H. R. 4818—385
maintenance or care of private vehicles, except for emergency assist-
ance and cleaning as may be provided under regulations relating
to parking facilities for the House of Representatives issued by
the Committee on House Administration and for the Senate issued
by the Committee on Rules and Administration.
SEC. 202. FISCAL YEAR LIMITATION. No part of the funds appro-
priated in this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond
fiscal year 2005 unless expressly so provided in this Act.
SEC. 203. RATES OF COMPENSATION AND DESIGNATION. When-
ever in this Act any office or position not specifically established
by the Legislative Pay Act of 1929 (46 Stat. 32 et seq.) is appro-
priated for or the rate of compensation or designation of any office
or position appropriated for is different from that specifically estab-
lished by such Act, the rate of compensation and the designation
in this Act shall be the permanent law with respect thereto: Pro-
vided, That the provisions in this Act for the various items of
official expenses of Members, officers, and committees of the Senate
and House of Representatives, and clerk hire for Senators and
Members of the House of Representatives shall be the permanent
law with respect thereto.
SEC. 204. CONSULTING SERVICES. The expenditure of any appro-
priation under this Act for any consulting service through procure-
ment contract, under section 3109 of title 5, United States Code,
shall be limited to those contracts where such expenditures are
a matter of public record and available for public inspection, except
where otherwise provided under existing law, or under existing
Executive order issued under existing law.
SEC. 205. AWARDS AND SETTLEMENTS. Such sums as may be
necessary are appropriated to the account described in subsection
(a) of section 415 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995
(2 U.S.C. 1415(a)) to pay awards and settlements as authorized
under such subsection.
SEC. 206. COSTS OF LBFMC. Amounts available for administra-
tive expenses of any legislative branch entity which participates
in the Legislative Branch Financial Managers Council (LBFMC)
established by charter on March 26, 1996, shall be available to
finance an appropriate share of LBFMC costs as determined by
the LBFMC, except that the total LBFMC costs to be shared among
all participating legislative branch entities (in such allocations
among the entities as the entities may determine) may not exceed
$2,000.
SEC. 207. LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE. The Architect of the Cap-
itol, in consultation with the District of Columbia, is authorized
to maintain and improve the landscape features, excluding streets
and sidewalks, in the irregular shaped grassy areas bounded by
Washington Avenue, SW on the northeast, Second Street SW on
the west, Square 582 on the south, and the beginning of the I–
395 tunnel on the southeast.
SEC. 208. LIMITATION ON TRANSFERS. None of the funds made
available in this Act may be transferred to any department, agency,
or instrumentality of the United States Government, except pursu-
ant to a transfer made by, or transfer authority provided in, this
Act or any other appropriation Act.
SEC. 209. ETRAVEL SERVICE. Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, no entity within the legislative branch shall be required
to use the eTravel Service established by the Administrator of
H. R. 4818—386
General Services for official travel by officers or employees of the
entity during fiscal year 2005 or any succeeding fiscal year.
SEC. 210. VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS. (a)
AUTHORITY
TO
OFFER
PAYMENTS.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the head of any office in the legislative branch
may establish a program under which voluntary separation incen-
tive payments may be offered to eligible employees of the office
to encourage such employees to separate from service voluntarily
(whether by retirement or resignation), in accordance with this
section.
(b) AMOUNT AND ADMINISTRATION OF PAYMENTS.—A voluntary
separation incentive payment made under this section—
(1) shall be paid in a lump sum after the employee’s separa-
tion;
(2) shall be equal to the lesser of—
(A) an amount equal to the amount the employee would
be entitled to receive under section 5595(c) of title 5, United
States Code, if the employee were entitled to payment
under such section (without adjustment for any previous
payment made); or
(B) an amount determined by the head of the office
involved, not to exceed $25,000;
(3) may be made only in the case of an employee who
voluntarily separates (whether by retirement or resignation)
under this section;
(4) shall not be a basis for payment, and shall not be
included in the computation, of any other type of Government
benefit;
(5) shall not be taken into account in determining the
amount of any severance pay to which the employee may be
entitled under section 5595 of title 5, United States Code,
based on any other separation; and
(6) shall be paid from appropriations or funds available
for the payment of the basic pay of the employee.
(c) PLAN.—
(1) PLAN REQUIRED FOR MAKING PAYMENTS.—No voluntary
separation incentive payment may be paid under this section
with respect to an office unless the head of the office submits
a plan described in paragraph (2) to each applicable committee
described in paragraph (3), and each applicable committee
approves the plan.
(2) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—A plan described in this paragraph
with respect to an office is a plan containing the following
information:
(A) The specific positions and functions to be reduced
or eliminated.
(B) A description of which categories of employees will
be offered incentives.
(C) The time period during which incentives may be
paid.
(D) The number and amounts of voluntary separation
incentive payments to be offered.
(E) A description of how the office will operate without
the eliminated positions and functions.
(3) APPLICABLE
COMMITTEE.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the ‘‘applicable committee’’ with respect to an office
means any committee of the House of Representatives or Senate