H.R. 6101 — Introduced in House

I 115th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6101 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 14, 2018Mr. Fitzpatrick (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, and Mr. Brown of Maryland) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend titles 5 and 38, United States Code, to ensure that certain employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs are subject to the same removal, demotion, and suspension policies as other employees of the Federal Government, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the VA Personnel Equity Act of 2018. 2. Repeal of separate removal, demotion, and suspension processes for certain employees of Department of Veterans Affairs (a) Repeal (1) Title 38 Section 714 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (A) by striking subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (g); (B) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (h) as subsections (a), (b), and (c), respectively; (C) in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by striking under subsection (a) each place it appears; and (D) in subsection (c), as so redesignated— (i) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4); and (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively. (2) Title 5 Section 4303(f) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— (A) in paragraph (2), by striking the comma at the end and inserting , or; (B) in paragraph (3), by striking , or and inserting a period; and (C) by striking paragraph (4). (b) Conforming amendments Chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1) in section 719, by striking under section 713, 714, or 7461 of this title each place it appears and inserting under section 713 or 7461 of this title; (2) in section 714, as amended by subsection (a), by striking the heading and inserting Protections for whistleblowers from removal, demotion, and suspension; (3) by redesignating section 714 as section 734; (4) by transferring section 734, as so redesignated, so as to appear after section 733; and (5) in the table of sections— (A) by striking the item relating to section 714; and (B) by inserting after the item relating to section 733 the following new item: 734. Protections for whistleblowers from removal, demotion, and suspension. . 3. Restoration of certain disciplinary and grievance procedures for personnel of the Veterans Health Administration The following provisions of title 38, United States Code, are each amended to read as such provisions read on the day before the date of the enactment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–41): (1) Section 7461(b). (2) Section 7462(b). (3) Section 7463(c). 4. Comptroller General of the United States report on discipline and removals at Department of Veterans Affairs (a) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that evaluates proposed and final disciplines and removals of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs that occurred during each of the following periods: (1) Calendar years 2014, 2015, and 2016. (2) Beginning on the date of the enactment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–41) and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act. (b) Matters included The report under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following with respect to each period covered by the report: (1) The number of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs proposed for discipline or removal. (2) The number of such employees formally disciplined or removed. (3) The organization, position titles, type of action, effective date of the action, and grades of such employees. (4) The duty locations of such employees. (5) The gender, age, race, veteran status, tenure, and length of service of such employees. (6) With respect to each such employee, the nature of the disciplinary charge (including whether the charge was a first offense), or if related to a performance issue, a summary of the less-than-satisfactory performance leading to the removal or reduction in pay or grade.