I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1016 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to reimburse employees of the Federal 

Government and the District of Columbia, Federal contractors, and the 

States for certain costs incurred as a result of a Government shutdown, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2019 

Mr. HORSFORD (for himself and Mr. CASTEN of Illinois) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to reimburse employees of the Federal Government and the District of Columbia, Federal contractors, and the States for certain 

costs incurred as a result of a Government shutdown, 

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 ‘‘Pay Workers What 

5 They’ve Earned Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED BY 

2 GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS. 

3 Section 1341 of title 31, United States Code, as 

4 amended by the Government Employee Fair Treatment 

5 Act of 2019, is further amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(d)(1) In this subsection— 

8 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered employee’ means— 

9 ‘‘(i) any employee of the United States 

10 Government or of a District of Columbia public 

11 employer furloughed as a result of a covered 

12 lapse in appropriations; 

13 ‘‘(ii) any excepted employee who is re14 quired to perform work during such lapse; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) any contractor with the Federal Gov16 ernment (or an employee of such contractor) 

17 placed on unpaid leave as a result of such lapse; 

18 ‘‘(B) the term ‘shutdown cost’ means any cost 

19 incurred by a covered employee as a direct result of 

20 a covered lapse in appropriations, including expenses 

21 for loans and credit cards, and any fees, fine, or in22 terest resulting from the employees inability to make 

23 payments as a direct result of a loss in salary due 

24 to such lapse; 

25 ‘‘(C) the terms ‘covered lapse in appropria26 tions’, ‘District of Columbia public employer’, ‘emVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1016.IH H1016

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1 ployee’, and ‘excepted employee’ have the meaning 

2 given those terms in subsection (c); and 

3 ‘‘(D) the term ‘State’ means any of the 50 

4 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

5 of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American 

6 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

7 Islands, and any territory or possession of the 

8 United States, and includes Indian Tribes. 

9 ‘‘(2)(A) With respect to the covered lapse in appro10 priations beginning on or about December 22, 2018, each 

11 covered employee shall be paid for any shutdown cost at 

12 the earliest date possible after the date of enactment of 

13 this subsection, and subject to the enactment of appropria14 tions Acts ending the lapse. 

15 ‘‘(B) With respect to any other covered lapse in ap16 propriations of a duration of 14 days or longer, any cov17 ered employee shall, subject to the availability of appro18 priations, be paid for any shutdown cost at the earliest 

19 date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends. 

20 ‘‘(3)(A) Any State that makes an expenditure of 

21 State funds for payments for assistance programs that 

22 would be, but for a covered lapse in appropriations of a 

23 duration of 14 days or longer (including the lapse de24 scribed in subparagraph (A)), provided by the Federal 


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1 Government shall be reimbursed for such payments not 

2 later than 90 days after the lapse in appropriations ends. 

3 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to any State ex4 penditure with respect to which reimbursement is provided 

5 by the Federal Government under any other provision of 

6 law, including unemployment compensation. 

7 ‘‘(4)(A) In order to receive reimbursement under 

8 paragraph (2) or (3), a covered employee or State (as the 

9 case may be) shall submit an application to the Secretary 

10 of the Treasury, in such form and manner as the Sec11 retary deems appropriate, not later than 1 year after the 

12 applicable lapse in appropriations ends. 

13 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall determine what documenta14 tion shall be included with such an application to verify 

15 the shutdown costs or expenditure submitted by a covered 

16 employee or a State, respectively. 

17 ‘‘(C) Upon approval by the Secretary, reimbursement 

18 shall be provided to the covered employee or State, con19 sistent with the requirements of this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(5)(A) There is established in the general fund of 

21 the Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘Reserve Fund 

22 for Employees Affected By Government Shutdowns’ (in 

23 this paragraph referred to as the ‘Fund’), which shall con24 sist of amounts appropriated into the Fund after the date 

25 of enactment of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Subject to the availability of appropriations, 

2 amounts in the Fund shall be available for purposes of 

3 paying the shutdown costs of any covered employee during 

4 a covered lapse in appropriations beginning after the lapse 

5 referred to in paragraph (2)(A).’’. 

Æ 


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