I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1035

To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to conduct

a pilot program to raise awareness about telecommuting among small

business employers, and to encourage such employers to offer telecommuting options to employees.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 14, 2001

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. FROST, Mr. OWENS, Mr. HILLIARD,

Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr.

DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs.

TAUSCHER, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. UDALL

of New Mexico, Mr. WU, and Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

A BILL

To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to conduct a pilot program to raise awareness

about telecommuting among small business employers,

and to encourage such employers to offer telecommuting

options to 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. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Tele5 commuting Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) telecommuting reduces the volume of peak

4 commuter traffic, thereby reducing traffic congestion

5 and air pollution;

6 (2) the Nation’s communities can benefit from

7 telecommuting, which gives workers more time to

8 spend at home with their families;

9 (3) it is in the national interest to raise aware10 ness within the small business community of tele11 commuting options for employees;

12 (4) the small business community can benefit

13 from offering telecommuting options to employees

14 because such options make it easier for small em15 ployers to retain valued employees and employees

16 with irreplaceable institutional memory;

17 (5) companies with telecommuting programs

18 have found that telecommuting can boost employee

19 productivity 5 percent to 20 percent, thereby saving

20 businesses valuable resources and time;

21 (6) 60 percent of the workforce is involved in

22 information work (an increase of 43 percent since

23 1990), allowing and encouraging decentralization of

24 paid work to occur; and

25 (7) individuals with disabilities, including dis26 abled American veterans, who own or are employed
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1 by small businesses could benefit from telecom2 muting to their workplaces.

3 SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS TELECOMMUTING PILOT PRO4 GRAM.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this Act, the

6 Administrator shall conduct, in not more than 5 of the

7 Small Business Administration’s regions, a pilot program

8 to raise awareness about telecommuting among small busi9 ness employers and to encourage such employers to offer

10 telecommuting options to employees.

11 (b) SPECIAL OUTREACH TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS12 ABILITIES.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Adminis13 trator shall make special efforts to conduct outreach to—

14 (1) businesses owned by or employing individ15 uals with disabilities, and disabled American vet16 erans in particular;

17 (2) Federal, State, and local agencies having

18 knowledge and expertise in assisting individuals with

19 disabilities or disabled American veterans; and

20 (3) any group or organization, the primary pur21 pose of which is to aid individuals with disabilities

22 or disabled American veterans.

23 (c) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the

24 pilot program, the Administrator may only—
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1 (1) produce educational materials and conduct

2 presentations designed to raise awareness in the

3 small business community of the benefits and the

4 ease of telecommuting;

5 (2) conduct outreach—

6 (A) to small business concerns that are

7 considering offering telecommuting options; and

8 (B) as provided in subsection (b); and

9 (3) acquire telecommuting technologies and

10 equipment to be used for demonstration purposes.

11 (d) SELECTION OF REGIONS.—In determining which

12 regions will participate in the pilot program, the Adminis13 trator shall give priority consideration to regions in which

14 Federal agencies and private-sector employers have dem15 onstrated a strong regional commitment to telecommuting.

16 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

17 Not later than 2 years after the first date on which

18 funds are appropriated to carry out this Act, the Adminis19 trator shall transmit to the Committee on Small Business

20 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on

21 Small Business of the Senate a report containing the re22 sults of an evaluation of the pilot program and any rec23 ommendations as to whether the pilot program, with or

24 without modification, should be extended to include the

25 participation of all Small Business Administration regions.
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1 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad4 ministrator of the Small Business Administration;

5 (2) the term ‘‘disability’’ has the same meaning

6 as in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities

7 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102);

8 (3) the term ‘‘pilot program’’ means the pro9 gram established under section 3; and

10 (4) the term ‘‘telecommuting’’ means the use of

11 telecommunications to perform work functions under

12 circumstances which reduce or eliminate the need to

13 commute.

14 SEC. 6. TERMINATION.

15 The pilot program shall terminate 2 years after the

16 first date on which funds are appropriated to carry out

17 this Act.

18 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Small

20 Business Administration $5,000,000 to carry out this Act.

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