[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5074 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5074
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide to Congress
quarterly briefings on budgetary shortfalls of the Department of
Veterans Affairs and to prohibit the provision of bonuses to Department
of Veterans Affairs employees in Senior Executive Service positions in
fiscal years with budgetary shortfalls, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 17, 2024
Mr. Sullivan (for himself, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Daines, Mr. Tuberville, Mrs.
Blackburn, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Budd, Mr. Braun, Mr. Cassidy,
Mr. Rubio, Mr. Grassley, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Tillis, and Mrs. Fischer)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide to Congress
quarterly briefings on budgetary shortfalls of the Department of
Veterans Affairs and to prohibit the provision of bonuses to Department
of Veterans Affairs employees in Senior Executive Service positions in
fiscal years with budgetary shortfalls, 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 ``Protecting Regular Order for
Veterans Act of 2024'' or the ``PRO Veterans Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. MATTERS ADDRESSING DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS BUDGETARY
SHORTFALLS.
(a) Quarterly Briefings.--
(1) Quarterly briefings required.--During the first quarter
beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act and in
each quarter thereafter until the date that is three years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs shall provide to the appropriate committees of
Congress a quarterly briefing, in person, on the budget of the
Department of Veterans Affairs and any shortfall the Department
may be experiencing.
(2) Plans.--In any case in which the Secretary informs
Congress during a briefing under paragraph (1) that the
Department is experiencing a shortfall, the Secretary shall,
during such briefing, present the plans of the Secretary to
address or mitigate the shortfall.
(b) Prohibition on Provision of Bonuses to Certain Department of
Veterans Affairs Employees in Senior Executive Service Positions in
Calendar Years With Certain Budgetary Shortfalls.--
(1) Prohibition.--
(A) Department of veterans affairs.--Subject to
paragraph (2), during a period described in
subparagraph (C), the Secretary may not provide any
bonus or cash award to any employee or officer of the
Department who works in the central office of the
Department in a Senior Executive Service position, or a
position in another comparable system for senior-level
Government employees, if the Secretary submits to the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate or the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives a request for an appropriation for the
Department for that fiscal year and the request is not
submitted in the course of a proceeding relating to--
(i) the preparation, submittal, or
presentation of the budget of the President
submitted pursuant to section 1105(a) of title
31, United States Code, for the applicable
fiscal year; or
(ii) a midsession review by either of such
committees.
(B) Office of management and budget.--Subject to
paragraph (2), during a period described in
subparagraph (C), the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget may not provide any bonus or cash
award to any employee or officer of the Office of
Management and Budget who serves in a Senior Executive
Service position, or a position in another comparable
system for senior-level Government employees, if the
Secretary submits to the Committee on Appropriations of
the Senate or the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives a request for an appropriation
for the Department for that fiscal year and the request
is not submitted in the course of a proceeding relating
to--
(i) the preparation, submittal, or
presentation of the budget of the President
submitted pursuant to section 1105(a) of title
31, United States Code, for the applicable
fiscal year; or
(ii) a midsession review by either of such
committees.
(C) Period.--A period described in this
subparagraph is any period--
(i) beginning on the date on which the
Secretary submits a request described in
subparagraph (A); and
(ii) ending on the last day of the fiscal
year during which the Secretary submits such
request.
(2) Sunset.--The prohibitions in paragraph (1) shall
terminate on the date that is three years after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Senior executive service position.--The term ``Senior
Executive Service position'' has the meaning given such term in
section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code.
(3) Shortfall.--The term ``shortfall'', with respect to a
fiscal year, means that the amount of appropriations required
by the Department of Veterans Affairs for such fiscal year to
meet all of the statutory obligations of the Department during
that fiscal year exceeds the amount of appropriations requested
for the Department for that fiscal in the budget of the
President submitted pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31,
United States Code, for that fiscal year.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS POSITIONS CREATED
SINCE OCTOBER 1, 2022.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit
to Congress a report on positions of employment created within the
Department of Veterans Affairs during the period beginning on October
1, 2022, and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Contents.--The report submitted pursuant to subsection (a)
shall include the following:
(1) A description for each position of employment described
in subsection (a).
(2) For each position described pursuant to paragraph (1),
the following:
(A) The job description.
(B) The compensation.
(C) Bonuses provided.
(D) Remote work status.
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