II Calendar No. 38 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 349 [Report No. 118–14] IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 9, 2023 Mr. Lankford (for himself, Ms. Sinema , Mrs. Fischer , Mr. King , Mr. Scott of Florida , and Ms. Hassan ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs April 27, 2023 Reported by Mr. Peters , with an amendment Insert the part printed in italic A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to authorize the appointment of spouses of members of the Armed Forces who are on active duty, disabled, or deceased to positions in which the spouses will work remotely.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Military Spouse Employment Act . 2. Appointment of military spouses Section 3330d of title 5, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following: (3) The term remote work refers to a particular type of telework under which an employee is not expected to report to an officially established agency location on a regular and recurring basis. ; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (5) The term telework has the meaning given the term in section 6501. ; (2) in subsection (b)— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking or at the end; (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; or ; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (3) a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces on active duty, or a spouse of a disabled or deceased member of the Armed Forces, to a position in which the spouse will engage in remote work. ; and (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking subsection (a)(3) and inserting subsection (a)(4) . 3. GAO study and report (a) Definitions In this section— (1) the terms agency means an agency described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of title 31, United States Code; (2) the term employee means an employee of an agency; (3) the term remote work means a particular type of telework under which an employee is not expected to report to an officially established agency location on a regular and recurring basis; and (4) the term telework means a work flexibility arrangement under which an employee performs the duties and responsibilities of such employee’s position, and other authorized activities, from an approved worksite other than the location from which the employee would otherwise work. (b) Requirement Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study and publish a report regarding the use of remote work by agencies, which shall include a discussion of what is known regarding— (1) the number of employees who are engaging in remote work; (2) the role of remote work in agency recruitment and retention efforts; (3) the geographic location of employees who engage in remote work; (4) the effect that remote work has had on how often employees are reporting to officially established agency locations to perform the duties and responsibilities of the positions of those employees and other authorized activities; and (5) how the use of remote work has affected Federal office space utilization and spending.

April 27, 2023 Reported with an amendment