[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3481 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3481

To appropriately limit the authority to award bonuses to employees and 
 to require approval of high cost Government conferences and reporting 
                   regarding Government conferences.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2012

 Mrs. McCaskill (for herself and Ms. Ayotte) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To appropriately limit the authority to award bonuses to employees and 
 to require approval of high cost Government conferences and reporting 
                   regarding Government conferences.

    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 ``Stop Wasteful Federal Bonuses and 
Conferences Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. BONUSES.

    (a) Adverse Findings and Employees Under Investigation.--Chapter 45 
of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

            ``SUBCHAPTER IV--LIMITATIONS ON BONUS AUTHORITY

``Sec. 4531. Certain forms of misconduct
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `adverse finding' relating to a employee 
        means a determination that the conduct of the employee resulted 
        in fraud, waste, abuse, or a violation of contracting 
        requirements;
            ``(2) the term `agency' has the meaning given that term 
        under section 551; and
            ``(3) the term `bonus' means any bonus or cash award, 
        including--
                    ``(A) an award under this chapter;
                    ``(B) an award under section 5384; and
                    ``(C) a retention bonus under section 5754.
    ``(b) Adverse Findings.--
            ``(1) In general.--The head of an agency shall not award a 
        bonus to an employee of the agency until 2 years after the end 
        of the fiscal year in which the Inspector General of the agency 
        or the Comptroller General of the United States makes an 
        adverse finding relating to the employee.
            ``(2) Previously awarded bonuses.--If the Inspector General 
        of an agency or the Comptroller General of the United States 
        makes an adverse finding relating to an employee, the head of 
        the agency employing the employee, after notice and an 
        opportunity for a hearing, may 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.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

             ``subchapter iv--limitations on bonus authority

``4531. Certain forms of misconduct.''.

SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT CONFERENCES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given that term 
        under section 551 of title 5, United States Code;
            (2) the term ``conference'' means a meeting that--
                    (A) is held for consultation, education, or 
                discussion;
                    (B) is not held entirely at an agency facility;
                    (C) involves costs associated with travel and 
                lodging for some participants; and
                    (D) is sponsored by 1 or more agencies, 1 or more 
                organizations that are not agencies, or a combination 
                of such agencies or organizations; and
            (3) the term ``employee'' means an employee of an agency.
    (b) High-Cost Conferences.--
            (1) In general.--An agency may not sponsor a conference the 
        total cost to the Government of which is expected to be more 
        than $200,000 without the approval of the head of the agency.
            (2) Limitation on delegation.--The head of an agency may 
        only delegate the authority under this subsection to the Chief 
        Management Officer of the agency or, for an agency that does 
        not have a Chief Management Officer, an employee of the agency 
        in an equivalent position.
    (c) Conference Reporting.--
            (1) In general.--The head of an agency shall submit to each 
        committee of Congress with jurisdiction of the activities of 
        the agency a report regarding each conference sponsored by the 
        agency.
            (2) Contents.--Each report submitted by the head of an 
        agency under paragraph (1) shall provide detailed information 
        about the conference, including--
                    (A) the location of the conference;
                    (B) number of employees attending the conference;
                    (C) a list of the titles of the employees attending 
                the conference;
                    (D) the total cost to the Government of the 
                conference; and
                    (E) a breakdown of the cost to the Government 
                relating to the conference for--
                            (i) scouting for and selecting the location 
                        of the conference;
                            (ii) travel;
                            (iii) lodging;
                            (iv) food;
                            (v) speakers or entertainment; and
                            (vi) gifts provided to conference 
                        attendees.
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