[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3500 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3500

  To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to 
 conduct a pilot program to raise awareness about telecommuting among 
   small business employers and to encourage such employers to offer 
                  telecommuting options to employees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 1999

Mr. Udall of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to 
 conduct a pilot program to raise awareness about telecommuting among 
   small business employers and to encourage such employers to offer 
                  telecommuting options to employees.

    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 ``Small Business Telecommuting Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Telecommuting reduces the volume of peak commuter 
        traffic, thereby reducing traffic congestion and air pollution.
            (2) The Nation's communities can benefit from 
        telecommuting, which gives workers more time to spend at home 
        with their families.
            (3) It is in the national interest to raise awareness 
        within the small business community of telecommuting options 
        for employees.
            (4) The small business community can benefit from offering 
        telecommuting options to employees because such options make it 
        easier for small employers to retain valued employees and 
        employees with irreplaceable institutional memory.

SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS TELECOMMUTING PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--In accordance with this Act, the Administrator of 
the Small Business Administration shall conduct, at not more than 5 of 
the Administration's regional offices, a pilot program to raise 
awareness about telecommuting among small business employers and to 
encourage such employers to offer telecommuting options to employees.
    (b) Permissible Activities.--In carrying out the pilot program, the 
Administrator may only--
            (1) produce educational materials and conduct presentations 
        designed to raise awareness in the small business community of 
        the benefits and the ease of telecommuting;
            (2) conduct outreach to small business concerns that are 
        considering offering telecommuting options to employees; and
            (3) acquire telecommuting technologies and equipment to be 
        used for demonstration purposes.
    (c) Selection of Offices.--In selecting at which regional offices 
to conduct the pilot program, the Administrator shall give priority 
consideration to offices located in regions in which Federal agencies 
and private-sector employers have demonstrated a strong, regional 
commitment to telecommuting.

SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall transmit to 
the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Small Business of the Senate a report containing an 
evaluation of the pilot program.

SEC. 5. TELECOMMUTING DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``telecommuting'' means the use of 
telecommunications to perform work functions under circumstances which 
reduce or eliminate the need to commute.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the 
Small Business Administration to carry out this Act $500,000 for fiscal 
year 2001.
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