Title: HIRE Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Helping Infrastructure Restore the Economy Act or the HIRE Act
This bill requires certain federal agencies, including 10 departments, to be abolished or relocated outside the National Capital region. The bill designates a state for the new location of each department.
The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration must, for each agency, develop a proposal to relocate the agency to an area that has experienced economic distress. Relocation proposals must include three proposed locations in one state. Locations may not be within 30 miles of a city that has a population of more than 800,000.
States may select a location for a relocating agency from the proposed locations.
The bill requires relocations to take place within 10 years of the selection of a location and provides penalties for failure to relocate.
Federal courts are denied jurisdiction over a case or controversy in which a party challenges a selection or action taken under this bill.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2672 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2672

   To require that the headquarters of certain Federal agencies and 
  permanent duty stations of employees of certain Federal agencies be 
     relocated in order to provide an opportunity to build needed 
 infrastructure in certain areas and to share the benefits of Federal 
            employment with economically distressed regions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 23, 2019

 Mr. Hawley (for himself and Mrs. Blackburn) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require that the headquarters of certain Federal agencies and 
  permanent duty stations of employees of certain Federal agencies be 
     relocated in order to provide an opportunity to build needed 
 infrastructure in certain areas and to share the benefits of Federal 
            employment with economically distressed regions.

    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 ``Helping Infrastructure Restore the 
Economy Act'' or the ``HIRE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Infrastructure is vital to the economy.
            (2) Many areas in the United States have fallen into 
        economic distress.
            (3) The benefits of Federal employment should be shared 
        widely and should not be concentrated in the Washington 
        metropolitan area.
            (4) Moving the headquarters of Federal agencies and the 
        covered permanent duty stations of employees of Federal 
        agencies out of the Washington metropolitan area and to 
        economically distressed regions would provide an opportunity 
        to--
                    (A) build infrastructure in areas of the United 
                States that need the infrastructure; and
                    (B) share employment and other financial benefits 
                of Federal employment with individuals who live in 
                economically distressed regions.
            (5) Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, 
        Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West 
        Virginia are among the States with regions that have 
        experienced substantial economic distress during the past 10 
        years.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) 2020 census.--The term ``2020 census'' means the 2020 
        decennial census of population carried out by the Secretary of 
        Commerce under section 141 of title 13, United States Code.
            (2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of General Services.
            (3) Cabinet agency.--The term ``Cabinet agency'' means--
                    (A) the Department of Agriculture;
                    (B) the Department of Commerce;
                    (C) the Department of Education;
                    (D) the Department of Energy;
                    (E) the Department of Health and Human Services;
                    (F) the Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development;
                    (G) the Department of the Interior;
                    (H) the Department of Labor;
                    (I) the Department of Transportation; and
                    (J) the Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (4) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means--
                    (A) a Cabinet agency; or
                    (B) a non-Cabinet agency.
            (5) Covered permanent duty station.--The term ``covered 
        permanent duty station'' means, with respect to employees of a 
        covered agency, the permanent duty station described in section 
        6(a)(2).
            (6) Designated state.--The term ``designated State'' 
        means--
                    (A) with respect to the Department of Agriculture, 
                Missouri;
                    (B) with respect to the Department of Commerce, 
                Pennsylvania;
                    (C) with respect to the Department of Education, 
                Tennessee;
                    (D) with respect to the Department of Energy, 
                Kentucky;
                    (E) with respect to the Department of Health and 
                Human Services, Indiana;
                    (F) with respect to the Department of Housing and 
                Urban Development, Ohio;
                    (G) with respect to the Department of the Interior, 
                New Mexico;
                    (H) with respect to the Department of Labor, West 
                Virginia;
                    (I) with respect to the Department of 
                Transportation, Michigan;
                    (J) with respect to the Department of Veterans 
                Affairs, South Carolina; and
                    (K) with respect to a non-Cabinet agency, a State 
                that has a geographical or industrial nexus to one or 
                more of the principal subjects regulated or studied by 
                the non-Cabinet agency.
            (7) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Management and Budget.
            (8) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United 
        States Code.
            (9) Executive department.--The term ``Executive 
        department'' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of 
        title 5, United States Code.
            (10) Headquarters.--The term ``headquarters''--
                    (A) means the place or building serving as the 
                managerial and administrative center of a covered 
                agency; and
                    (B) does not include an office that the head of a 
                covered agency may maintain separately from a place or 
                building in the Washington metropolitan area.
            (11) Location.--The term ``location'' means a geographic 
        area not larger than 100 square miles.
            (12) Non-cabinet agency.--The term ``non-Cabinet agency''--
                    (A) means each Executive agency the headquarters of 
                which is located in the Washington metropolitan area; 
                and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) an Executive department;
                            (ii) an Executive agency that is organized 
                        under--
                                    (I) the Executive Office of the 
                                President; or
                                    (II) an Executive department;
                            (iii) the Smithsonian Institution or any 
                        Executive agency the primary purpose of which 
                        is to govern a museum, exhibition, or library, 
                        preserve one or more buildings, or produce 
                        performing arts; or
                            (iv) an Executive agency the primary 
                        purpose of which is to--
                                    (I) gather intelligence;
                                    (II) prosecute criminal offenses; 
                                or
                                    (III) protect national security.
            (13) Relocation proposal.--The term ``relocation proposal'' 
        means a proposal developed by the Director and the 
        Administrator under section 4(a)(1)(A).
            (14) State.--The term ``State'' means a State of the United 
        States.
            (15) Washington metropolitan area.--The term ``Washington 
        metropolitan area'' has the meaning given the term ``National 
        Capital region'' in section 8702 of title 40, United States 
        Code.

SEC. 4. STUDIES AND RELOCATION PROPOSALS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which the 
Secretary of Commerce completes the 2020 census, the Director and the 
Administrator shall--
            (1) with respect to each covered agency, carry out a study 
        to--
                    (A) develop a proposal of 3 locations in the 
                designated State for the covered agency to which the 
                headquarters of the covered agency and the covered 
                permanent duty station of employees of the covered 
                agency could be relocated; and
                    (B) determine whether the covered agency should be 
                abolished or merged with another Executive agency, 
                rather than being relocated; and
            (2) submit each study carried out under paragraph (1) to--
                    (A) Congress; and
                    (B) the designated State to which the relocation 
                proposal included in the study pertains.
    (b) Criteria.--
            (1) Priority criteria.--In selecting the locations to be 
        included in a relocation proposal, the Director and the 
        Administrator shall select locations--
                    (A) that, during the 10-year period ending on the 
                date on which the Director and the Administrator submit 
                the relocation proposal under subsection (a)(2), have 
                experienced economic distress, which may be 
                demonstrated by, in comparison to locations in other 
                States and locations within the designated State--
                            (i) a low rate of education;
                            (ii) a low rate of workforce participation;
                            (iii) a low median income;
                            (iv) a high rate of poverty; and
                            (v) a high rate of housing vacancy, 
                        excluding housing properties that are primarily 
                        used for seasonal or recreational use; and
                    (B) that, with respect to the 10-year period ending 
                on the date on which the Director and the Administrator 
                submit the relocation proposal under subsection (a)(2), 
                have an average unemployment rate that is above the 
                average unemployment rate of the United States, as 
                determined by the Secretary of Labor, during that 
                period.
            (2) Secondary criteria.--In selecting the locations to be 
        included in a relocation proposal, the Director and the 
        Administrator may, as secondary criteria, consider--
                    (A) the state of infrastructure in or near a 
                location;
                    (B) the ability to expand infrastructure in or near 
                a location; and
                    (C) the supply of labor in or near a location.
            (3) Limitation.--In selecting the locations to be included 
        in a relocation proposal, the Director and the Administrator 
        may not select any location that is within 30 miles of a city 
        that has a population of more than 800,000 individuals, as 
        determined by the Secretary of Commerce under the 2020 census.
            (4) Specificity.--In selecting the locations to be included 
        in a relocation proposal, the Director and the Administrator 
        shall minimize the geographic size of each location selected to 
        the maximum extent that is reasonably possible.

SEC. 5. SELECTION.

    (a) Designated State Officials Selecting Relocation Locations.--
Unless the covered agency to which a relocation proposal pertains is 
abolished, not later than 1 year after the date on which the Director 
and the Administrator submit the relocation proposal to the designated 
State to which the relocation proposal pertains under section 4(a)(2), 
the designated State may, from the proposed locations included in the 
relocation proposal and by enacting a law of the designated State 
stating that a location has been so selected, select 1 location to 
which the headquarters of the covered agency and the covered permanent 
duty station of employees of the covered agency shall be relocated 
under section 6(a).
    (b) Failure by, or Inability of, Designated State Officials To 
Select and Approve Relocation Locations.--If a designated State to 
which a relocation proposal is submitted fails to select a location, 
or, under Federal or State law, is unable to select a location, from 
the relocation proposal under subsection (a) by the deadline described 
in that subsection, the Director and the Administrator shall, from the 
locations included in the relocation proposal, select the location to 
which the headquarters of the covered agency and the covered permanent 
duty station of employees of the covered agency shall be relocated 
under section 6(a).

SEC. 6. RELOCATION.

    (a) Requirements.--As soon as reasonably possible after a location 
is selected under section 5, but in no event later than 10 years 
thereafter, the Director, the Administrator, and the head of the 
covered agency to which the selection pertains shall relocate to the 
selected location--
            (1) the headquarters of the covered agency; and
            (2) the permanent duty station for not less than 90 percent 
        of the positions as an officer or employee of the covered 
        agency for which the permanent duty station is located in the 
        Washington metropolitan area, without regard to whether the 
        position is vacant.
    (b) Penalties.--If, on the date that is 10 years after the date on 
which a location is selected under section 5, the headquarters of the 
covered agency and the covered permanent duty station of employees of 
the covered agency have not been relocated as required under subsection 
(a) of this section--
            (1) for the fiscal year immediately following the fiscal 
        year in which such failure first occurs, and for each fiscal 
        year thereafter in which any such failure continues, the head 
        of the covered agency shall be authorized to use funds made 
        available to the covered agency for the relevant fiscal year in 
        an amount equal to not more than 85 percent of the funds made 
        available to the covered agency for the fiscal year in which 
        the failure first occurs, notwithstanding any other provision 
        of law authorizing the head of the covered agency to use those 
        funds in an amount greater than that percent; and
            (2) the head of the covered agency may not receive--
                    (A) pay during the period--
                            (i) beginning on the date on which the 
                        failure first occurs; and
                            (ii) ending on the date on which the head 
                        of the covered agency relocates the 
                        headquarters of the covered agency and the 
                        covered permanent duty station of employees of 
                        the covered agency as required under subsection 
                        (a); or
                    (B) backpay for any pay otherwise payable to the 
                head of the covered agency for the period described in 
                subparagraph (A).
    (c) Point of Order.--On and after the date that is 10 years after 
the date on which a location is selected under section 5 with respect 
to a covered agency, if the head of the covered agency has not 
relocated the headquarters of the covered agency and the covered 
permanent duty station of employees of the covered agency as required 
under subsection (a) of this section, it shall not be in order in the 
Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, joint 
resolution, motion, amendment, amendment between the Houses, or 
conference report that authorizes the head of the covered agency to use 
funds made available to the covered agency in violation of subsection 
(b)(1) of this section.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which a 
location is selected under section 5, and not less frequently than 
annually each year thereafter until the date on which the head of the 
covered agency to which the selection pertains meets the requirements 
under subsection (a) of this section, the head of the relevant covered 
agency shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of the covered 
agency in meeting the requirements under that subsection.

SEC. 7. NO PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to establish a private cause 
of action, equitable or otherwise, to challenge any selection or 
decision made, or action taken, under this Act.

SEC. 8. JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS OVER CERTAIN CASES.

    (a) Inferior Courts and Tribunals.--An inferior court or tribunal 
ordained and established by Congress may not exercise jurisdiction over 
a case or controversy in which a party challenges--
            (1) a selection or decision made, or action taken, under 
        this Act; or
            (2) the validity of this Act.
    (b) Supreme Court of the United States.--The Supreme Court of the 
United States may not exercise appellate jurisdiction over a case or 
controversy described in subsection (a).

SEC. 9. OFFSET ALLOWED.

    The Administrator may use the proceeds from the sale of any Federal 
building, land, or asset to offset the cost of relocating the 
headquarters of the covered agency and the covered permanent duty 
station of employees of the covered agency under this Act.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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