I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1461 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2017 

Mr. ARRINGTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 III—LABOR MANAGEMENT 

11 ‘‘§ 741. 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 October 

18 1 of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the 

19 Office of Personnel Management and the Committees on 

20 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

21 Senate a report on the use of official time by employees 

22 of the Department during the most recently ended fiscal 

23 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 average amount of official time ex4 pended per bargaining unit employee. 

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

6 for which official time was granted, and the impact 

7 which the granting of such official time for such ac8 tivities or purposes had on the operations of the De9 partment. 

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

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

12 number who were not engaged in any activities or 

13 purposes except activities or purposes involving the 

14 use of official time. 

15 ‘‘(E) The total amount of compensation (includ16 ing fringe benefits) afforded to employees in connec17 tion with activities or purposes for which they were 

18 granted official time. 

19 ‘‘(F) A description of any room or space des20 ignated at the Department where official time activi21 ties will be conducted, including the square footage 

22 of any such room or space. 

23 ‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘official 

24 time’ means any period of time— 


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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 ‘‘§ 742. 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, an employee of the 

12 Department may not use official time to carry out political 

13 activities or activities relating to lobbying. 

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

15 CERTAIN EMPLOYEES.—A physician, dentist, podiatrist, 

16 chiropractor, or optometrist employed by the Department 

17 may not use official time for any purpose. 

18 ‘‘(c) DIRECT PATIENT CARE.—An employee of the 

19 Department not covered by subsection (b) may spend no 

20 more than 25 percent of the time such employee would 

21 otherwise be in a duty status on official time if such em22 ployee— 

23 ‘‘(1) is involved with direct patient care; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) occupies a position with a rate of basic pay 

2 equal to or higher than the rate of basic pay for 

3 GS–13 of the General Schedule. 

4 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON ALL EMPLOYEES.—An em5 ployee of the Department not covered by subsection (b) 

6 or (c) may spend no more than 50 percent of the time 

7 such employee would otherwise be in a duty status on offi8 cial time. 

9 ‘‘(e) OFFICIAL TIME DEFINED.—For purposes of 

10 this section, the term ‘official time’ has the meaning given 

11 that term in section 741(c). 

12 ‘‘§ 743. Termination of collection of dues 

13 ‘‘Any exclusive bargaining agreement entered into 

14 pursuant to chapter 71 of title 5 by the Department shall 

15 provide that an employee of the Department may termi16 nate a voluntary allotment for the payment of dues at any 

17 time. Any deductions for dues made pursuant to such al18 lotment shall cease beginning on the first pay period after 

19 the termination is made.’’. 

20 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Sections 743 and 742 of title 

21 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall 

22 apply with respect to any collective bargaining agreement 

23 entered into after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

3 at the end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—LABOR MANAGEMENT

‘‘741. Records on use of official time. 

‘‘742. Prohibition on use of official time for certain purposes. 

‘‘743. Termination of collection of dues.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. REQUIRED PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR NEW EM5 PLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF6 FAIRS. 

7 (a) PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

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

9 States Code, is further amended by inserting after 

10 section 717 the following new section: 

11 ‘‘§ 719. Probationary period for employees 

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

13 and 3393(d) of title 5, the appointment of a covered em14 ployee shall become final only after such employee has 

15 served a probationary period of 18 months. 

16 ‘‘(b) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—In this section, the term 

17 ‘covered employee’— 

18 ‘‘(1) means any individual— 

19 ‘‘(A) appointed to a permanent position 

20 within the competitive service at the Depart21 ment; or 

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

23 that term is defined in section 3132(a)(4) of 


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1 title 5) within the Senior Executive Service at 

2 the Department; and 

3 ‘‘(2) does not include any individual with a pro4 bationary period prescribed by section 7403 of this 

5 title. 

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

7 before the expiration of a covered employee’s probationary 

8 period under subsection (a), the supervisor of the em9 ployee shall determine whether the appointment becomes 

10 final based on regulations prescribed for such purpose by 

11 the Secretary.’’. 

12 (2) CLERICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND13 MENTS.— 

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

15 the beginning of such chapter, as amended by 

16 section 2, is further amended by inserting after 

17 the item relating to section 717 the following 

18 new item: 

‘‘719. Probationary period for employees.’’. 

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

20 Code, is amended— 

21 (i) in section 3321(c)— 

22 (I) by striking ‘‘Service or’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘Service,’’; and 

24 (II) by inserting at the end be25 fore the period the following: ‘‘, or 


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1 any individual covered by section 719 

2 of title 38’’; and 

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

4 the end after the period the following: 

5 ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply to 

6 any individual covered by section 719 of 

7 title 38.’’. 

8 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 719 of title 38, United 

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

10 to any covered employee (as that term is defined in sub11 section (b) of such section 719, as so added) appointed 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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