I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1293 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require that the Office of Personnel 

Management submit an annual report to Congress relating to the use 

of official time by Federal employees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2017 

Mr. ROSS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require that the 

Office of Personnel Management submit an annual report 

to Congress relating to the use of official time by Federal 

employees. 

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

3 SECTION 1. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7131 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(e)(1)(A) Not later than March 31 of each calendar 

8 year, the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation 


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1 with the Office of Management and Budget, shall submit 

2 to each House of Congress a report on the operation of 

3 this section during the fiscal year last ending before the 

4 start of such calendar year. 

5 ‘‘(B) Not later than December 31 of each calendar 

6 year, each agency (as defined by section 7103(a)(3)) shall 

7 furnish to the Office of Personnel Management the infor8 mation which such Office requires, with respect to such 

9 agency, for purposes of the report which is next due under 

10 subparagraph (A). 

11 ‘‘(2) Each report by the Office of Personnel Manage12 ment under this subsection shall include, with respect to 

13 the fiscal year described in paragraph (1)(A), at least the 

14 following information: 

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

16 to employees. 

17 ‘‘(B) The average amount of official time ex18 pended per bargaining unit employee. 

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

20 for which official time was granted, and the impact 

21 which the granting of such official time for such ac22 tivities or purposes had on agency operations. 

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

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

25 number who were not engaged in any activities or 


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1 purposes except activities or purposes involving the 

2 use of official time. 

3 ‘‘(E) The total amount of compensation (includ4 ing fringe benefits) afforded to employees in connec5 tion with activities or purposes for which they were 

6 granted official time. 

7 ‘‘(F) A description of any room or space des8 ignated at the agency (or its subcomponent) where 

9 official time activities will be conducted, including 

10 the square footage of any such room or space. 

11 ‘‘(3) All information included in a report by the Of12 fice of Personnel Management under this subsection with 

13 respect to a fiscal year— 

14 ‘‘(A) shall be shown both agency-by-agency and 

15 for all agencies; and 

16 ‘‘(B) shall be accompanied by the corresponding 

17 information (submitted by the Office in its report 

18 under this subsection) for the fiscal year before the 

19 fiscal year to which such report pertains, together 

20 with appropriate comparisons and analyses. 

21 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘offi22 cial time’ means any period of time, regardless of agency 

23 nomenclature— 

24 ‘‘(A) which may be granted to an employee 

25 under this chapter (including a collective bargaining 


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1 agreement entered into under this chapter) to per2 form representational or consultative functions; and 

3 ‘‘(B) during which the employee would other4 wise be in a duty status.’’. 

5 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub6 section (a) shall be effective beginning with the report 

7 which, under the provisions of such amendment, is first 

8 required to be submitted by the Office of Personnel Man9 agement to each House of Congress by a date which oc10 curs at least 6 months after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act. 

Æ 


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