II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2288 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to submit an annual report to Congress relating to the use 

of official time by employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

to limit the instances in which official time may be granted for certain 

purposes to employees of the Department, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 10, 2018 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit an annual report 

to Congress relating to the use of official time by employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to limit the 

instances in which official time may be granted for certain purposes to employees of the Department, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans, Employees, 

3 and Taxpayers Protection Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘VET Pro4 tection Act of 2017’’. 

5 SEC. 2. LABOR MANAGEMENT IN DEPARTMENT OF VET6 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 38, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new subchapter: 

10 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—LABOR MANAGEMENT 

11 ‘‘§ 751. Records on use of official time 

12 ‘‘(a) TRACKING OF OFFICIAL TIME.—The Secretary 

13 shall track the use of official time by employees of the 

14 Department of Veterans Affairs in a manner that accounts 

15 for such time accurately and to a specific degree without 

16 the use of estimates or ranges of time. 

17 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—(1) Not later than Decem18 ber 31 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to the Of19 fice of Personnel Management and the Committee on Vet20 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet21 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 

22 on the use of official time by employees of the Department 

23 during the most recently ended fiscal year. 

24 ‘‘(2) Each report under paragraph (1) shall include, 

25 with respect to the fiscal year covered by the report, the 

26 following information: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The total amount of official time granted 

2 to employees. 

3 ‘‘(B) The total amount of official time expended 

4 and the amount of official time expended per em5 ployee for term negotiations, mid-term negotiations, 

6 general labor-management relations, and dispute 

7 resolution. 

8 ‘‘(C) The specific types of activities or purposes 

9 for which official time was granted, and the impact 

10 which the granting of such official time for such ac11 tivities or purposes had on the operations of the De12 partment. 

13 ‘‘(D) The total number of employees to whom 

14 official time was granted, and, of that total, the 

15 number who were not engaged in any activities or 

16 purposes except activities or purposes involving the 

17 use of official time. 

18 ‘‘(E) The total annual salary, job title, and 

19 amount of official time afforded to any employee. 

20 ‘‘(F) A description of any room or space des21 ignated at the Department where official time activi22 ties will be conducted, including the square footage 

23 of any such room or space. 

24 ‘‘(c) OFFICIAL TIME DEFINED.—In this section, the 

25 term ‘official time’ means any period— 


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1 ‘‘(1) which may be granted to an employee 

2 under chapter 71 of title 5 (including a collective 

3 bargaining agreement entered into under such chap4 ter) or chapter 74 of this title to perform represen5 tational or consultative functions; and 

6 ‘‘(2) during which the employee would otherwise 

7 be in a duty status. 

8 ‘‘§ 752. Limitations on use of official time for certain 

9 purposes and individuals 

10 ‘‘(a) POLITICAL ACTIVITIES AND LOBBYING.—Not11 withstanding section 7131 of title 5 or any other provision 

12 of law, any employee of the Department may not use offi13 cial time to carry out political activities or activities relat14 ing to lobbying. 

15 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON USE OF OFFICIAL TIME BY

16 CERTAIN EMPLOYEES.—The following employees of the 

17 Department may not use official time for any purpose: 

18 ‘‘(1) Any employee appointed under section 

19 7401(1) of this title. 

20 ‘‘(2) Any employee with an annual rate of basic 

21 pay equal to or greater than $100,000. 

22 ‘‘(3) Any employee who is serving a proba23 tionary period. 

24 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON ALL EMPLOYEES.—Any em25 ployee of the Department not covered by subsection (b) 


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1 may spend no more than 25 percent of the time such em2 ployee would otherwise be in a duty status on official time. 

3 ‘‘(d) OFFICIAL TIME DEFINED.—In this section, the 

4 term ‘official time’ has the meaning given such term in 

5 section 751(c) of this title. 

6 ‘‘§ 753. Termination of collection of dues 

7 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 7115 of title 5, any exclu8 sive bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to chap9 ter 71 of such title by the Department shall provide that 

10 an employee of the Department may terminate a voluntary 

11 allotment for the payment of dues at any time. Any deduc12 tions for dues made pursuant to such allotment shall cease 

13 beginning on the first pay period after the termination is 

14 made.’’. 

15 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Sections 752 and 753 of title 

16 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall 

17 apply with respect to any collective bargaining agreement 

18 entered into before, on, or after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act. 

20 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

22 at the end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—LABOR MANAGEMENT

‘‘751. Records on use of official time. 

‘‘752. Limitations on use of official time for certain purposes and individuals. 

‘‘753. Termination of collection of dues.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REQUIRED PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR NEW EM2 PLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF3 FAIRS. 

4 (a) PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 38, United 

6 States Code, is further amended by inserting after 

7 section 717 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 718. Probationary period for employees 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections 3321 

10 and 3393(d) of title 5, the appointment of a covered em11 ployee shall become final only after such employee has 

12 served a probationary period of two years. 

13 ‘‘(b) COVERED EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of this 

14 section, a covered employee is— 

15 ‘‘(1) any individual— 

16 ‘‘(A) appointed to a permanent position 

17 within the competitive service at the Depart18 ment; or 

19 ‘‘(B) appointed as a career appointee (as 

20 defined in section 3132(a) of title 5) within the 

21 Senior Executive Service at the Department; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(2) not an individual with a probationary pe24 riod prescribed by section 7403 of this title. 

25 ‘‘(c) PERMANENT HIRES.—Not later than 90 days 

26 before the expiration of a covered employee’s probationary 


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1 period under subsection (a), the supervisor of the em2 ployee shall determine whether the appointment becomes 

3 final based on regulations prescribed for such purpose by 

4 the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—With respect to any individual 

6 described in subsection (b)(1)(A) and to whom this section 

7 applies, sections 7501(1) and 7511(a)(1)(A)(ii) of title 5 

8 shall be applied to such individual by substituting ‘com9 pleted 2 years’ for ‘completed 1 year’ in each instance it 

10 appears.’’. 

11 (2) CLERICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND12 MENTS.— 

13 (A) CLERICAL.—The table of sections at 

14 the beginning of such chapter, as amended by 

15 section 2, is further amended by inserting after 

16 the item relating to section 717 the following 

17 new item: 

‘‘718. Probationary period for employees.’’. 

18 (B) CONFORMING.—Title 5, United States 

19 Code, is amended— 

20 (i) in section 3321(c)— 

21 (I) by striking ‘‘Service, or’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘Service,’’; and 

23 (II) by inserting at the end be24 fore the period the following: ‘‘, or 


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1 any individual covered by section 718 

2 of title 38’’; 

3 (ii) in section 3393(d), by inserting at 

4 the end before the period the following: ‘‘or 

5 section 718 of title 38’’; 

6 (iii) in sections 7501(1) and 

7 7511(a)(1)(A)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or section 

8 718 of title 38’’ after ‘‘title 10’’ in each in9 stance it appears; and 

10 (iv) in section 7541(1)(A)— 

11 (I) by striking ‘‘title or’’ and in12 serting ‘‘title,’’; and 

13 (II) by inserting at the end be14 fore the semicolon the following: ‘‘, or 

15 section 718 of title 38’’. 

16 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 718 of title 38, United 

17 States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1), shall apply 

18 to any covered employee (as that term is defined in sub19 section (b) of such section, as so added) appointed after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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