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106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3500
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 telecom-
muting options to employees.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 18, 1999
Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Small Business
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis-
tration 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.
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 ‘‘Small Business Tele-
commuting Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Telecommuting reduces the volume of peak
commuter traffic, thereby reducing traffic congestion
and air pollution.
(2) The Nation’s communities can benefit from
telecommuting, which gives workers more time to
spend at home with their families.
(3) It is in the national interest to raise aware-
ness within the small business community of tele-
commuting options for employees.
(4) The small business community can benefit
from offering telecommuting options to employees
because such options make it easier for small em-
ployers to retain valued employees and employees
with irreplaceable institutional memory.
SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS TELECOMMUTING PILOT PRO-
GRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this Act, the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall
conduct, at not more than 5 of the Administration’s re-
gional offices, a pilot program to raise awareness about
telecommuting among small business employers and to en-
courage such employers to offer telecommuting options to
employees.
(b) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the
pilot program, the Administrator may only—
(1) produce educational materials and conduct
presentations designed to raise awareness in the
small business community of the benefits and the
ease of telecommuting;
(2) conduct outreach to small business concerns
that are considering offering telecommuting options
to employees; and
(3) acquire telecommuting technologies and
equipment to be used for demonstration purposes.
(c) SELECTION OF OFFICES.—In selecting at which
regional offices to conduct the pilot program, the Adminis-
trator shall give priority consideration to offices located
in regions in which Federal agencies and private-sector
employers have demonstrated a strong, regional commit-
ment to telecommuting.
SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Ad-
ministration shall transmit to the Committee on Small
Business of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Small Business of the Senate a report con-
taining an evaluation of the pilot program.
SEC. 5. TELECOMMUTING DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ‘‘telecommuting’’ means the use
of telecommunications to perform work functions under
circumstances which reduce or eliminate the need to com-
mute.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin-
istrator of the Small Business Administration to carry out
this Act $500,000 for fiscal year 2001.
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