[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1565 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1565

  To require Executive agencies to submit to Congress a study of the 
impacts of expanded telework and remote work by agency employees during 
    the COVID-19 pandemic and a plan for the agency's future use of 
           telework and remote work, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2023

  Mrs. Blackburn (for herself, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Scott of 
Florida, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Braun, and Mr. Daines) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require Executive agencies to submit to Congress a study of the 
impacts of expanded telework and remote work by agency employees during 
    the COVID-19 pandemic and a plan for the agency's future use of 
           telework and remote work, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stopping Home Office Work's 
Unproductive Problems Act of 2023'' or the ``SHOW UP Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the 
        term ``Executive agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United 
        States Code.
            (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Personnel Management.
            (3) Locality pay.--The term ``locality pay'' means locality 
        pay provided for under section 5304 or 5304a of title 5, United 
        States Code.
            (4) Telework; teleworking.--The terms ``telework'' and 
        ``teleworking''--
                    (A) have the meaning given those terms in section 
                6501 of title 5, United States Code; and
                    (B) include remote work.

SEC. 3. REINSTATEMENT OF PRE-PANDEMIC TELEWORK POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND 
              LEVELS FOR EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the head of each agency shall reinstate and apply the 
telework policies, practices, and levels of the agency that were in 
effect on December 31, 2019.
    (b) Prohibition.--The head of an agency may not expand any policy, 
practice, or level described in subsection (a) until the date on which 
the head of the agency submits to Congress--
            (1) an agency plan under section 4(a)(2); and
            (2) a certification under section 4(a)(3).

SEC. 4. STUDY, PLAN, AND CERTIFICATION REGARDING EXECUTIVE AGENCY 
              TELEWORK POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND LEVELS FOR EXECUTIVE 
              AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the head of each agency, in consultation with 
the Director, shall submit to Congress--
            (1) a study on the impacts on the agency and the mission of 
        the agency of expanding telework for employees as a result of 
        the public health emergency relating to the Coronavirus Disease 
        2019 (COVID-19) pandemic declared under section 319 of the 
        Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, 
        including an analysis of--
                    (A) any adverse impacts of that expansion on the 
                performance by the agency of the mission of the agency, 
                including the performance of customer service by the 
                agency;
                    (B) any costs to the agency during that expansion 
                attributable to--
                            (i) owning, leasing, or maintaining 
                        underutilized real property; or
                            (ii) paying higher rates of locality pay to 
                        teleworking employees as a result of 
                        incorrectly classifying those employees as 
                        teleworkers rather than remote workers;
                    (C) any degree to which the agency failed during 
                that expansion to provide teleworking employees with 
                secure network capacity, communications tools, 
                necessary and secure access to appropriate agency data 
                assets and Federal records, and equipment sufficient to 
                enable teleworking employee to be fully productive;
                    (D) any degree to which that expansion facilitated 
                dispersal of the agency workforce around the United 
                States; and
                    (E) any other impacts of that expansion that the 
                head of the agency or the Director considers 
                appropriate;
            (2) any agency plan to expand telework policies, practices, 
        or levels beyond the telework policies, practices, and levels 
        of the agency that were in effect on December 31, 2019; and
            (3) a certification by the Director that the agency plan 
        described in paragraph (2) will--
                    (A) have a substantial positive effect on--
                            (i) the performance of the mission of the 
                        agency, including the performance of customer 
                        service;
                            (ii) increasing the level of dispersal of 
                        agency personnel throughout the United States; 
                        and
                            (iii) the reversal of any adverse impacts 
                        described in paragraph (1)(A);
                    (B) substantially lower the costs of the agency 
                relating to owning, leasing, or maintaining real 
                property;
                    (C) substantially lower the costs of the agency 
                attributable to paying locality pay to agency personnel 
                working from locations outside the pay locality of 
                their position's official worksite; and
                    (D) ensure that teleworking employees will be 
                provided with secure network capacity, communications 
                tools, necessary and secure access to appropriate 
                agency data assets and Federal records, and equipment 
                sufficient to enable each teleworking employee to be 
                fully productive, without substantially increasing the 
                agency's overall costs for secure network capacity, 
                communications tools, and equipment.
    (b) Limitation.--
            (1) In general.--The head of an agency may not implement an 
        agency plan described in subsection (a)(2) for which the 
        Director does not issue a certification described in subsection 
        (a)(3).
            (2) Subsequent plans.--If the head of an agency 
        unsuccessfully submits an agency plan described in subsection 
        (a)(2) to the Director for the certification described in 
        subsection (a)(3), the head of the agency may--
                    (A) submit to the Director subsequent agency plans 
                until the head of the agency receives the 
                certification; and
                    (B) submit a subsequent agency plan described in 
                subparagraph (A) that is certified by the Director to 
                Congress.
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