I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3995 

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 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. ARRINGTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and 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 2019’’ or the ‘‘VET Pro4 tection Act of 2019’’. 

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 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 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. 


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1 ‘‘(G) A list of any employee granted a waiver 

2 under section 752(d) and justification for each such 

3 waiver. 

4 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF OFFICIAL TIME.—For purposes 

5 of this section, the term ‘official time’ means any period 

6 of time— 

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

8 under chapter 71 of title 5 (including a collective 

9 bargaining agreement entered into under such chap10 ter) or chapter 74 of this title to perform represen11 tational or consultative functions; and 

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

13 be in a duty status. 

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

15 purposes and individuals 

16 ‘‘(a) POLITICAL ACTIVITIES AND LOBBYING.—Not17 withstanding section 7131 of title 5 or any other provision 

18 of law, any employee of the Department may not use offi19 cial time to carry out political activities or activities relat20 ing to lobbying. 

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

22 CERTAIN EMPLOYEES.—The following employees of the 

23 Department may not use official time for any purpose: 

24 ‘‘(1) Any employee appointed under section 

25 7401(1). 


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

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

3 ‘‘(3) Any employee who is serving a proba4 tionary period. 

5 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON ALL EMPLOYEES.—Any em6 ployee of the Department not covered by subsection (b) 

7 may spend no more than 25 percent of the time such em8 ployee would otherwise be in a duty status on official time. 

9 ‘‘(d) WAIVER.—(1) The Secretary may waive the re10 quirements of subsection (b) or (c) with respect to an em11 ployee of the Department if the Secretary certifies, in writ12 ing, that the waiver is reasonable, necessary, and in the 

13 best interests of veterans. 

14 ‘‘(2) The authority provided to the Secretary under 

15 this subsection shall not be subject to bargaining under 

16 this title or chapter 71 of title 5, and the exercise of, or 

17 failure to exercise, such authority shall not be an unfair 

18 labor practice under this title or such chapter. 

19 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF OFFICIAL TIME.—For purposes 

20 of this section, the term ‘official time’ has the meaning 

21 given that term in section 751(c). 

22 ‘‘§ 753. Termination of collection of dues 

23 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 7115 of title 5, any exclu24 sive bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to chap25 ter 71 of such title by the Department shall provide that 


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1 an employee of the Department may terminate a voluntary 

2 allotment for the payment of dues at any time. Any deduc3 tions for dues made pursuant to such allotment shall cease 

4 beginning on the first pay period after the termination is 

5 made.’’. 

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

7 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall 

8 apply with respect to any collective bargaining agreement 

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

10 this Act. 

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

12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

13 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.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. REQUIRED PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR NEW EM15 PLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF16 FAIRS. 

17 (a) PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

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

19 States Code, is further amended by inserting after 

20 section 715 the following new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 716. Probationary period for employees 

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

23 and 3393(d) of title 5, the appointment of a covered emVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995

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1 ployee shall become final only after such employee has 

2 served a probationary period of 2 years. 

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

4 ‘covered employee’— 

5 ‘‘(1) means any individual— 

6 ‘‘(A) appointed to a permanent position 

7 within the competitive service at the Depart8 ment; or 

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

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

11 title 5) within the Senior Executive Service at 

12 the Department; and 

13 ‘‘(2) does not include any individual with a pro14 bationary period prescribed by section 7403 of this 

15 title. 

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

17 before the expiration of a covered employee’s probationary 

18 period under subsection (a), the supervisor of the em19 ployee shall determine whether the appointment becomes 

20 final based on regulations prescribed for such purpose by 

21 the Secretary. 

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

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

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

25 shall be applied to such individual by substituting ‘comVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:49 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995

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1 pleted 2 years’ for ‘completed 1 year’ in each instance it 

2 appears.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND4 MENTS.— 

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

6 the beginning of such chapter, as amended by 

7 section 2, is further amended by inserting after 

8 the item relating to section 715 the following 

9 new item: 

‘‘716. Probationary period for employees.’’. 

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

11 Code, is amended— 

12 (i) in section 3321(c)— 

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

14 inserting ‘‘Service,’’; and 

15 (II) by inserting at the end be16 fore the period the following: ‘‘, or 

17 any individual covered by section 716 

18 of title 38’’; 

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

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

21 section 716 of title 38’’; 

22 (iii) in sections 7501(1) and 

23 7511(a)(1)(A)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or section 

24 716 of title 38’’ after ‘‘title 10’’ in each in25 stance it appears; and 


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1 (iv) in section 7541(1)(A)— 

2 (I) by striking ‘‘title or’’ and in3 serting ‘‘title,’’; and 

4 (II) by inserting at the end be5 fore the semicolon the following: ‘‘, or 

6 section 716 of title 38’’. 

7 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 716 of title 38, United 

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

9 to any covered employee (as that term is defined in sub10 section (b) of such section 716, as so added) appointed 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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