II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1783

To provide that transit pass transportation fringe benefits be made available 

to all qualified Federal employees in the National Capital Region; to 

allow passenger carriers which are owned or leased by the Government 

to be used to transport Government employees between their place of 

employment and mass transit facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 23, 2003

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. ALLEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Governmental Affairs 

A BILL

To provide that transit pass transportation fringe benefits 

be made available to all qualified Federal employees in 

the National Capital Region; to allow passenger carriers 

which are owned or leased by the Government to be 

used to transport Government employees between their 

place of employment and mass transit facilities, 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 ‘‘Federal Employee 

3 Commuter Benefits Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TRANSIT PASS TRANSPORTATION FRINGE BENE5 FITS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective as of the first day of the 

7 next fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act, each covered agency shall implement a pro9 gram under which all qualified Federal employees serving 

10 in or under such agency shall be offered transit pass trans11 portation fringe benefits, as described in subsection (b). 

12 (b) BENEFITS DESCRIBED.—The benefits described 

13 in this subsection are, as of any given date, the transit 

14 pass transportation fringe benefits which, under section 

15 2 of Executive Order 13150, are then currently required 

16 to be offered by Federal agencies in the National Capital 

17 Region. 

18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

19 (1) the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means any agen20 cy, to the extent of its facilities in the National Cap21 ital Region; 

22 (2) the term ‘‘agency’’ means any agency (as 

23 defined by 7905(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code) 

24 not otherwise covered by section 2 of Executive 

25 Order 13150, the United States Postal Service, the 
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1 Postal Rate Commission, and the Smithsonian Insti2 tution; 

3 (3) the term ‘‘National Capital Region’’ in4 cludes the District of Columbia and every county or 

5 other geographic area covered by section 2 of Execu6 tive Order 13150; 

7 (4) the term ‘‘Executive Order 13150’’ refers to 

8 Executive Order 13150 (5 U.S.C. 7905 note); 

9 (5) the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ is used in the 

10 same way as under section 2 of Executive Order 

11 13150; and 

12 (6) any determination as to whether or not one 

13 is a ‘‘qualified Federal employee’’ shall be made ap14 plying the same criteria as would apply under sec15 tion 2 of Executive Order 13150. 

16 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be considered to require that a covered agency—

18 (1) terminate any program or benefits in exist19 ence on the date of the enactment of this Act, or 

20 postpone any plans to implement (before the effec21 tive date referred to in subsection (a)) any program 

22 or benefits permitted or required under any other 

23 provision of law; or 

24 (2) discontinue (on or after the effective date 

25 referred to in subsection (a)) any program or bene-
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1 fits referred to in paragraph (1), so long as such 

2 program or benefits satisfy the requirements of sub3 sections (a) through (c). 

4 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO USE GOVERNMENT VEHICLES TO 

5 TRANSPORT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES BETWEEN 

6 THEIR PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT AND MASS 

7 TRANSIT FACILITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1344 of title 31, United 

9 States Code, is amended—

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 

11 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(g)(1) A passenger carrier may be used to transport 

15 an officer or employee of a Federal agency between the 

16 officer’s or employee’s place of employment and a mass 

17 transit facility (whether or not publicly owned) in accord18 ance with succeeding provisions of this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 1343, a Federal agency 

20 that provides transportation services under this subsection 

21 (including by passenger carrier) shall absorb the costs of 

22 such services using any funds available to such agency, 

23 whether by appropriation or otherwise. 

24 ‘‘(3) In carrying out this subsection, a Federal agency 

25 shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) to the maximum extent practicable, use al2 ternative fuel vehicles to provide transportation serv3 ices; 

4 ‘‘(B) to the extent consistent with the purposes 

5 of this subsection, provide transportation services in 

6 a manner that does not result in additional gross in7 come for Federal income tax purposes; and 

8 ‘‘(C) coordinate with other Federal agencies to 

9 share, and otherwise avoid duplication of, transpor10 tation services provided under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(4) For purposes of any determination under chap12 ter 81 of title 5, an individual shall not be considered to 

13 be in the ‘performance of duty’ by virtue of the fact that 

14 such individual is receiving transportation services under 

15 this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(5)(A) The Administrator of General Services, after 

17 consultation with the National Capital Planning Commis18 sion and other appropriate agencies, shall prescribe any 

19 regulations necessary to carry out this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(B) Transportation services under this subsection 

21 shall be subject neither to the last sentence of subsection 

22 (d)(3) nor to any regulations under the last sentence of 

23 subsection (e)(1). 

24 ‘‘(6) In this subsection, the term ‘passenger carrier’ 

25 means a passenger motor vehicle, aircraft, boat, ship, or 
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1 other similar means of transportation that is owned or 

2 leased by the United States Government or the govern3 ment of the District of Columbia.’’. 

4 (b) FUNDS FOR MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, ETC.—Sub5 section (a) of section 1344 of title 31, United States Code, 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (1), the transpor8 tation of an individual between such individual’s place of 

9 employment and a mass transit facility pursuant to sub10 section (g) is transportation for an official purpose.’’. 

11 (c) COORDINATION.—The authority to provide trans12 portation services under section 1344(g) of title 31, 

13 United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)) shall 

14 be in addition to any authority otherwise available to the 

15 agency involved.

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