[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 627 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 240
114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 627

                          [Report No. 114-148]

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke bonuses paid to 
employees involved in electronic wait list manipulations, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 2015

  Ms. Ayotte (for herself, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Moran, Mr. Flake, Ms. 
  Klobuchar, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Thune, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Toomey, and Mr. 
   Cassidy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

                           September 28, 2015

  Reported by Mr. Isakson, with an amendment and an amendment to the 
                                 title
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke bonuses paid to 
employees involved in electronic wait list manipulations, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. RETURN OF BONUSES AWARDED TO EMPLOYEES OF 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR PERFORMANCE THEY 
              MISREPRESENTED.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Investigations.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date on which the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs submits to Congress a report described in subsection (b), the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall identify each employee of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs who--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) during any of fiscal years 2011 through 2014--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) contributed to the purposeful omission 
                of the name of one or more veterans waiting for health 
                care from an electronic wait list for a medical 
                facility of the Department identified by the Inspector 
                General in such report; or</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) was the supervisor of an employee of 
                the Department, or was a supervisor of that supervisor, 
                at any level, who contributed to a purposeful omission 
                as described in subparagraph (A) and knew, or 
                reasonably should have known, that the employee 
                contributed to such purposeful omission; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) received a bonus in part because of such 
        omission.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Reports Described.--A report described in this 
subsection is a report that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) was submitted to Congress by the Inspector 
        General;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) is based on investigations carried out by the 
        Inspector General in calendar year 2014; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) identifies medical facilities of the 
        Department at which scheduling practices in use, or formerly in 
        use, did not comply with scheduling policies and procedures of 
        the Department.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Identification.--The Secretary shall identify 
employees contributing to an omission described in subsection (a)(1) 
without regard to whether the employee knowingly contributed to such 
omission or contributed to such omission for the purpose of receiving a 
bonus.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (d) Repayment.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) In general.--For each employee identified 
        under subsection (a) who received a bonus as described in such 
        subsection, the Secretary shall, after notice and an 
        opportunity for a hearing, issue an order directing the 
        employee to repay the amount of such bonus.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Hearings.--A hearing under this subsection 
        shall be conducted in accordance with regulations relating to 
        hearings promulgated by the Secretary under chapter 75 of title 
        5, United States Code.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Appeal.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) In general.--An employee against whom 
                an order is issued under paragraph (1) may appeal to 
                the Merit Systems Protection Board under section 7701 
                of title 5, United States Code.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Scope of review.--A review of an 
                appeal by the Merit Systems Protection Board under 
                subparagraph (A) shall be based on the record 
                established through the appellant's hearing conducted 
                under paragraph (2).</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) Standard of review.--The Merit Systems 
                Protection Board shall set aside an order issued under 
                paragraph (1) if the issuing of the order was clearly 
                erroneous or the result of a denial of procedural due 
                process.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON AWARD OF BONUSES TO EMPLOYEES SUBJECT OF 
              ADVERSE FINDINGS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 714. Prohibition on award of bonuses to employees subject of 
              adverse findings
    ``(a) Prohibition.--(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
in a case in which the Secretary makes an adverse finding relating to 
an employee of the Department, the Secretary may not award a bonus to 
such employee until the earlier of--
            ``(A) the date that is five years after the end of the 
        fiscal year in which the adverse finding was made; or
            ``(B) the date that the finding is found to have been made 
        in error.
    ``(2) The Secretary may base an adverse finding under paragraph (1) 
on an investigation by, determination of, or information provided by 
the Inspector General of the Department or another senior ethics 
official of the Department or the Comptroller General of the United 
States in connection with the carrying out by such official of an 
activity, authority, or function under a provision of law other than 
this section.
    ``(b) Previously Awarded Bonuses.--If the Secretary makes an 
adverse finding relating to an employee under subsection (a), the 
Secretary, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, shall 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, unless such finding is found to have been made in 
error.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `adverse finding' relating to an employee 
        means a determination that the conduct of the employee--
                    ``(A) violated a policy of the Department for which 
                the employee may be removed or suspended; or
                    ``(B) violated a law for which the employee may be 
                imprisoned for more than 1 year.
            ``(2) The term `bonus' means any bonus or cash award, 
        including--
                    ``(A) an award under chapter 45 of title 5;
                    ``(B) an award under section 5384 of such title; 
                and
                    ``(C) a retention bonus under section 5754 of such 
                title.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``714. Prohibition on award of bonuses to employees subject of adverse 
                            findings.''.

SEC. 2. RETENTION OF RECORDS OF REPRIMANDS AND ADMONISHMENTS RECEIVED 
              BY EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, as 
amended by section 1, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:
``Sec. 715. Record of reprimands and admonishments
    ``If any employee of the Department receives a reprimand or 
admonishment, the Secretary shall retain a copy of such reprimand or 
admonishment in the permanent record of the employee as long as the 
employee is employed by the Department.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter, as amended by section 1, is further amended by adding at 
the end the following new item:

``715. Record of reprimands and admonishments.''.
            Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to prohibit the 
        Secretary of Veterans Affairs from awarding bonuses to 
        employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs with respect to 
        whom an adverse finding has been made by the Secretary, and for 
        other purposes.''.
                                                       Calendar No. 240

114th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 627

                          [Report No. 114-148]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke bonuses paid to 
employees involved in electronic wait list manipulations, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           September 28, 2015

        Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the title