II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 940

To provide a temporary authority for the use of voluntary separation incentives by the Department of Veterans Affairs to reduce employment levels,

restructure staff, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 3, 1999

Mr. SPECTER (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To provide a temporary authority for the use of voluntary

separation incentives by the Department of Veterans

Affairs to reduce employment levels, restructure staff,

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 that except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

4 this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amend5 ment to a section or other provision, the reference shall

6 be considered to be made to a section or other provision

7 of title 38, United States Code.
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet3 erans Affairs Employment Reduction Assistance Act of

4 1999’’.

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

6 For the purpose of this Act:

7 (1) ‘‘Department’’ means the Department of

8 Veterans Affairs.

9 (2) ‘‘Employee’’ means an employee (as defined

10 by section 2105 of title 5, United States Code) of

11 the Department of Veterans Affairs, who is serving

12 under an appointment without time limitation, and

13 has been currently employed by such Department for

14 a continuous period of at least 3 years, but does not

15 include—

16 (A) a reemployed annuitant under sub17 chapter III of chapter 83, or chapter 84 of title

18 5, United States Code, or another retirement

19 system for employees of the Federal Govern20 ment;

21 (B) an employee having a disability on the

22 basis of which such employee is eligible for dis23 ability retirement under subchapter III of chap24 ter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5, United States

25 Code, or another retirement system for employ26 ees of the Federal Government;
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1 (C) an employee who is in receipt of a spe2 cific notice of involuntary separation for mis3 conduct or unacceptable performance;

4 (D) an employee who previously has re5 ceived any voluntary separation incentive pay6 ment by the Federal Government under this

7 Act or any other authority;

8 (E) an employee covered by statutory re9 employment rights who is on transfer to an10 other organization; or

11 (F) any employee who, during the twenty12 four month period preceding the date of separa13 tion, has received a recruitment or relocation

14 bonus under section 5753 of title 5, United

15 States Code, or a recruitment bonus under sec16 tion 7458 of title 38, United States Code;

17 (G) any employee who, during the twelve18 month period preceding the date of separation,

19 received a retention allowance under section

20 5754 of title 5, United States Code, or a reten21 tion bonus under section 7458 of title 38,

22 United States Code.

23 (3) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Vet24 erans Affairs.
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1 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT PLANS; APPROVAL.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, before obligating

3 any resources for voluntary separation incentive payments,

4 shall submit to the Director of the Office of Management

5 and Budget a strategic plan outlining the use of such in6 centive payments and a proposed organizational chart for

7 the Department once such incentive payments have been

8 completed.

9 (b) CONTENTS.—The plan shall specify—

10 (1) the positions and functions to be reduced or

11 eliminated, identified by organizational unit, geo12 graphic location, occupational category and grade

13 level; the proposed coverage may be based on—

14 (A) any component of the Department;

15 (B) any occupation, level or type of posi16 tion;

17 (C) any geographic location;

18 (D) other nonpersonal factors; or

19 (E) any appropriate combination of the

20 factors in paragraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D);

21 (2) the manner in which such reductions will

22 improve operating efficiency or meet actual or antici23 pated levels of budget or staffing resources;

24 (3) the period of time during which incentives

25 may be paid; and
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1 (4) a description of how the affected compo2 nent(s) of the Department will operate without the

3 eliminated functions and positions.

4 (c) APPROVAL.—The Director of the Office of Man5 agement and Budget shall approve or disapprove each

6 plan submitted under subsection (a), and may make ap7 propriate modifications to the plan with respect to the

8 time period in which voluntary separation incentives may

9 be paid, with respect to the number and amounts of incen10 tive payments, or with respect to the coverage of incentives

11 on the basis of the factors in subsection (b)(1).

12 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.

13 (a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE VOLUNTARY SEPARA14 TION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may pay a

16 voluntary separation incentive payment to an em17 ployee only to the extent necessary to reduce or

18 eliminate the positions and functions identified by

19 the strategic plan;

20 (2) EMPLOYEES WHO MAY RECEIVE INCEN21 TIVES.—In order to receive a voluntary separation

22 incentive payment, an employee must separate from

23 service with the Department voluntarily (whether by

24 retirement or resignation) under the provisions of

25 this Act;
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1 (b) AMOUNT AND TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—A

2 voluntary separation incentive payment—

3 (1) shall be paid in a lump sum after the em4 ployee’s separation;

5 (2) shall be equal to the lesser of—

6 (A) an amount equal to the amount the

7 employee would be entitled to receive under sec8 tion 5595(c) of title 5, United States Code, if

9 the employee were entitled to payment under

10 such section (without adjustment for any pre11 vious payment made under that section); or

12 (B) an amount determined by the Sec13 retary, not to exceed $25,000;

14 (3) shall not be a basis for payment, and shall

15 not be included in the computation, of any other

16 type of Government benefit;

17 (4) shall not be taken into account in deter18 mining the amount of severance pay to which an em19 ployee may be entitled under section 5595 of title 5,

20 United States Code, based on any other separation;

21 and

22 (5) shall be paid from the appropriations or

23 funds available for payment of the basic pay of the

24 employee.
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1 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYMENT WITH THE

2 GOVERNMENT.

3 (a) An individual who has received a voluntary sepa4 ration incentive payment under this Act and accepts any

5 employment with the Government of the United States,

6 or who works for any agency of the United States Govern7 ment through a personal services contract, within 5 years

8 after the date of the separation on which the payment is

9 based shall be required to repay, prior to the individual’s

10 first day of employment, the entire amount of the incen11 tive payment to the Department.

12 (b)(1) If the employment under subsection (a) is with

13 an Executive agency (as defined by section 105 of title

14 5, United States Code), the United States Postal Service,

15 or the Postal Rate Commission, the Director of the Office

16 of Personnel Management may, at the request of the head

17 of the agency, waive the repayment if the individual in18 volved possesses unique abilities and is the only qualified

19 applicant available for the position.

20 (2) If the employment under subsection (a) is with

21 an entity in the legislative branch, the head of the entity

22 or the appointing official may waive the repayment if the

23 individual involved possesses unique abilities and is the

24 only qualified applicant available for the position.

25 (3) If the employment under subsection (a) is with

26 the judicial branch, the Director of the Administrative Of-
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1 fice of the United States Courts may waive the repayment

2 if the individual involved possesses unique abilities and is

3 the only qualified applicant available for the position.

4 (c) For the purpose of this section, the term ‘‘employ5 ment’’ includes—

6 (1) for the purposes of subsections (a) and (b),

7 employment of any length or under any type of ap8 pointment, but does not include employment that is

9 without compensation; and

10 (2) for the purposes of subsection (a), employ11 ment with any agency of the United States Govern12 ment through a personal services contract.

13 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE RE14 TIREMENT FUND.

15 (a) In addition to any other payments which it is re16 quired to make under subchapter III of chapter 983 or

17 chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, the Department

18 shall remit to the Office of Personnel Management for de19 posit in the Treasury of the United States to the credit

20 of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund an

21 amount equal to 15 percent of the final basic pay of each

22 employee of the Department who is covered under sub23 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5 to whom

24 a voluntary separation incentive has been paid under this

25 Act.
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1 (b) For the purpose of this section, the term ‘‘final

2 basic pay’’, with respect to an employee, means the total

3 amount of basic pay that would be payable for a year of

4 service by that employee, computed using the employee’s

5 final rate of basic pay, and, if last serving on other than

6 a full-time basis, with appropriate adjustment therefor.

7 SEC. 7. REDUCTION OF AGENCY EMPLOYMENT LEVELS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The total full-time equivalent em9 ployment in the Department shall be reduced by one for

10 each separation of an employee who receives a voluntary

11 separation incentive payment under this Act. the reduction

12 will be calculated by comparing the Department’s full-time

13 equivalent employment for the fiscal; year in which the

14 voluntary separation payments are made with the actual

15 full-time equivalent employment for the prior fiscal year.

16 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The President, through the

17 Office of Management and Budget, shall monitor the

18 Department and take any action necessary to ensure that

19 the requirements of this section are met.

20 (c) Subsection (a) of this section may be waived upon

21 a determination by the President that—

22 (1) the existence of a state of war or other na23 tional emergency so requires; or
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1 (2) the existence of an extraordinary emergency

2 which threatens life, health, safety, property, or the

3 environment, so requires.

4 SEC. 8. CONTINUED HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE.

5 Section 8905a(d)(4) of title 5, United States Code,

6 is amended—

7 (1) in subparagraph (A) by inserting after force

8 ‘‘, or an involuntary separation from a position in or

9 under the Department of Veterans Affairs due to a

10 reduction in force or a title 38 staffing adjustment’’;

11 (2) in subparagraph (B) by inserting at the be12 ginning thereof ‘‘With respect to the Department of

13 Defense,’’;

14 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub15 paragraph (D);

16 (4) by adding a new subparagraph (C) as fol17 lows:

18 (C) With respect to the Department of

19 Veterans Affairs, this paragraph shall apply

20 with respect to any individual whose continued

21 coverage is based on a separation occurring on

22 or after the date of enactment of this para23 graph and before—

24 (i) October 1, 2004; or
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1 (ii) February 1, 2005, if specific no2 tice of such separation was given to such

3 individual before October 1, 2004.

4 SEC. 9. REGULATIONS.

5 The Director of the Office of Personnel Management

6 may prescribe any regulations necessary to administer the

7 provisions of this Act.

8 SEC. 10. LIMITATION; SAVINGS CLAUSE.

9 (a) No voluntary separation incentive under this Act

10 may be paid based on the separation of an employee after

11 September 30, 2004.;

12 (b) This Act supplements and does not supersede

13 other authority of the Secretary.

14 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

15 (a) This Act shall take effect on the date of enact16 ment.

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