Title: A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke bonuses paid to employees involved in electronic wait list manipulations, and for other purposes
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
(Sec. 1) This bill provides that if the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) makes an adverse finding that a VA employee has violated a VA policy for which the employee may be removed or suspended, or has violated a law for which the employee may be imprisoned for more than one year, the VA may not award a bonus to such employee until the earlier of:
If an adverse finding is made, the VA, after providing notice and an opportunity for a hearing, shall direct the employee to repay any bonus received during the year in which the adverse finding is made, unless such finding is found to have been made in error.
(Sec. 2) If a VA employee receives a reprimand or admonishment, the VA shall retain a copy of such reprimand or admonishment in the employee's permanent record as long as he or she is employed by the VA.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 57 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 57

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke bonuses paid to 
employees involved in electronic wait list manipulations, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 5, 2017

  Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Daines, Mr. 
 Flake, and Mr. Johnson) introduced the following bill; which was read 
        twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke bonuses paid to 
employees involved in electronic wait list manipulations, 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. PROHIBITION ON AWARD OF BONUSES TO EMPLOYEES SUBJECT OF 
              ADVERSE FINDINGS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 717. Prohibition on award of bonuses to employees subject of 
              adverse findings
    ``(a) Prohibition.--(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
in a case in which the Secretary makes an adverse finding relating to 
an employee of the Department, the Secretary may not award a bonus to 
such employee until the earlier of--
            ``(A) the date that is five years after the end of the 
        fiscal year in which the adverse finding was made; or
            ``(B) the date that the finding is found to have been made 
        in error.
    ``(2) The Secretary may base an adverse finding under paragraph (1) 
on an investigation by, determination of, or information provided by 
the Inspector General of the Department or another senior ethics 
official of the Department or the Comptroller General of the United 
States in connection with the carrying out by such official of an 
activity, authority, or function under a provision of law other than 
this section.
    ``(b) Previously Awarded Bonuses.--If the Secretary makes an 
adverse finding relating to an employee under subsection (a), the 
Secretary, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, shall issue 
an order directing the employee to repay the amount of any bonus 
awarded to the employee during the year during which the adverse 
finding is made, unless such finding is found to have been made in 
error.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `adverse finding' relating to an employee 
        means a determination that the conduct of the employee--
                    ``(A) violated a policy of the Department for which 
                the employee may be removed or suspended; or
                    ``(B) violated a law for which the employee may be 
                imprisoned for more than 1 year.
            ``(2) The term `bonus' means any bonus or cash award, 
        including--
                    ``(A) an award under chapter 45 of title 5;
                    ``(B) an award under section 5384 of such title; 
                and
                    ``(C) a retention bonus under section 5754 of such 
                title.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``717. Prohibition on award of bonuses to employees subject of adverse 
                            findings.''.

SEC. 2. RETENTION OF RECORDS OF REPRIMANDS AND ADMONISHMENTS RECEIVED 
              BY EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, as 
amended by section 1, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:
``Sec. 719. Record of reprimands and admonishments
    ``If any employee of the Department receives a reprimand or 
admonishment, the Secretary shall retain a copy of such reprimand or 
admonishment in the permanent record of the employee as long as the 
employee is employed by the Department.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter, as amended by section 1, is further amended by adding at 
the end the following new item:

``719. Record of reprimands and admonishments.''.
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