Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1170 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1170
5	5	To require the heads of Federal agencies to submit to Congress an annual
6	6	report regarding official time authorized under title 5, United States
7	7	Code, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	MARCH27, 2025
10	10	Ms. E
11	11	RNST(for herself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill;
12	12	which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu-
13	13	rity and Governmental Affairs
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To require the heads of Federal agencies to submit to Con-
16	16	gress an annual report regarding official time authorized
17	17	under title 5, United States Code, and for other pur-
18	18	poses.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taxpayer-Funded 4
23	23	Union Time Transparency Act’’. 5
24	24	SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT REGARDING LABOR MATTERS. 6
25	25	(a) D
26	26	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 7
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29	29	•S 1170 IS
30	30	(1) AGENCY; COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREE -1
31	31	MENT; EMPLOYEE; LABOR ORGANIZATION .—The 2
32	32	terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘collective bargaining agreement’’, 3
33	33	‘‘employee’’, and ‘‘labor organization’’ have the 4
34	34	meanings given those terms in section 7103 of title 5
35	35	5, United States Code. 6
36	36	(2) S
37	37	ECTION 7131.—The term ‘‘section 7131’’ 7
38	38	means section 7131 of title 5, United States Code. 8
39	39	(b) A
40	40	NNUALREPORT.—Not later than June 30 of 9
41	41	each year that begins after the year in which this Act is 10
42	42	enacted, the head of each agency shall submit to Congress, 11
43	43	and post on the public website of the agency, a report that 12
44	44	details the following for the year covered by the report: 13
45	45	(1) The total cost to the agency of official time 14
46	46	authorized under section 7131. 15
47	47	(2) A detailed explanation of the purpose for 16
48	48	which the agency made each authorization of official 17
49	49	time under section 7131. 18
50	50	(3) With respect to each employee of the agency 19
51	51	for whom official time was authorized under section 20
52	52	7131— 21
53	53	(A) the position and annual rate of basic 22
54	54	pay of the employee; 23
55	55	(B) the value of any bonus awarded to the 24
56	56	employee; 25
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59	59	•S 1170 IS
60	60	(C) the cost to the agency of providing 1
61	61	benefits (including health insurance, retirement 2
62	62	contributions, and any other financial benefit 3
63	63	other than basic pay and a bonus) to the em-4
64	64	ployee; 5
65	65	(D) the total number of hours the em-6
66	66	ployee spent on activities for which the official 7
67	67	time was authorized; and 8
68	68	(E) the exact percentage that the number 9
69	69	of hours described in subparagraph (D) rep-10
70	70	resented with respect to the total number of 11
71	71	hours worked by the employee for the applicable 12
72	72	year. 13
73	73	(4) The total amount of compensation paid to 14
74	74	employees of the agency to— 15
75	75	(A) negotiate collective bargaining agree-16
76	76	ments; 17
77	77	(B) negotiate agreements between the 18
78	78	agency and a labor organization to address 19
79	79	matters of employment with respect to which a 20
80	80	collective bargaining agreement does not apply; 21
81	81	(C) process grievances pursuant to proce-22
82	82	dures established under a collective bargaining 23
83	83	agreement; and 24
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86	86	•S 1170 IS
87	87	(D) engage in mediation, arbitration, or 1
88	88	impasse resolution in connection with collective 2
89	89	bargaining disputes. 3
90	90	(5) The total amount of fees paid by the agency 4
91	91	to arbitrators hearing grievances pursuant to proce-5
92	92	dures described in paragraph (4)(C). 6
93	93	(6) The total amount paid by the agency for 7
94	94	travel and lodging expenses incurred by agency staff 8
95	95	(including employees for whom official time was au-9
96	96	thorized under section 7131 and representatives of 10
97	97	the agency) who were traveling for the purposes of 11
98	98	negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. 12
99	99	(7) The total amount of expenses paid the 13
100	100	agency (or with respect to which a labor organiza-14
101	101	tion has requested reimbursement from the agency) 15
102	102	for retaining experts to assist in the negotiation of 16
103	103	a collective bargaining agreement. 17
104	104	(8) The total amount of expenses paid by the 18
105	105	agency (or with respect to which a labor organiza-19
106	106	tion has requested reimbursement from the agency) 20
107	107	for retaining factfinders, mediators, or arbitrators to 21
108	108	settle a dispute arising under a collective bargaining 22
109	109	agreement. 23
110	110	(9) The total number of hours for which the 24
111	111	agency permitted labor organizations, or employees 25
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114	114	•S 1170 IS
115	115	of the agency for whom official time was authorized 1
116	116	under section 7131, to use agency property at no 2
117	117	cost or at a discounted rate. 3
118	118	(10) The amount of real estate made available 4
119	119	by the agency to labor organizations, which shall be 5
120	120	measured by square footage and in consultation with 6
121	121	the Administrator of General Services. 7
122	122	(11) The total monetary value of the uses de-8
123	123	scribed in paragraphs (9) and (10), which shall in-9
124	124	clude— 10
125	125	(A) the cost of maintaining real estate 11
126	126	made available to a labor organization; and 12
127	127	(B) the cost of acquiring each asset made 13
128	128	available to a labor organization. 14
129	129	(12) The amount of each reimbursement col-15
130	130	lected by the agency with respect to a use described 16
131	131	in paragraph (9) or (10). 17
132	132	(13) The total amount of the expenses (includ-18
133	133	ing the cost of administrative support and the cost 19
134	134	of acquiring technology) incurred by the agency for 20
135	135	purposes of activities conducted by a labor organiza-21
136	136	tion or a private individual with respect to official 22
137	137	time authorized by the agency under section 7131. 23
138	138	(14) An explanation of any increase, as com-24
139	139	pared to the report submitted in the previous year, 25
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142	142	•S 1170 IS
143	143	in the amount of official time authorized by the 1
144	144	agency under section 7131. 2
145	145	(15) The total amount of penalties levied 3
146	146	against the agency relating to collective bargaining 4
147	147	with a labor organization, including the value of ar-5
148	148	bitration awards paid to, or monetary settlements 6
149	149	with, a labor organization or a member of a labor 7
150	150	organization. 8
151	151	(c) GAO A
152	152	UDITS.—The Comptroller General of the 9
153	153	United States shall, not less frequently than once every 10
154	154	4 years— 11
155	155	(1) audit the accounting practices that each 12
156	156	agency uses to document the items described in sub-13
157	157	section (b); and 14
158	158	(2) if the Comptroller General finds, in carrying 15
159	159	out paragraph (1), that an agency is not using gen-16
160	160	erally accepted accounting principles, at minimum, 17
161	161	brief the relevant authorizing committees of Con-18
162	162	gress regarding that failure by the agency. 19
163	163	Æ
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