To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Bill: 117-hr-6638
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Mann, Tracey [R-KS-1]
Introduced: 2022-02-08
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Employment discrimination and employee rights

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Latest action: action_date: 2022-03-30
text: Subcommittee Hearings Held.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-02-08
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>This bill modifies policies and procedures of the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) related to whistleblower disclosures and whistleblower retaliation, including by authorizing the transfer of VA funds to be made available for the purpose of addressing whistleblower and retaliation claims in specified circumstances.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6638 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 8, 2022 Mr. Mann (for himself and Mr. Bost ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs , and in addition to the Committee on Appropriations , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

1. Modifications and improvements to Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Section 323 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (c)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B); (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through (G) as subparagraphs (A) through (E), respectively; (iii) in each of subparagraphs (A) and (B), as so redesignated, by inserting and allegations of whistleblower retaliation after disclosures ; (iv) in subparagraph (B), as so redesignated— (I) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting subparagraph (A) ; and (II) by striking the Office of the Medical Inspector and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the Office of Special Counsel. ; and (v) by striking subparagraphs (H) and (I); and (B) in paragraph (2)— (i) by striking a toll-free telephone number and Internet and inserting an internet ; and (ii) by inserting and allegations of whistleblower retaliation after disclosures ; (2) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following new subsection (f): (f) Reports (1) Not later than 90 days after the last day of each fiscal year, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the activities of the Office during that fiscal year. (2) Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include, for the fiscal year covered by the report, the following: (A) A full and substantive analysis of the activities of the Office, including such statistical information as the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate. (B) Identification of any issues reported to the Secretary under subsection (c)(1)(G), including such data as the Assistant Secretary considers relevant to such issues and any trends the Assistant Secretary may have identified with respect to such issues. (C) Identification of such concerns as the Assistant Secretary may have regarding the size, staffing, and resources of the Office and such recommendations as the Assistant Secretary may have for legislative or administrative action to address such concerns. (D) Such recommendations as the Assistant Secretary may have for legislative or administrative action to improve— (i) the process by which concerns are reported to the Office; and (ii) the protection of whistleblowers within the Department. (E) Such other matters as the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate regarding the functions of the Office or other matters relating to the Office. ; (3) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (j); (4) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsections: (g) Transfer authority (1) As the Secretary determines appropriate, of the amounts made available for the Department for any of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, the Secretary may transfer to the Office of Special Counsel not more than $5,000,000, to be available for the purpose of addressing whistleblower and retaliation claims, if the Comptroller General of the Office of Special Counsel enters into an agreement with the Secretary under which the Comptroller General agrees to ensure that amounts transferred under this paragraph will only be used— (A) to address whistleblower and retaliation claims involving the Department; and (B) to supplement and not to supplant amounts otherwise made available to the Office of Special Counsel. (2) Not later than 90 days after the last day of any fiscal year for which the Secretary transfers funds under this subsection, the Special Counsel shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the use of the funds transferred under this subsection during such fiscal year. Each such report shall include, for the fiscal year covered by the report— (A) the total amount transferred and an accounting of the expenditure of such funds demonstrating that such funds were used only to address complaints related to the Department; (B) the number of whistleblower complaints received by the Office of Special Counsel involving the Department; (C) the number of retaliation complaints received by the Office of Special Counsel involving the Department; (D) the number of whistleblower complaints investigated by the Office of Special Counsel involving the Department; (E) the number of retaliation complaints closed by the Office of Special Counsel involving the Department and disposition of each such complaint, including— (i) whether each such complaint was settled, closed without a finding of retaliation, or received another disposition; and (ii) for each such complaint that was settled, the amount of the settlement; and (F) data regarding the amount of time it took the Office of Special Counsel to close whistleblower and retaliation claims involving the Department, including a distribution of the closed cases by type. (h) Training The Assistant Secretary shall— (1) provide training on whistleblower protection and related issues and make such training available to employees of the Department; and (2) disseminate training materials and information to employees on whistleblower rights, whistleblower disclosures, and allegations of whistleblower retaliation, including any materials created pursuant to section 733 of this title. (i) Availability of information The Assistant Secretary shall make publicly available on an appropriate website of the Department the following information: (1) Templates that can be used to submit proper and complete whistleblower and retaliation claims. (2) The standard operating procedures of the Office and any applicable regulations. (3) Each report submitted under subsection (f). ; and (5) in subsection (j), as so redesignated— (A) by striking paragraph (1); (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and (C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3) The term whistleblower retaliation means the taking or failure to take, or the threat to take or not to take, by a supervisory employee (as such term is defined in section 7103(a) of title 5), of a personnel action because of a whistleblower disclosure. . 2. Pilot program on counseling for whistleblowers (a) In general The Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Accountability and Whistleblower Protection shall carry out two-year pilot program under which the Assistant Secretary shall offer counseling to a Department of Veterans Affairs whistleblower regarding the relevant laws and policies that affect the whistleblower, the whistleblower’s disclosure, and any allegation of whistleblower retaliation. (b) Implementation The Assistant Secretary shall begin implementing the pilot program required under this section by not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act. (c) Report Upon the conclusion of the pilot program, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the program, which shall include the number of employees who received counseling under the program, trends identified by the program, an analysis of the program, and such other matters as the Assistant Secretary determines relevant.