[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5647 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5647

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat certain ride-
   sharing services provided by transportation network companies as 
   excludable transportation fringe benefits, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 6, 2016

  Mr. Meadows (for himself and Mr. Connolly) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in 
  addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 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 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat certain ride-
   sharing services provided by transportation network companies as 
   excludable transportation fringe benefits, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 
        (``WMATA'') provides approximately 2.3 million Metrorail and 
        Metrobus trips per year across the National Capital Region to 
        Federal employees, commuters, and millions of visitors to the 
        Nation's capital.
            (2) Approximately 40 percent of WMATA peak-hour commuters 
        are Federal employees.
            (3) WMATA began building its rail system in 1969 and 
        currently serves 91 stations and has 117 miles of track.
            (4) The Federal Transit Administration (``FTA'') and the 
        National Transportation Safety Board (``NTSB'') have found 
        significant safety concerns resulting from a backlog of 
        deferred maintenance.
            (5) By closing the system earlier on weekends and expanding 
        weekday maintenance, SafeTrack will address FTA and NTSB safety 
        recommendations and deferred maintenance backlogs.
            (6) The plan includes 15 ``Safety Surges'' with around-the-
        clock single tracking or segment shutdowns that will impact 
        rush hour commutes.
            (7) SafeTrack is scheduled to conclude in March 2017.
            (8) During the course of SafeTrack, WMATA is encouraging 
        customers to utilize other commuting options, including ride-
        sharing services.
            (9) The Federal Government, which is negatively affected 
        when its employees cannot easily commute to and from work, has 
        an interest in assisting employees with alternate commuting 
        options during the course of SafeTrack.

SEC. 2. RIDE-SHARING SERVICES PROVIDED BY A TRANSPORTATION NETWORK 
              COMPANY.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (1) of section 132(f) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following: ``, 
or through the qualified use of services provided by a transportation 
network company,''.
                    ``(E) Any qualified ride-sharing service provided 
                after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph 
                and before June 1, 2017.''.
    (b) Qualified Ride-Sharing Services.--Paragraph (5) of section 
132(f) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(G) Qualified ride-sharing service.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `qualified 
                        ride-sharing service' means transportation 
                        provided through a transportation network 
                        company if--
                                    ``(I) such transportation is in 
                                connection with travel between the 
                                employee's residence and place of 
                                employment, both of which are located 
                                within the Washington Metropolitan 
                                Area,
                                    ``(II) the employee is an employee 
                                of a Government agency and receives 
                                transit benefits from the agency, and
                                    ``(III) such transportation is 
                                through the use of services that 
                                utilize innovative mobility 
                                technologies to provide alternatives to 
                                driving alone, including car-share, 
                                bike-share, carpool or vanpool, 
                                multimodal fare payment system, app-
                                based mobility provider, and other 
                                innovative projects.
                            ``(ii) Washington metropolitan area.--The 
                        term `Washington Metropolitan Area' means the 
                        District of Columbia; Montgomery, Prince 
                        George's, and Frederick Counties in Maryland; 
                        Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William 
                        Counties in Virginia; and all cities now or 
                        hereafter existing in Maryland or Virginia 
                        within the geographic area bounded by the outer 
                        boundaries of the combined area of said 
                        counties.''.
    (c) Limitation on Exclusion.--Paragraph (2) of section 132(f) of 
such Code is amended by striking ``subparagraphs (A) and (B)'' and 
inserting ``subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D)''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to payments made after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. TRANSIT BENEFITS FOR SERVICES OF TRANSPORTATION NETWORK 
              COMPANIES.

    (a) In General.--During the period beginning on the date of 
enactment of this Act and ending on June 1, 2017, or a date determined 
under subsection (d), whichever is earlier, the head of any agency that 
has a program, including any program established under section 7905 of 
title 5, United States Code, or Executive Order 13150 (April 21, 2000; 
65 Fed. Reg. 24613), to provide transit benefits to employees of the 
agency shall provide transit benefits to employees who use the services 
of transportation network companies within the Washington Metropolitan 
Area in the same manner as such head provides transit benefits to 
employees who use public transportation services within the Washington 
Metropolitan Area.
    (b) Requirements.--
            (1) Election.--An employee may receive transportation 
        network companies benefits under this section only if the 
        employee agrees in writing not to accept any other transit 
        benefit, including any parking benefit, offered by the 
        applicable agency head while receiving such transportation 
        network companies benefits.
            (2) Limit.--The amount of the transit benefit provided to 
        an employee under this section during any month for the use of 
        the services of transportation network companies may not exceed 
        the amount of the transit benefit that would have been provided 
        to the employee during the month for the use of public 
        transportation services.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``transportation network company'' means a 
        corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole 
        proprietor, or any other entity that utilizes innovative 
        mobility technologies to provide alternatives to driving alone, 
        including car-share, bike-share, carpool or vanpool, multimodal 
        fare payment system, app-based mobility providers, and other 
        innovative projects; and
            (2) the term ``Washington Metropolitan Area'' means the 
        District of Columbia; Montgomery, Prince George's, and 
        Frederick Counties in Maryland; Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, and 
        Prince William Counties in Virginia; and all cities now or 
        hereafter existing in Maryland or Virginia within the 
        geographic area bounded by the outer boundaries of the combined 
        area of said counties.
    (d) Early Completion of SafeTrack.--If the program conducted by the 
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (commonly referred to as 
``SafeTrack'') is completed on a date before June 1, 2017, an agency 
head shall, beginning on such date, discontinue the provision of 
transit benefits for the use of transportation network companies under 
this section.
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