Inspector General of the General Services 
        Administration--
                    (A) Federal Government buildings can pose 
                significant health risks if they remain underutilized; 
                and
                    (B) since July 2023, ``elevated levels of 
                Legionella'', which is a bacterium that can cause 
                serious infection and death, ``were found in six GSA-
                controlled buildings, all of which are open to the 
                public''.

SEC. 4. IN-PERSON WORK REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Federal Agency Policy Modification.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal agency shall 
        amend the policies of the Federal agency, if necessary, to 
        require--
                    (A) not less than 80 percent of the employees of 
                the Federal agency to work in-person Monday through 
                Friday of each week, not including any day that is a 
                legal public holiday described in section 6103 of title 
                5, United States Code, as certified by the Director of 
                the Office of Personnel Management; and
                    (B) except as provided in paragraph (2), not less 
                than 60 percent of the usable square feet of the office 
                space of the Federal agency in any Federal civilian 
                real property owned, leased, or controlled by the 
                Federal agency to be occupied by employees of the 
                Federal agency, as certified by the Administrator.
            (2) Exception.--
                    (A) In general.--If a Federal agency does not 
                employ enough individuals to occupy 60 percent of the 
                usable square feet of the office space of the Federal 
                agency in any Federal civilian real property owned, 
                leased, or controlled by the Federal agency, the head 
                of the Federal agency shall, not later than 1 year 
                after the date of enactment of this Act, prepare and 
                submit to the Administrator, the Committee on 
                Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and the 
                Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
                House of Representatives an occupancy plan in 
                accordance with subparagraph (B).
                    (B) Requirements.--An occupancy plan prepared and 
                submitted under subparagraph (A) shall detail how the 
                Federal agency plans to reach 60 percent occupancy in 
                the usable square feet of the office space of the 
                Federal agency in any Federal civilian real property 
                owned, leased, or controlled by the Federal agency 
                through the use of individuals employed by any Federal 
                agency, with special consideration given to individuals 
                employed by different Federal agencies.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date that is 120 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall submit to Congress a report regarding the 
implementation of the requirement under subsection (a)(1), as certified 
by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the 
Administrator, as applicable.

SEC. 5. NONCOMPLIANCE.

    (a) In General.--If a Federal agency fails to comply with section 
4(a) by the deadlines described in that section, the Federal agency or 
the General Services Administration, as applicable, shall sell, 
terminate, or be prohibited from re-signing the lease for, the 
applicable Federal civilian real property in accordance with subsection 
(b) or (c), as applicable.
    (b) Property Owned or Controlled by the Federal Agency.--If the 
Federal agency owns or controls the Federal civilian real property in 
which the office space described in subsection (a) is located, the 
Federal agency or the General Services Administration, as applicable, 
shall sell the Federal civilian real property.
    (c) Property Leased by the Federal Agency.--If the Federal agency 
leases the Federal civilian real property in which the office space 
described in subsection (a) is located, the Federal agency or the 
General Services Administration, as applicable--
            (1) if the lease contains an early termination or other 
        applicable provision--
                    (A) shall execute that provision and terminate the 
                lease early; and
                    (B) shall not re-sign the lease; or
            (2) if the lease does not contain an early termination or 
        other applicable provision, shall not re-sign the lease.
                                 <all>
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