I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1364 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to limit the use of official time 

for political activity and to exclude certain official time from eligibility 

as creditable service under CSRS and FERS, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2017 

Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia 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 limit the use 

of official time for political activity and to exclude certain 

official time from eligibility as creditable service under 

CSRS and FERS, 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 ‘‘Official Time Reform 

5 Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF OFFICIAL TIME FOR POLIT2 ICAL ACTIVITY. 

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

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (d) by inserting ‘‘and sub6 section (e)’’ after ‘‘preceding subsections’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(e) An employee may not be granted official time 

9 under this section for any time such employee would other10 wise be in a duty status for purposes of engaging in any 

11 political activity, including lobbying activity.’’. 

12 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 

13 section shall apply on the date of enactment of this Act, 

14 regardless of whether an employee is covered by a collec15 tive bargaining agreement in effect on such date. 

16 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN DURATIONS OF OFFICIAL 

17 TIME FROM CREDITABLE SERVICE. 

18 (a) CSRS.—Section 8332 of title 5, United States 

19 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(p)(1) An employee may not be allowed credit under 

21 this section for any day of service spent principally on offi22 cial time, as described under subsection (b), that is in ex23 cess of 365 days in the aggregate. 

24 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, an employee 

25 spends a day principally on official time if at least 80 per26 cent of the time such employee would otherwise be in a 


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1 duty status during such day is spent on official time grant2 ed under section 7131. 

3 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any service de4 scribed under paragraph (1) for which an employee is not 

5 allowed credit under this subsection shall be treated as 

6 creditable service for purposes of calculating the average 

7 pay of the employee under section 8331(4).’’. 

8 (b) FERS.—Section 8411 of title 5, United States 

9 Code, is amended by— 

10 (1) striking ‘‘(i)(1) Upon application’’ and in11 serting ‘‘(j)(1) Upon application’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(m)(1) An employee may not be allowed credit under 

14 this section for any day of service spent principally on offi15 cial time, as described under subsection (b), that is in ex16 cess of 365 days in the aggregate. 

17 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, an employee 

18 spends a day principally on official time if at least 80 per19 cent of the time such employee would otherwise be in a 

20 duty status during such day is spent on official time grant21 ed under section 7131. 

22 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any service de23 scribed under paragraph (1) for which an employee is not 

24 allowed credit under this subsection shall be considered 


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1 service for purposes of calculating the average pay of the 

2 employee under section 8401(3).’’. 

3 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

4 section shall apply to any applicable annuity calculated on 

5 or after October 1, 2017. 

Æ 


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