I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1364 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to limit the use of official time 
for political activity and to exclude certain official time from eligibility 
as creditable service under CSRS and FERS, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2017 
Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to limit the use 
of official time for political activity and to exclude certain 
official time from eligibility as creditable service under 
CSRS and FERS, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Official Time Reform 
Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF OFFICIAL TIME FOR POLIT-
ICAL ACTIVITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7131 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (d) by inserting ‘‘and sub-
section (e)’’ after ‘‘preceding subsections’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) An employee may not be granted official time 
under this section for any time such employee would other-
wise be in a duty status for purposes of engaging in any 
political activity, including lobbying activity.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 
section shall apply on the date of enactment of this Act, 
regardless of whether an employee is covered by a collec-
tive bargaining agreement in effect on such date. 
SEC. 3. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN DURATIONS OF OFFICIAL 
TIME FROM CREDITABLE SERVICE. 
(a) CSRS.—Section 8332 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(p)(1) An employee may not be allowed credit under 
this section for any day of service spent principally on offi-
cial time, as described under subsection (b), that is in ex-
cess of 365 days in the aggregate. 
‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, an employee 
spends a day principally on official time if at least 80 per-
cent of the time such employee would otherwise be in a 
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duty status during such day is spent on official time grant-
ed under section 7131. 
‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any service de-
scribed under paragraph (1) for which an employee is not 
allowed credit under this subsection shall be treated as 
creditable service for purposes of calculating the average 
pay of the employee under section 8331(4).’’. 
(b) FERS.—Section 8411 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by— 
(1) striking ‘‘(i)(1) Upon application’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(j)(1) Upon application’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(m)(1) An employee may not be allowed credit under 
this section for any day of service spent principally on offi-
cial time, as described under subsection (b), that is in ex-
cess of 365 days in the aggregate. 
‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, an employee 
spends a day principally on official time if at least 80 per-
cent of the time such employee would otherwise be in a 
duty status during such day is spent on official time grant-
ed under section 7131. 
‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any service de-
scribed under paragraph (1) for which an employee is not 
allowed credit under this subsection shall be considered 
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service for purposes of calculating the average pay of the 
employee under section 8401(3).’’. 
(c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 
section shall apply to any applicable annuity calculated on 
or after October 1, 2017. 
Æ 
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