S. 2545 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2545 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 26, 2014 Ms. Ayotte (for herself and Mrs. McCaskill) 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 revoke bonuses paid to employees involved in electronic wait list manipulations, and for other purposes. 1. Return of bonuses awarded to employees of Department of Veterans Affairs for performance they misrepresented (a) Investigations Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs submits to Congress a report described in subsection (b), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall identify each employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs who— (1) during any of fiscal years 2011 through 2014— (A) contributed to the purposeful omission of the name of one or more veterans waiting for health care from an electronic wait list for a medical facility of the Department identified by the Inspector General in such report; or (B) was the supervisor of an employee of the Department, or was a supervisor of that supervisor, at any level, who contributed to a purposeful omission as described in subparagraph (A) and knew, or reasonably should have known, that the employee contributed to such purposeful omission; and (2) received a bonus in part because of such omission. (b) Reports described A report described in this subsection is a report submitted to Congress by the Inspector General in calendar year 2014 that identifies medical facilities of the Department at which scheduling practices in use, or formerly in use, did not comply with scheduling policies and procedures of the Department. (c) Identification The Secretary shall identify employees contributing to an omission described in subsection (a)(1) without regard to whether the employee knowingly contributed to such omission or contributed to such omission for the purpose of receiving a bonus. (d) Repayment (1) In general For each employee identified under subsection (a) who received a bonus as described in such subsection, the Secretary shall, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, issue an order directing the employee to repay the amount of such bonus. (2) Hearings A hearing under this subsection shall be conducted in accordance with regulations relating to hearings promulgated by the Secretary under chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code. (3) Appeal (A) In general An employee against whom an order is issued under paragraph (1) may appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board under section 7701 of title 5, United States Code. (B) Scope of review A review of an appeal by the Merit Systems Protection Board under subparagraph (A) shall be based on the record established through the appellant’s hearing conducted under paragraph (2). (C) Standard of review The Merit Systems Protection Board shall set aside an order issued under paragraph (1) if the issuing of the order was clearly erroneous or the result of a denial of procedural due process.