Foreign Service Families Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.4306 | Sponsor: Rep. Castro, Joaquin (D-TX)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Foreign Service Families Act of 2021
This bill increases access to career and educational opportunities for eligible family members of foreign service employees.
Specifically, the Department of State must use additional hiring preferences and apply appropriate hiring standards to eligible family members seeking employment in certain civil service positions overseas. Additionally, the State Department may take other steps to improve job portability and otherwise support employment of eligible family members who work in the federal civil service or private sector jobs. The State Department must also report on the implementation of the Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps, a program that expedites hiring and onboarding processes for family members who are eligible for appointment to positions overseas.
Furthermore, each federal agency must include in its telework policy the circumstances under which an employee may temporarily work from an approved location overseas.
The bill also makes foreign service employees (or their spouses and dependent children) who are domiciled or assigned to a duty station in a given state eligible for in-state tuition at public institutions of higher education in that state. Such individuals retain their eligibility for in-state tuition provided they maintain continuous enrollment even if their domicile or duty station changes.

To expand employment opportunities for spouses of Foreign Service 
                   officers, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Service Families Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. TELECOMMUTING OPPORTUNITIES.

    (a) Amendment.--Subsection (b) of section 6502 of title 5, United 
States Code (relating to the executive agencies telework requirement), 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph 5, by striking the period at the end; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(6) enumerate the circumstances under which employees may 
        be permitted to temporarily perform work requirements and 
        duties from approved overseas locations.''.
    (b) Access to ICASS System.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall revise 
chapter 900 of volume 6 of the Foreign Affairs Manual, the 
International Cooperative Administrative Support Services Handbook, the 
Personnel Operations Handbook, and any other relevant regulations to 
allow each Federal agency that has enacted a policy pursuant to 
paragraph (6) of section 6502(b) of title 5, United States Code, as 
added by subsection (a), to have access to the International 
Cooperative Administrative Support Services (ICASS) system.

SEC. 3. EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR ELIGIBLE FAMILY MEMBERS 
              OF MEMBERS OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE.

    Section 706(b) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
4026(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``The Secretary may'' and inserting 
                ``The Secretary shall''; and
                    (B) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(C) establishing a program for assisting eligible 
                family members (as such term is defined in 3 FAM 7120) 
                in accessing employment and education opportunities, 
                which shall be modeled after the programs authorized 
                under sections 1784 and 1784a of title 10, United 
                States Code, and based on regulations modeled after 
                those prescribed pursuant to subsection (b) of such 
                section 1784; and'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (9); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraphs:
            ``(2) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations--
                    ``(A) to carry out paragraph (1)(C);
                    ``(B) to provide preference to eligible family 
                members in hiring for any civilian position in the 
                Department of State if--
                            ``(i) the eligible family member is among 
                        persons determined to be best qualified for the 
                        position; and
                            ``(ii) the position is located in the 
                        country of assignment of the employee to whom 
                        they are related;
                    ``(C) to ensure that notice of any vacant position 
                in the Department is provided in a manner reasonably 
                designed to reach eligible family members of such 
                employees whose permanent duty stations are in the same 
                country as that in which the position is located; and
                    ``(D) to ensure that an eligible family member who 
                applies for a vacant position in the Department shall, 
                to the extent practicable, be considered for any such 
                position located in the same country as the permanent 
                duty station of the employee to whom he or she is 
                related.
            ``(3) Nothing in this section may be construed to provide 
        an eligible family member with preference in hiring over an 
        individual who is preference eligible.
            ``(4) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, a 
        chief of mission may, consistent with all applicable laws and 
        regulations pertaining to the ICASS system, make available to a 
        non-Department entity space in an embassy or consulate for the 
        purpose of such non-Department entity providing employment-
        related training for eligible family members.
            ``(5) The Secretary may work with the Director of the 
        Office of Personnel Management and the heads of other Federal 
        departments and agencies to expand and facilitate the use of 
        existing Federal programs and resources in support of eligible 
        family member employment.
            ``(6) The Secretary may--
                    ``(A) develop partnerships with entities in the 
                private sector to enhance employment opportunities for 
                eligible family members and to provide for improved job 
                portability, especially in the case of an eligible 
                family member accompanying an employee to whom he or 
                she is related to a new geographical area because of a 
                change of permanent duty station of such employee; and
                    ``(B) work with the United States Chamber of 
                Commerce and other appropriate private-sector entities 
                to facilitate the formation of such partnerships.
            ``(7) The Secretary may prescribe regulations to 
        incorporate hiring preferences for eligible family members of 
        employees to whom they are related into contracts between the 
        Department and private sector entities.
            ``(8)(A) The Secretary may enter into a cooperative 
        agreement with the Council of State Governments to assist with 
        funding of the development of interstate compacts on licensed 
        occupations in order to alleviate the burden associated with 
        relicensing in such an occupation by an eligible family member 
        in connection with a permanent change of duty station of the 
        employee to whom he or she is related.
                    ``(B) The amount provided under subparagraph (A) as 
                assistance for the development of any particular 
                interstate compact may not exceed $1,000,000.
                    ``(C) The total amount of assistance provided under 
                subparagraph (A) in any fiscal year may not exceed 
                $4,000,000.
                    ``(D) Not later than February 28 each year, the 
                Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
                Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 
                Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on 
                interstate compacts described in subparagraph (A) 
                developed through assistance provided under such 
                subparagraph. Each report shall set forth information 
                relating to the following:
                            ``(i) An interstate compact developed 
                        during the preceding calendar year, including 
                        the occupational licenses covered by such 
                        compact and the States agreeing to enter into 
                        such compact.
                            ``(ii) An interstate compact developed 
                        during a prior calendar year into which one or 
                        more additional States agreed to enter during 
                        the preceding calendar year.
                    ``(E) The authority to enter into a cooperative 
                agreement under subparagraph (A), and to provide 
                assistance described in such subparagraph pursuant to 
                such cooperative agreement, expires on September 30, 
                2024.''.

SEC. 4. REPORTING ON FOREIGN SERVICE FAMILY RESERVE CORPS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall brief the 
appropriate congressional committees on the status of implementation of 
the Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps.
    (b) Elements.--The briefing required under subsection (a) shall 
include the following elements:
            (1) A description of the status of implementation of the 
        Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps (FSFRC).
            (2) An assessment of the extent to which implementation was 
        impacted by the Department of State's hiring freeze and a 
        detailed explanation of the effect of any such impacts.
            (3) A description of the status of implementation of a 
        hiring preference for the FSFRC.
            (4) A detailed accounting of any individuals eligible for 
        membership in the FSFRC who were unable to begin working at a 
        new location as a result of being unable to transfer their 
        security clearance, including an assessment of whether they 
        would have been able to port their clearance as a member of the 
        FSFRC if the program had been fully implemented.
            (5) An estimate of the number of individuals who are 
        eligible to join the FSFRC worldwide and the categories, as 
        detailed in the Under Secretary for Management's guidance dated 
        May 3, 2016, under which those individuals would enroll.
            (6) An estimate of the number of individuals who are 
        enrolled in the FSFRC worldwide and the categories, as detailed 
        in such guidance under which those individuals enrolled.
            (7) An estimate of the number of individuals who were 
        enrolled in each phase of the implementation of the FSFRC, as 
        detailed in such guidance.
            (8) An estimate of the number of individuals enrolled in 
        the FSFRC who have successfully transferred a security 
        clearance to a new post since implementation of the program 
        began.
            (9) An estimate of the number of individuals enrolled in 
        the FSFRC who have been unable to successfully transfer a 
        security clearance to a new post since implementation of the 
        program began.
            (10) An estimate of the number of individuals who have 
        declined in writing to apply to the FSFRC.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS SEEKING 
              POSITIONS CUSTOMARILY FILLED BY FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS 
              OR FOREIGN NATIONAL EMPLOYEES.

    Section 311 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3951) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) The Secretary shall hold a family member of a government 
employee described in subsection (a) seeking employment in a position 
described in such subsection to the same employment standards as those 
applicable to Foreign Service officers, Foreign Service personnel, or 
foreign national employees seeking the same or a substantially similar 
position.''.

SEC. 6. IN-STATE TUITION RATES FOR MEMBERS OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE, 
              SPOUSES, AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN.

    (a) In General.--Section 135 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1015d) is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``the armed forces 
        on active duty, spouses, and dependent children'' and inserting 
        ``a qualifying federal service'';
            (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``member of the armed 
        forces who is on active duty for a period of more than 30 days 
        and'' and inserting ``member of a qualifying Federal service'';
            (3) in subsection (b), by striking ``member of the armed 
        forces'' and inserting ``member of a qualifying Federal 
        service''; and
            (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section, the term `member of a 
qualifying Federal service' means--
            ``(1) a member of the Armed Forces (as such term is defined 
        in section 101 of title 10, United States Code) who is on 
        active duty for a period of more than 30 days (as such term is 
        defined in such section 101); or
            ``(2) a member of the Foreign Service (as such term is 
        defined in section 103 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 
        U.S.C. 3903)) who is on active duty for a period of more than 
        30 days.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect at each public institution of higher education (as such 
term is defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et 
seq.)) in a State that receives assistance under such Act for the first 
period of enrollment at such institution that begins after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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