I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 930

To require Federal employees to use Federal travel charge cards for all

payments of expenses of official Government travel, to amend title 31,

United States Code, to establish requirements for prepayment audits

of Federal agency transportation expenses, to authorize reimbursement

of Federal agency employees for taxes incurred on travel or transportation reimbursements, and to authorize test programs for the payment

of Federal employee travel expenses and relocation expenses.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 5, 1997

Mr. HORN (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MICA, and Mr.

PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

A BILL

To require Federal employees to use Federal travel charge

cards for all payments of expenses of official Government

travel, to amend title 31, United States Code, to establish requirements for prepayment audits of Federal agency transportation expenses, to authorize reimbursement

of Federal agency employees for taxes incurred on travel

or transportation reimbursements, and to authorize test

programs for the payment of Federal employee travel

expenses and relocation expenses.

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 ‘‘Travel and Transpor3 tation Reform Act of 1997’’.

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE USE OF THE TRAVEL

5 CHARGE CARD.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Under regulations issued by the

7 Administrator of General Services, the Administrator may

8 require that Federal employees use the travel charge card

9 established pursuant to the United States Travel and

10 Transportation Payment and Expense Control System, or

11 any Federal contractor-issued travel charge, for all pay12 ments of expenses of official Government travel. The Ad13 ministrator shall exempt any payment, person, type or

14 class of payments, or type or class of personnel from any

15 requirement established under the preceding sentence in

16 any case in which—

17 (1) it is in the best interest of the United

18 States to do so;

19 (2) payment through a travel charge card is im20 practical or imposes unreasonable burdens or costs

21 on Federal employees or Federal agencies; or

22 (3) the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of

23 Transportation (with respect to the Coast Guard)

24 requests an exemption with respect to the members

25 of the uniformed services.
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1 (b) LIMITATION ON RESTRICTION ON DISCLO2 SURE.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1113 of the Right to

4 Financial Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3413) is

5 amended by adding at the end the following new

6 subsection:

7 ‘‘(q) Nothing in this title shall apply to the disclosure

8 of any financial record or information to a Government

9 authority in conjunction with a Federal contractor-issued

10 travel charge card issued for official Government travel.’’.

11 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

12 by paragraph (1) is effective as of October 1, 1983,

13 and applies to any records created pursuant to the

14 United States Travel and Transportation Payment

15 and Expense Control System or any Federal con16 tractor-issued travel charge card issued for official

17 Government travel.

18 (c) COLLECTION OF AMOUNTS OWED.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under regulations issued by

20 the Administrator of General Services and upon

21 written request of a Federal contractor, the head of

22 any Federal agency may, on behalf of the contractor,

23 collect by deduction from the amount of pay owed to

24 an employee of the agency any amount of funds the
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1 employee owes to the contractor as a result of delin2 quencies on a travel charge card issued for payment

3 of expenses incurred in connection with official Gov4 ernment travel. The amount deducted from the pay

5 owed to an employee with respect to a pay period

6 may not exceed 15 percent of the net pay of the em7 ployee for that pay period, except that a greater per8 centage may be deducted upon the written consent

9 of the employee.

10 (2) DUE PROCESS PROTECTIONS.—Collection

11 under this subsection shall be carried out in accord12 ance with procedures substantially equivalent to the

13 procedures required under section 3716(a) of title

14 31, United States Code.

15 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this

16 subsection:

17 (A) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the

18 meaning that term has under section 101 of

19 title 31, United States Code.

20 (B) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’

21 means an individual employed in or under an

22 agency, including a member of any of the uni23 formed services. For purposes of this sub24 section, a member of one of the uniformed serv25 ices is an employee of that uniformed service.
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1 (C) MEMBER; UNIFORMED SERVICE.—

2 Each of the terms ‘‘member’’ and ‘‘uniformed

3 service’’ has the meaning that term has in sec4 tion 101 of title 37, United States Code.

5 (d) DELAYED IMPLEMENTATION.—The Adminis6 trator may delay implementation of subsections (a) and

7 (c) by up to 5 years if the Administrator determines that

8 it is in the best interests of the United States to do so.

9 SEC. 3. PREPAYMENT AUDITS OF TRANSPORTATION EX10 PENSES.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Section 3322 of title 31, Unit12 ed States Code, is amended in subsection (c) by inserting

13 after ‘‘classifications’’ the following: ‘‘if the Administrator

14 of General Services has determined that verification by a

15 prepayment audit conducted pursuant to section 3726(a)

16 of this title for a particular mode or modes of transpor17 tation, or for an agency or subagency, will not adequately

18 protect the interests of the Government’’.

19 (2) Section 3528 of title 31, United States Code, is

20 amended—

21 (A) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘and’’ after

22 the semicolon at the end of paragraph (3), by strik23 ing the period at the end of subsection (a)(4)(C) and

24 inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the fol25 lowing new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(5) verifying transportation rates, freight clas2 sifications, and other information provided on a Gov3 ernment bill of lading or transportation request, un4 less the Administrator of General Services has deter5 mined that verification by a prepayment audit con6 ducted pursuant to section 3726(a) of this title for

7 a particular mode or modes of transportation, or for

8 an agency or subagency, will not adequately protect

9 the interests of the Government.’’;

10 (B) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting after ‘‘de11 ductions’’ the following: ‘‘and the Administrator of

12 General Services has determined that verification by

13 a prepayment audit conducted pursuant to section

14 3726(a) of this title for a particular mode or modes

15 of transportation, or for an agency or subagency,

16 will not adequately protect the interests of the Gov17 ernment’’; and

18 (C) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting after

19 ‘‘agreement’’ the following: ‘‘and the Administrator

20 of General Services has determined that verification

21 by a prepayment audit conducted pursuant to sec22 tion 3726(a) of this title for a particular mode or

23 modes of transportation, or for an agency or sub24 agency, will not adequately protect the interests of

25 the Government’’.
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1 (3) Section 3726 of title 31, United States Code, is

2 amended—

3 (A) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol4 lows:

5 ‘‘(a)(1) Each agency that receives a bill from a car6 rier or freight forwarder for transporting an individual or

7 property for the United States Government shall verify its

8 correctness (to include transportation rates, freight classi9 fications, or proper combinations thereof), using prepay10 ment audit, prior to payment in accordance with the re11 quirements of this section and regulations prescribed by

12 the Administrator of General Services.

13 ‘‘(2) The Administrator of General Services may ex14 empt bills, a particular mode or modes of transportation,

15 or an agency or subagency from a prepayment audit and

16 verification and in lieu thereof require a postpayment

17 audit, based on cost effectiveness, public interest, or other

18 factors the Administrator considers appropriate.

19 ‘‘(3) Expenses for prepayment audits shall be funded

20 by the agency’s appropriations used for the transportation

21 services.

22 ‘‘(4) The audit authority provided to agencies by this

23 section is subject to oversight by the Administrator.’’;
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1 (B) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d),

2 (e), (f), and (g) in order as subsections (d), (e), (f),

3 (g), (h), and (i), respectively;

4 (C) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow5 ing new subsections:

6 ‘‘(b) The Administrator may conduct pre- or

7 postpayment audits of transportation bills of any Federal

8 agency. The number and types of bills audited shall be

9 based on the Administrator’s judgment.

10 ‘‘(c)(1) The Administrator shall adjudicate transpor11 tation claims which cannot be resolved by the agency pro12 curing the transportation services, or the carrier or

13 freight-forwarder presenting the bill.

14 ‘‘(2) A claim under this section shall be allowed only

15 if it is received by the Administrator not later than 3 years

16 (excluding time of war) after the later of the following

17 dates:

18 ‘‘(A) The date of accrual of the claim.

19 ‘‘(B) The date payment for the transportation

20 is made.

21 ‘‘(C) The date a refund for an overpayment for

22 the transportation is made.

23 ‘‘(D) The date a deduction under subsection (d)

24 of this section is made.’’;
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1 (D) in subsection (f), as so redesignated, by

2 striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection

3 (e)’’, and by adding at the end the following new

4 sentence: ‘‘This reporting requirement expires De5 cember 31, 1998.’’;

6 (E) in subsection (i)(1), as so redesignated, by

7 striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection

8 (c)’’; and

9 (F) by adding after subsection (i), as so redes10 ignated, the following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(j) The Administrator of General Services may pro12 vide transportation audit and related technical assistance

13 services, on a reimbursable basis, to any other Federal en14 tity or to any other activity. Such reimbursements may

15 be credited to the appropriate revolving fund or appropria16 tion from which the expenses were incurred.’’.

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

18 this section shall become effective 18 months after the

19 date of enactment of this Act.

20 SEC. 4. REIMBURSEMENT FOR TAXES ON MONEY RECEIVED

21 FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 5, United States Code, is

23 amended by inserting after section 5706b the following

24 new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 5706c. Reimbursement for taxes incurred on

2 money received for travel expenses

3 ‘‘(a) Under regulations prescribed pursuant to section

4 5707 of this title, the head of an agency or department,

5 or his or her designee, may use appropriations or other

6 funds available to the agency for administrative expenses,

7 for the reimbursement of Federal, State, and local income

8 taxes incurred by an employee of the agency or by an em9 ployee and such employee’s spouse (if filing jointly), for

10 any travel or transportation reimbursement made to an

11 employee for which reimbursement or an allowance is pro12 vided.

13 ‘‘(b) Reimbursements under this section shall include

14 an amount equal to all income taxes for which the em15 ployee and spouse, as the case may be, would be liable

16 due to the reimbursement for the taxes referred to in sub17 section (a). In addition, reimbursements under this section

18 shall include penalties and interest, for the tax years 1993

19 and 1994 only, as a result of agencies failing to withhold

20 the appropriate amounts for tax liabilities of employees

21 affected by the change in the deductibility of travel ex22 penses made by Public Law 102–486.’’.

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

24 at the beginning of chapter 57 of title 5, United States

25 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to

26 section 5706b the following new item:
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‘‘5706c. Reimbursement for taxes incurred on money received for travel expenses.’’.

1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall be effective

2 as of January 1, 1993.

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY FOR TEST PROGRAMS.

4 (a) TRAVEL EXPENSES TEST PROGRAMS.—Sub5 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code,

6 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

7 ‘‘§ 5710. Authority for travel expenses test programs

8 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub9 chapter, under a test program which the Administrator

10 of General Services determines to be in the interest of the

11 Government and approves, an agency may pay for a period

12 not to exceed 24 months any necessary travel expenses in

13 lieu of any payment otherwise authorized or required

14 under this subchapter. An agency shall include in any re15 quest to the Administrator for approval of such a test pro16 gram an analysis of the expected costs and benefits and

17 a set of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the pro18 gram.

19 ‘‘(b) The Administrator shall transmit a copy of any

20 test program approved by the Administrator under this

21 section to the appropriate committees of the Congress at

22 least 30 days before the effective date of the program.

23 ‘‘(c) An agency authorized to conduct a test program

24 under subsection (a) shall provide to the Administrator
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1 and the appropriate committees of the Congress a report

2 on the results of the program no later than 3 months after

3 completion of the program.

4 ‘‘(d) No more than 10 test programs under this sec5 tion may be conducted simultaneously.

6 ‘‘(e) The authority to conduct test programs under

7 this section shall expire 7 years after the date of enact8 ment of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of

9 1997.’’.

10 (b) RELOCATION EXPENSES TEST PROGRAMS.—Sub11 chapter II of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code,

12 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

13 section:

14 ‘‘§ 5737. Authority for relocation expenses test pro15 grams

16 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub17 chapter, under a test program which the Administrator

18 of General Services determines to be in the interest of the

19 Government and approves, an agency may pay for a period

20 not to exceed 24 months any necessary relocation expenses

21 in lieu of any payment otherwise authorized or required

22 under this subchapter. An agency shall include in any re23 quest to the Administrator for approval of such a test pro24 gram an analysis of the expected costs and benefits and
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1 a set of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the pro2 gram.

3 ‘‘(b) The Administrator shall transmit a copy of any

4 test program approved by the Administrator under this

5 section to the appropriate committees of the Congress at

6 least 30 days before the effective date of the program.

7 ‘‘(c) An agency authorized to conduct a test program

8 under subsection (a) shall provide to the Administrator

9 and the appropriate committees of the Congress a report

10 on the results of the program no later than 3 months after

11 completion of the program.

12 ‘‘(d) No more than 10 test programs under this sec13 tion may be conducted simultaneously.

14 ‘‘(e) The authority to conduct test programs under

15 this section shall expire 7 years after the date of enact16 ment of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of

17 1997.’’.

18 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections

19 for chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is further

20 amended by—

21 (1) inserting after the item relating to section

22 5709 the following new item:

‘‘5710. Authority for travel expenses test programs.’’;

23 and
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1 (2) inserting after the item relating to section

2 5737 the following new item:

‘‘5737. Authority for relocation expenses test programs.’’.

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