[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2672 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2672
To require that the headquarters of certain Federal agencies and
permanent duty stations of employees of certain Federal agencies be
relocated in order to provide an opportunity to build needed
infrastructure in certain areas and to share the benefits of Federal
employment with economically distressed regions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 23, 2019
Mr. Hawley (for himself and Mrs. Blackburn) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require that the headquarters of certain Federal agencies and
permanent duty stations of employees of certain Federal agencies be
relocated in order to provide an opportunity to build needed
infrastructure in certain areas and to share the benefits of Federal
employment with economically distressed regions.
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 ``Helping Infrastructure Restore the
Economy Act'' or the ``HIRE Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Infrastructure is vital to the economy.
(2) Many areas in the United States have fallen into
economic distress.
(3) The benefits of Federal employment should be shared
widely and should not be concentrated in the Washington
metropolitan area.
(4) Moving the headquarters of Federal agencies and the
covered permanent duty stations of employees of Federal
agencies out of the Washington metropolitan area and to
economically distressed regions would provide an opportunity
to--
(A) build infrastructure in areas of the United
States that need the infrastructure; and
(B) share employment and other financial benefits
of Federal employment with individuals who live in
economically distressed regions.
(5) Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West
Virginia are among the States with regions that have
experienced substantial economic distress during the past 10
years.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 2020 census.--The term ``2020 census'' means the 2020
decennial census of population carried out by the Secretary of
Commerce under section 141 of title 13, United States Code.
(2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of General Services.
(3) Cabinet agency.--The term ``Cabinet agency'' means--
(A) the Department of Agriculture;
(B) the Department of Commerce;
(C) the Department of Education;
(D) the Department of Energy;
(E) the Department of Health and Human Services;
(F) the Department of Housing and Urban
Development;
(G) the Department of the Interior;
(H) the Department of Labor;
(I) the Department of Transportation; and
(J) the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(4) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means--
(A) a Cabinet agency; or
(B) a non-Cabinet agency.
(5) Covered permanent duty station.--The term ``covered
permanent duty station'' means, with respect to employees of a
covered agency, the permanent duty station described in section
6(a)(2).
(6) Designated state.--The term ``designated State''
means--
(A) with respect to the Department of Agriculture,
Missouri;
(B) with respect to the Department of Commerce,
Pennsylvania;
(C) with respect to the Department of Education,
Tennessee;
(D) with respect to the Department of Energy,
Kentucky;
(E) with respect to the Department of Health and
Human Services, Indiana;
(F) with respect to the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, Ohio;
(G) with respect to the Department of the Interior,
New Mexico;
(H) with respect to the Department of Labor, West
Virginia;
(I) with respect to the Department of
Transportation, Michigan;
(J) with respect to the Department of Veterans
Affairs, South Carolina; and
(K) with respect to a non-Cabinet agency, a State
that has a geographical or industrial nexus to one or
more of the principal subjects regulated or studied by
the non-Cabinet agency.
(7) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
(8) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has
the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United
States Code.
(9) Executive department.--The term ``Executive
department'' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of
title 5, United States Code.
(10) Headquarters.--The term ``headquarters''--
(A) means the place or building serving as the
managerial and administrative center of a covered
agency; and
(B) does not include an office that the head of a
covered agency may maintain separately from a place or
building in the Washington metropolitan area.
(11) Location.--The term ``location'' means a geographic
area not larger than 100 square miles.
(12) Non-cabinet agency.--The term ``non-Cabinet agency''--
(A) means each Executive agency the headquarters of
which is located in the Washington metropolitan area;
and
(B) does not include--
(i) an Executive department;
(ii) an Executive agency that is organized
under--
(I) the Executive Office of the
President; or
(II) an Executive department;
(iii) the Smithsonian Institution or any
Executive agency the primary purpose of which
is to govern a museum, exhibition, or library,
preserve one or more buildings, or produce
performing arts; or
(iv) an Executive agency the primary
purpose of which is to--
(I) gather intelligence;
(II) prosecute criminal offenses;
or
(III) protect national security.
(13) Relocation proposal.--The term ``relocation proposal''
means a proposal developed by the Director and the
Administrator under section 4(a)(1)(A).
(14) State.--The term ``State'' means a State of the United
States.
(15) Washington metropolitan area.--The term ``Washington
metropolitan area'' has the meaning given the term ``National
Capital region'' in section 8702 of title 40, United States
Code.
SEC. 4. STUDIES AND RELOCATION PROPOSALS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which the
Secretary of Commerce completes the 2020 census, the Director and the
Administrator shall--
(1) with respect to each covered agency, carry out a study
to--
(A) develop a proposal of 3 locations in the
designated State for the covered agency to which the
headquarters of the covered agency and the covered
permanent duty station of employees of the covered
agency could be relocated; and
(B) determine whether the covered agency should be
abolished or merged with another Executive agency,
rather than being relocated; and
(2) submit each study carried out under paragraph (1) to--
(A) Congress; and
(B) the designated State to which the relocation
proposal included in the study pertains.
(b) Criteria.--
(1) Priority criteria.--In selecting the locations to be
included in a relocation proposal, the Director and the
Administrator shall select locations--
(A) that, during the 10-year period ending on the
date on which the Director and the Administrator submit
the relocation proposal under subsection (a)(2), have
experienced economic distress, which may be
demonstrated by, in comparison to locations in other
States and locations within the designated State--
(i) a low rate of education;
(ii) a low rate of workforce participation;
(iii) a low median income;
(iv) a high rate of poverty; and
(v) a high rate of housing vacancy,
excluding housing properties that are primarily
used for seasonal or recreational use; and
(B) that, with respect to the 10-year period ending
on the date on which the Director and the Administrator
submit the relocation proposal under subsection (a)(2),
have an average unemployment rate that is above the
average unemployment rate of the United States, as
determined by the Secretary of Labor, during that
period.
(2) Secondary criteria.--In selecting the locations to be
included in a relocation proposal, the Director and the
Administrator may, as secondary criteria, consider--
(A) the state of infrastructure in or near a
location;
(B) the ability to expand infrastructure in or near
a location; and
(C) the supply of labor in or near a location.
(3) Limitation.--In selecting the locations to be included
in a relocation proposal, the Director and the Administrator
may not select any location that is within 30 miles of a city
that has a population of more than 800,000 individuals, as
determined by the Secretary of Commerce under the 2020 census.
(4) Specificity.--In selecting the locations to be included
in a relocation proposal, the Director and the Administrator
shall minimize the geographic size of each location selected to
the maximum extent that is reasonably possible.
SEC. 5. SELECTION.
(a) Designated State Officials Selecting Relocation Locations.--
Unless the covered agency to which a relocation proposal pertains is
abolished, not later than 1 year after the date on which the Director
and the Administrator submit the relocation proposal to the designated
State to which the relocation proposal pertains under section 4(a)(2),
the designated State may, from the proposed locations included in the
relocation proposal and by enacting a law of the designated State
stating that a location has been so selected, select 1 location to
which the headquarters of the covered agency and the covered permanent
duty station of employees of the covered agency shall be relocated
under section 6(a).
(b) Failure by, or Inability of, Designated State Officials To
Select and Approve Relocation Locations.--If a designated State to
which a relocation proposal is submitted fails to select a location,
or, under Federal or State law, is unable to select a location, from
the relocation proposal under subsection (a) by the deadline described
in that subsection, the Director and the Administrator shall, from the
locations included in the relocation proposal, select the location to
which the headquarters of the covered agency and the covered permanent
duty station of employees of the covered agency shall be relocated
under section 6(a).
SEC. 6. RELOCATION.
(a) Requirements.--As soon as reasonably possible after a location
is selected under section 5, but in no event later than 10 years
thereafter, the Director, the Administrator, and the head of the
covered agency to which the selection pertains shall relocate to the
selected location--
(1) the headquarters of the covered agency; and
(2) the permanent duty station for not less than 90 percent
of the positions as an officer or employee of the covered
agency for which the permanent duty station is located in the
Washington metropolitan area, without regard to whether the
position is vacant.
(b) Penalties.--If, on the date that is 10 years after the date on
which a location is selected under section 5, the headquarters of the
covered agency and the covered permanent duty station of employees of
the covered agency have not been relocated as required under subsection
(a) of this section--
(1) for the fiscal year immediately following the fiscal
year in which such failure first occurs, and for each fiscal
year thereafter in which any such failure continues, the head
of the covered agency shall be authorized to use funds made
available to the covered agency for the relevant fiscal year in
an amount equal to not more than 85 percent of the funds made
available to the covered agency for the fiscal year in which
the failure first occurs, notwithstanding any other provision
of law authorizing the head of the covered agency to use those
funds in an amount greater than that percent; and
(2) the head of the covered agency may not receive--
(A) pay during the period--
(i) beginning on the date on which the
failure first occurs; and
(ii) ending on the date on which the head
of the covered agency relocates the
headquarters of the covered agency and the
covered permanent duty station of employees of
the covered agency as required under subsection
(a); or
(B) backpay for any pay otherwise payable to the
head of the covered agency for the period described in
subparagraph (A).
(c) Point of Order.--On and after the date that is 10 years after
the date on which a location is selected under section 5 with respect
to a covered agency, if the head of the covered agency has not
relocated the headquarters of the covered agency and the covered
permanent duty station of employees of the covered agency as required
under subsection (a) of this section, it shall not be in order in the
Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, joint
resolution, motion, amendment, amendment between the Houses, or
conference report that authorizes the head of the covered agency to use
funds made available to the covered agency in violation of subsection
(b)(1) of this section.
(d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which a
location is selected under section 5, and not less frequently than
annually each year thereafter until the date on which the head of the
covered agency to which the selection pertains meets the requirements
under subsection (a) of this section, the head of the relevant covered
agency shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of the covered
agency in meeting the requirements under that subsection.
SEC. 7. NO PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to establish a private cause
of action, equitable or otherwise, to challenge any selection or
decision made, or action taken, under this Act.
SEC. 8. JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS OVER CERTAIN CASES.
(a) Inferior Courts and Tribunals.--An inferior court or tribunal
ordained and established by Congress may not exercise jurisdiction over
a case or controversy in which a party challenges--
(1) a selection or decision made, or action taken, under
this Act; or
(2) the validity of this Act.
(b) Supreme Court of the United States.--The Supreme Court of the
United States may not exercise appellate jurisdiction over a case or
controversy described in subsection (a).
SEC. 9. OFFSET ALLOWED.
The Administrator may use the proceeds from the sale of any Federal
building, land, or asset to offset the cost of relocating the
headquarters of the covered agency and the covered permanent duty
station of employees of the covered agency under this Act.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary
to carry out this Act.
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