[Senate Report 116-95]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 199
116th Congress      }                                    {       Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session        }                                    {       116-95
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

 

      CHARGING HELPS AGENCIES REALIZE GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCIES ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 2193

 TO REQUIRE THE ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES TO ISSUE GUIDANCE TO 
 CLARIFY THAT FEDERAL AGENCIES MAY PAY BY CHARGE CARD FOR THE CHARGING 
       OF FEDERAL ELECTRIC MOTOR VEHICLES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES







[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]











               September 10, 2019.--Ordered to be printed 
               
                               __________

                U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                
89-010                  WASHINGTON : 2019




               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                    RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah                    KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida                  KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming             JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
                   Joseph C. Folio III, Chief Counsel
           Joshua P. McLeod, Senior Professional Staff Member
               David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
               Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
          Jackson G. Voss, Minority Professional Staff Member
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk











                                                      Calendar No. 199
116th Congress      }                                   {       Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session        }                                   {       116-95

======================================================================



 
      CHARGING HELPS AGENCIES REALIZE GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCIES ACT

                                _______
                                

               September 10, 2019.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2193]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office)

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 2193) to require 
the Administrator of General Services to issue guidance to 
clarify that Federal agencies may pay by charge card for the 
charging of Federal electric motor vehicles, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
with amendments and recommends that the bill, as amended, do 
pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................2
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................3
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................3
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............4

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 2193, the Charging Helps Agencies Realize General 
Efficiencies Act, requires the Administrator of the General 
Services Administration (GSA) to issue clarifying guidance to 
the existing policy that Federal employees authorized to use a 
charge card to refuel a motor vehicle may also use their charge 
card and other forms of payment to pay for the charging of 
electric motor vehicles.

              II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Section 1344 of Title 31, United States Code, provides that 
Federal agencies may expend funds for the ``maintenance, 
operation or repair of any passenger carrier'' when used to 
provide transportation for official purposes.\1\ If the agency 
has funds available or appropriated to it, it may use it in 
order to pay for providing transportation.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\31 U.S.C. Sec.  1344 et seq.
    \2\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 requires 
Federal employees to pay for all payments of expenses for 
official government travel with government issued Federal 
travel charge cards.\3\ The Travel and Transportation Reform 
Act of 1998 also provides that the GSA Administrator has the 
authority to create Federal regulations to collect any 
delinquent amounts that occurred due to an employee using a 
Federal charge card that the government would otherwise end up 
paying.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\Pub. L. No. 105-264.
    \4\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On April 21, 2000, GSA issued a final rule, titled Federal 
Travel Regulation; Mandatory Use of the Travel Charge Card, 
which implements the requirements of the Travel and 
Transportation Reform Act of 1998.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\Federal Travel Regulation; Mandatory Use of the Travel Charge 
Card, 65 Fed. Reg. pt. 3053-3058 (January 19, 2000) (to be codified at 
41 C.F.R. 301).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    GSA operates the world's largest commercial payment program 
for more than 560 Federal agencies and organizations, called 
the SmartPay Program.\6\ SmartPay serves as the government-wide 
commercial fleet account for the ``purchase of fuel, 
maintenance and repair of government owned/operated motor 
vehicles, aircraft boats, and motorized equipment.''\7\ 
SmartPay encourages fleet managers to ``integrate 
environmentally friendly components to their operations,'' 
including alternative vehicle options like electric, hybrid and 
hydrogen fuel cell.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\About GSA SmartPay, SMARTPAY.GSA.GOV (Aug. 12, 2019), https://
smartpay.gsa.gov/content/about-gsa-smartpay#a1.
    \7\Account Holders/ AOs, SMARTPAY.GSA.GOV (Aug. 12, 2019), https://
smartpay.gsa.gov/content/fleet#sa168.
    \8\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Charging Helps Agencies Realize General Efficiencies 
Act reiterates the requirements set forth in existing law by 
the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 regarding 
payments of expenses for official Government travel. The CHARGE 
Act requires the GSA Administrator to issue guidance clarifying 
that Federal agencies may pay for charging of Federal electric 
motor vehicles.

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced S. 2193, the Charging 
Helps Agencies Realize General Efficiencies Act, on July 18, 
2019. The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) 
joined as a cosponsor on July 23, 2019.
    The Committee considered S. 2193 at a business meeting on 
July 24, 2019. During the business meeting, an amendment to 
clarify a definition was offered by Senator Peters and 
unanimously adopted. The bill, as amended, was ordered reported 
favorably by voice vote. Senators present for the vote were 
Johnson, Portman, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, Enzi, Hawley, 
Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, and Rosen. Consistent with 
Committee rules, the bill is being reported with a technical 
amendment.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section established that the Bill may be referred to 
as the ``Charging Helps Agencies Realize General Efficiencies 
Act'' or the ``CHARGE Act''.

Section 2. Payment by charge card for charging Federal electric motor 
        vehicles

    Subsection (a) defines the terms Administrator, charge 
card, covered electric motor vehicle, electric motor vehicle, 
Federal agency, and passenger carrier.
    Subsection (b) requires the GSA Administrator to issue 
guidance within 180 days of the bill's passage in order to 
clarify that agencies may charge electric vehicles at 
commercial stations and pay for the transactions with a charge 
card.
    Subsection (c) requires the GSA Administrator to provide 
charge cards to each agency for electric motor vehicles.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, September 4, 2019.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2193, the CHARGE 
Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    S. 2193 would require the General Services Administration 
(GSA) to issue guidance on how agencies may pay to recharge 
electric vehicles they use. According to GSA this information 
is already available and a wide range of payment methods are 
possible. Thus, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2193 would 
have no significant effect on spending subject to 
appropriation.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    Because this legislation would not repeal or amend any 
provision of current law, it would not make changes in existing 
law within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 
of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

                                  [all]