[House Report 111-535]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     111-535

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    PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 1722) TO IMPROVE 
TELEWORKING IN EXECUTIVE AGENCIES BY DEVELOPING A TELEWORK PROGRAM THAT 
ALLOWS EMPLOYEES TO TELEWORK AT LEAST 20 PERCENT OF THE HOURS WORKED IN 
        EVERY 2 ADMINISTRATIVE WORKWEEKS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

    July 13, 2010.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. McGovern, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1509]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 1509, by a record vote of 6 to 2, report the 
same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution 
be adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 1722, the 
``Telework Improvements Act of 2009,'' under a closed rule. The 
resolution provides one hour of general debate equally divided 
and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The resolution 
waives all points of order against consideration of the bill 
except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. The 
resolution provides that the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute recommended by the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform, now printed in the bill, modified by the 
amendment printed in this report, shall be considered as 
adopted and the bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. 
The resolution waives all points of order against provisions in 
the bill, as amended. This waiver does not affect the point of 
order available under clause 9 of rule XXI (regarding earmark 
disclosure). The resolution provides one motion to recommit 
with or without instructions. The resolution tables House 
Resolution 1496.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    Although the rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill (except for those arising under 
clause 9 and 10 of rule XXI), and all points of order against 
the bill, as amended, the Committee is not aware of any points 
of order against the bill, as amended, or its consideration. 
The waivers are prophylactic in nature.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion 
to report, together with the names of those voting for and 
against, are printed below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 459

    Date: July 13, 2010.
    Measure: H.R. 1722.
    Motion by: Mr. Dreier.
    Summary of motion: To report an open rule.
    Results: Defeated 2-6.
    Vote by Members: McGovern--Nay; Matsui--Nay; Arcuri--Nay; 
Pingree--Nay; Polis--Nay; Dreier--Yea; Foxx--Yea; Slaughter--
Nay.

Rules Committee record vote No. 460

    Date: July 13, 2010.
    Measure: H.R. 1722.
    Motion by: Mr. Dreier.
    Summary of motion: To make in order and provide appropriate 
waivers for amendments #1, #2, and #3 offered by Rep. Issa to 
be separately debated for 10 minutes each. Amendment #1 would 
eliminate the requirement that each agency create a Telework 
Managing Officer position; amendment #2 would strike the 
`Telework Research' section from the bill and would eliminate 
the requirement that the Director of OPM enter into a contract 
to conduct studies related to the utilization of telework; and 
amendment #3 would provide that telework policies shall not be 
subject to collective bargaining.
    Results: Defeated 2-6.
    Vote by Members: McGovern--Nay; Matsui--Nay; Arcuri--Nay; 
Pingree--Nay; Polis--Nay; Dreier--Yea; Foxx--Yea; Slaughter--
Nay.

Rules Committee record vote No. 461

    Date: July 13, 2010.
    Measure: H.R. 1722.
    Motion by: Mr. McGovern.
    Summary of motion: To report the rule.
    Results: Adopted 6-2.
    Vote by Members: McGovern--Yea; Matsui--Yea; Arcuri--Yea; 
Pingree--Yea; Polis--Yea; Dreier--Nay; Foxx--Nay; Slaughter--
Yea.

            SUMMARY OF AMENDMENT TO BE CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED

    Would exclude employees who have been disciplined for 
certain activities from teleworking, require OMB to issue 
guidelines to prevent inappropriate use of official time or 
resources for certain activities, limit the travel expenses 
test programs to telework programs, and make technical and 
clarifying changes. OMB is required under the amendment to 
issue guidelines to prevent inappropriate use of official time 
or resources that violates subpart G of the Standards of 
Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch by 
viewing, downloading, or exchanging pornography. Also, the 
amendment would add language providing that the legislation 
does not authorize telework for an employee who has been 
officially disciplined for violations of the Standards of 
Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch for 
viewing, downloading, or exchanging pornography.

             TEXT OF AMENDMENT TO BE CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED

  Page 5, strike lines 7 through 10 and insert the following:
                  ``(B) that information on whether a position 
                is eligible for telework is included in 
                descriptions of available positions and 
                recruiting materials.''.
  Page 6, line 6, strike ``or''.
  Page 6, line 9, strike the period and insert ``; or''.
  Page 6, insert after line 9 the following:
          ``(3) authorize telework by an employee who has been 
        officially disciplined for violations of subpart G of 
        the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the 
        Executive Branch for viewing, downloading, or 
        exchanging pornography, including child pornography.''.
  Page 7, line 16, strike ``Promulgation of Regulations by'' 
and insert ``Responsibilities of''.
  Page 8, line 4, strike ``such as considerations relating to 
employee performance'' and insert ``such as the effect of 
employee performance on eligibility''.
  Page 9, line 1, strike ``in, or otherwise affected by,'' and 
insert ``while''.
  Page 9, line 12, strike ``and''.
  Page 9, line 15, strike the period and insert ``; and''.
  Page 9, insert after line 15 the following:
          ``(6) to prevent inappropriate use of official time 
        or resources that violates subpart G of the Standards 
        of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 
        Branch by viewing, downloading, or exchanging 
        pornography, including child pornography.''.
  Page 18, strike line 3 and all that follows through page 20, 
line 7 and insert the following:

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY FOR TELEWORK TRAVEL EXPENSE TEST PROGRAMS.

  (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``Sec. 5711. Authority for telework travel expense test programs

  ``(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
subchapter, under a test program which the Administrator of 
General Services determines to be in the interest of the 
Government and approves, an employing agency may pay through 
the proper disbursing official any necessary travel expenses in 
lieu of any payment otherwise authorized or required under this 
subchapter for employees participating in a telework program. 
Under an approved test program, an agency may provide an 
employee with the option to waive any payment authorized or 
required under this subchapter. An agency shall include in any 
request to the Administrator for approval of such a test 
program an analysis of the expected costs and benefits and a 
set of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the 
program.
  ``(2) Any test program operated under this section shall be 
designed to enhance cost savings or other efficiencies that 
accrue to the Government.
  ``(3) Under any test program operated under this section, if 
an agency employee voluntarily relocates from the pre-existing 
duty station of that employee, the Administrator may authorize 
the employing agency to establish a reasonable maximum number 
of occasional visits to the pre-existing duty station before 
that employee is eligible for payment of any accrued travel 
expenses by that agency.
  ``(4) Nothing in this section is intended to limit the 
authority of any agency to conduct test programs.
  ``(b) The Administrator shall transmit a description of any 
test program approved by the Administrator under this section, 
and the rationale for approval, to the appropriate committees 
of the Congress at least 30 days before the effective date of 
the program.
  ``(c)(1) An agency authorized to conduct a test program under 
this section shall provide to the Administrator, the Telework 
Managing Officer of that agency, and the appropriate committees 
of Congress a report on the results of the program not later 
than 3 months after completion of the program.
  ``(2) The results in a report described under paragraph (1) 
may include--
          ``(A) the number of visits an employee makes to the 
        pre-existing duty station of that employee;
          ``(B) the travel expenses paid by the agency;
          ``(C) the travel expenses paid by the employee; or
          ``(D) any other information the agency determines 
        useful to aid the Administrator, Telework Managing 
        Officer, and Congress in understanding the test program 
        and the impact of the program.
  ``(d) No more than 10 test programs under this section may be 
conducted simultaneously.
  ``(e) The authority to conduct test programs under this 
section shall expire 7 years after the date of the enactment of 
the Telework Improvements Act of 2010.
  ``(f) In this section, the term `appropriate committees of 
Congress' means the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.''.
  (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter 
I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 5711. Authority for telework travel expense test programs''.

                                  
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