[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S868-S869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SENATE SHARED EMPLOYEE ACT

  Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 422, which was introduced 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 422) to allow Senators, Senators-elect, 
     committees of the Senate, leadership offices, and other 
     offices of the Senate to share employees, and for other 
     purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Ms. SMITH. I further ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a 
third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 422) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time and passed, as follows

                                 S. 422

       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 ``Senate Shared Employee 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. ALLOWING SENATORS, COMMITTEES, LEADERSHIP OFFICES, 
                   AND OTHER OFFICES OF THE SENATE TO SHARE 
                   EMPLOYEES.

       (a) In General.--Section 114 of the Legislative Branch 
     Appropriation Act, 1978 (2 U.S.C. 4576) is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``Notwithstanding'';
       (2) by striking ``position, each of'' and all that follows 
     through the period at the end and inserting the following: 
     ``qualifying position if the aggregate gross pay from those 
     positions does not exceed--
       ``(1) the maximum rate specified in section 105(d)(2) of 
     the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1968 (2 U.S.C. 
     4575(d)(2)), as amended and modified; or
       ``(2) in a case where 1 or more of the individual's 
     qualifying positions are positions described in subsection 
     (d)(2)(B), the maximum rate specified in section 105(e)(3) of 
     the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1968 (2 U.S.C. 
     4575(e)(3)), as amended and modified.''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b)(1) For an individual serving in more than 1 
     qualifying position under subsection (a), the cost of any 
     travel for official business shall be paid by the office 
     authorizing the travel.
       ``(2) Messages for each electronic mail account used in 
     connection with carrying out the official duties of an 
     individual serving in more than 1 qualifying position under 
     subsection (a) may be delivered to and sent from a single 
     handheld communications device provided to the individual for 
     purposes of official business.
       ``(3)(A) For purposes of the Ethics in Government Act of 
     1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), the rate of basic pay for an individual 
     serving in more than 1 qualifying position under subsection 
     (a) shall be the total basic pay received by the individual 
     from all such positions.
       ``(B) For an individual serving in more than one qualifying 
     position under subsection (a), for purposes of the rights and 
     obligations described in, or described in the provisions 
     applied under, title II of the Congressional Accountability 
     Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1311 et seq.) related to practices used 
     at a time when the individual is serving in such a qualifying 
     position with an employing office, the rate of pay for the 
     individual shall be the individual rate of pay received from 
     the employing office.
       ``(c)(1) If the duties of a qualifying position under 
     subsection (a) include information technology services and 
     support, an individual may only serve in the qualifying 
     position and 1 or more additional qualifying positions under 
     such subsection if the individual is in compliance with each 
     information technology standard and policy established for 
     Senate offices by the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and 
     Doorkeeper of the Senate.
       ``(2) Notwithstanding subsection (a), an employee serving 
     in a qualifying position in the Office of the Secretary of 
     the Senate or the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and 
     Doorkeeper of the Senate may serve in an additional 
     qualifying position only if--
       ``(A) the other qualifying position is with the other 
     Office; or
       ``(B) the Committee on Rules and Administration of the 
     Senate has approved the arrangement.
       ``(d) In this section, the term `qualifying position' means 
     a position that--

[[Page S869]]

       ``(1) is designated as a shared position for purposes of 
     this section by the Senator or other head of the office in 
     which the position is located; and
       ``(2) is one of the following:
       ``(A) A position--
       ``(i) that is in the office of a Senator; and
       ``(ii) the pay of which is disbursed by the Secretary of 
     the Senate.
       ``(B) A position--
       ``(i) that is in any committee of the Senate (including a 
     select or special committee) or a joint committee of 
     Congress; and
       ``(ii) the pay of which is disbursed by the Secretary of 
     the Senate out of an appropriation under the heading 
     `inquiries and investigations' or `Joint Economic Committee', 
     or a heading relating to a Joint Congressional Committee on 
     Inaugural Ceremonies.
       ``(C) A position--
       ``(i) that is in another office (excluding the Office of 
     the Vice President and the Office of the Chaplain of the 
     Senate); and
       ``(ii) the pay of which is disbursed by the Secretary of 
     the Senate out of an appropriation under the heading 
     `Salaries, Officers and Employees'.
       ``(D) A position--
       ``(i) that is filled pursuant to section 105 of the Second 
     Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1978 (2 U.S.C. 6311); and
       ``(ii) the pay of which is disbursed by the Secretary of 
     the Senate out of an appropriation under the heading 
     `miscellaneous items'.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect beginning on the day that is 6 months after 
     the date of enactment of this Act.

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