H.R. 6237 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 6237 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 6, 2023Mr. Baird introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To allow Federal State Department employees to file a confidential or open report on any fiscal waste that they come across and establishes an award program for exemplary employees who file non-confidential reports on wasteful spending. 1. Establishment of fiscal waste self-reporting program and fiscal responsibility award (a) Fiscal waste self-Reporting program (1) In general The Department of State Under Secretary for Management shall work with the Director of the Budget and Planning Bureau and the Director of Global Talent in the Global Talent Management Bureau, among other persons, to establish a program for employees to self-report fiscal waste they observe in their course of employment. Within 60 days of receiving a report, the Under Secretary for Management shall— (A) investigate the substance of the report and determine if it identifies fiscal waste; and (B) rectify all instances of fiscal waste identified by the report. (2) Confidentiality Employees shall have the opportunity to mark their submissions to the fiscal waste self-reporting program as confidential. Information in reports marked as confidential shall— (A) be accessible only to staff responsible for administering the fiscal waste self-reporting program and be shared only insofar as is necessary to investigate or rectify the report. Staff administering the program shall not share the name or other identifying information of the submitting employee; and (B) not be used in the promotion, demotion, or termination of or other employment decisions relating to the submitting employee. (3) Annual report The Under Secretary for Management shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an annual report detailing— (A) all submissions to the fiscal waste self-reporting program that year; (B) the findings of all investigations into those submissions; and (C) all rectifying actions taken in response to those submissions. (b) Fiscal responsibility award (1) In general The Under Secretary for Management shall work with the Director of the Budget and Planning Bureau and the Director of Global Talent in the Global Talent Management Bureau, among other persons, to establish a departmental award for any exemplary employee who— (A) recommends or adopts significant cost saving measures in program implementation; (B) identifies instances of fiscal waste within a program; (C) cancels, or recommends cancellation of, programs resulting in fiscal waste; and (D) proposes a plan for reallocation of resources in lieu of requesting greater appropriations. (2) Self-reports An employee’s non-confidential submissions to the fiscal waste self-reporting program, particularly those resulting in rectification, shall be considered in determining that employee’s eligibility for this award. (3) Frequency Eligibility for this award shall be determined on at least a quarterly basis. (c) Definitions In this Act: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. (2) Fiscal waste The term fiscal waste means— (A) any inefficiency in the spending patterns or objectives of a program; (B) any program which consistently does not adequately achieve its stated objectives; and (C) any program which no longer holds relevance or has become obsolete.