[House Report 114-180]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
114th Congress { } Report
1st Session { HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES } 114-180
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WOUNDED WARRIORS FEDERAL LEAVE ACT OF 2015
_______
June 25, 2015.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Chaffetz, from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 313]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to whom
was referred the bill (H.R. 313) to amend title 5, United
States Code, to provide leave to any new Federal employee who
is a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 30
percent or more for purposes of undergoing medical treatment
for such disability, and for other purposes, having considered
the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and
recommend that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Committee Statement and Views.................................... 2
Section-by-Section............................................... 2
Explanation of Amendments........................................ 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Roll Call Votes.................................................. 3
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch..................... 3
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the
Committee...................................................... 3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 3
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 3
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings.............................. 4
Federal Advisory Committee Act................................... 4
Unfunded Mandate Statement....................................... 4
Earmark Identification........................................... 4
Committee Estimate............................................... 4
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate... 4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 6
Committee Statement and Views
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 313, the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015,
supports wounded warriors transitioning to civilian careers by
providing newly hired disabled veterans access to sick leave to
care for their injuries.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Under current law, full-time federal workers accrue four
hours of sick leave each full biweekly pay period, totaling 13
days of sick leave per year.\1\ Since federal workers begin
with a zero sick leave balance, disabled veterans beginning
civilian jobs often have insufficient leave to receive
necessary medical treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder,
severe physical injuries, and other service-connected
disabilities. As a result, they must often take unpaid leave to
care for their injuries, or forego their medical appointments.
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\1\5 U.S.C. 6307.
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The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015 supports
newly hired federal workers who are veterans by granting them
access to sick leave for medical treatment related to their
service-connected disability.
Legislative History
H.R. 313, the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015,
was introduced on January 13, 2015 by Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-
MA) and referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform. On January 27, 2015, the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform ordered H.R. 313 favorably reported without
amendment. Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Gerald E. Connolly
(D-VA), Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Blake Farenthold (R-TX),
Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-NC), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
are original cosponsors.
The legislation was ordered reported by the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform in the 113th Congress (H.R.
5229).
Section-by-Section
Section 1. Short title
The short title of the bill is the ``Wounded Warriors
Federal Leave Act of 2015.''
Section 2. Additional leave for Federal employees who are disabled
veterans
Federal employees with a service-connected disability
rating of 30 percent or greater will have access to up to 13
days of sick leave for medical treatment related to their
disability during their first year of civilian employment. The
bill defines service-connected disability to include non-combat
related injuries. Available leave is capped at 104 hours and
any leave not used during the employees first year is
forfeited. Individuals utilizing this new category of leave
must certify use of such leave was related to treatment of
their disability subject to regulations prescribed by the
Office of Personnel Management.
Explanation of Amendments
No amendments were offered during Full Committee
consideration of H.R. 313.
Committee Consideration
On January 27, 2015 the Committee met in open session and
ordered reported favorably the bill, H.R. 313, by voice vote, a
quorum being present.
Roll Call Votes
There were no recorded votes during Full Committee
consideration of H.R. 313.
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch
Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a
description of the application of this bill to the legislative
branch where the bill relates to the terms and conditions of
employment or access to public services and accommodations.
This bill amends title 5, United States Code, to provide leave
to any new Federal employee who is a veteran with a service-
connected disability rated at 30 percent or more for purposes
of undergoing medical treatment for such disability. As such
this bill does relate to employment and/or access to public
services and accommodations.
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the Committee
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of
this report.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance
goal or objective of this bill is to amend title 5, United
States Code, to provide leave to any new Federal employee who
is a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 30
percent or more for purposes of undergoing medical treatment
for such disability.
Duplication of Federal Programs
No provision of this bill establishes or reauthorizes a
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings
The Committee estimates that enacting this bill does direct
the completion of a specific rule making within the meaning of
5 U.S.C. 551. H.R. 313 requires the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management to prescribe regulations with respect to
the leave established under this bill, not later than nine
months after the date of enactment.
Federal Advisory Committee Act
The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).
Unfunded Mandate Statement
Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded
Mandate Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement as to
whether the provisions of the report include unfunded mandates.
In compliance with this requirement the Committee has received
a letter from the Congressional Budget Office included herein.
Earmark Identification
This bill does not include any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9 of rule XXI.
Committee Estimate
Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out
this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974.
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received
the following cost estimate for this bill from the Director of
Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 313--Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015
Summary: H.R. 313 would provide additional sick leave to
veterans with a disability rated at 30 percent or greater who
are newly hired by the federal government. That additional
leave would have to be used for treatment of the employee's
disability and would expire one year after it became available
to the employee. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 313 would
cost $55 million over the next five years, subject to
appropriation of the necessary funds. That cost represents the
value of the additional sick leave that CBO estimates would be
provided to newly hired veterans. In some cases that additional
leave would lead to additional spending by agencies; in other
cases agencies would lose the value of the work of the people
using the additional days of leave.
Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to this legislation
because it would not affect direct spending or revenues.
H.R. 313 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary effect of H.R. 313 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall in all budget functions
except functions 900 (net interest) and 950 (offsetting
receipts).
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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
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2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2015-2020
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CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Estimated Authorization Level............ 0 3 14 15 15 16 63
Estimated Outlays........................ 0 2 9 14 15 16 55
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Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes HR. 313
will be enacted late in fiscal year 2015 and the amounts
estimated to be needed will be appropriated each year.
The legislation would provide a maximum of 104 hours of
additional sick leave to veterans with a disability rated at 30
percent or greater who are newly hired by the federal
government. The bill specifies that the additional leave would
become available for employees hired one year or more after the
date of enactment. That additional leave would have to be used
for treatment of the employee's disability and would expire one
year after it became available to the employee.
In 2009, President Obama signed an executive order
establishing the Veterans Employment Initiative, which was
designed to increase federal hiring of veterans. According to
the Veterans Employment Council, the proportion of newly hired
federal workers who are veterans increased from 35 percent in
2008 to 46 percent in 2013 (the most recent year for which data
are available). During those years, the proportion of hired
employees who are veterans with a disability rating of 30
percent or greater also increased, from 5.5 percent to 10.7
percent (from 7,000 to 11,000 employees per year). The rate of
increase in hiring of disabled veterans has slowed recently,
but CBO expects that about 8,000 to 9,000 disabled veterans
will continue to be hired by the federal government each year
through 2020.
The potential budgetary effects of this bill derive from
the use of additional sick leave. The Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) calculates that the average salary of new
hires who are veterans with a disability rated at 30 percent or
greater is $51,000. Data from OPM and research by the
Congressional Research Service indicate that disabled veterans
use more sick leave than other employees and that the temporary
nature of the additional sick leave would encourage employees
to use the benefit at a higher rate than regular leave. On
average, CBO estimates that 60 percent of the leave made
available under the bill would be used. Based on the
anticipated number of new hires of disabled veterans, their
average hourly rate, and their projected use of the additional
sick leave that the bill would make available, CBO estimates
that the legislation would cost $55 million over the 2015-2020
period.
How that additional cost would affect the federal budget is
difficult to determine. Some of the disabled veterans who would
be aided by this bill would, under current law, use annual
leave to receive treatment for their disability; the provision
of additional sick leave under the bill could mean that they
have more accumulated leave when they separate from the
government, which would lead to larger cash payments by the
government at that time. Some government agencies might hire
additional people or contract for additional services to make
up for the lost output of the disabled workers who would take
additional leave under the bill; that would raise federal costs
in the near term, subject to the availability of appropriated
funds. Some of the affected veterans would take more sick leave
in total, and the agencies for which they work might not hire
additional people or contract for additional services; in those
cases, there would be no direct budgetary effect, but the
government would lose the value of the work of those people on
those additional days of sick leave. Therefore, although the
additional cost would appear in different ways for disabled
veterans and agencies in different circumstances, the
government would nonetheless bear a cost for the additional
leave that was taken.
Pay-As-You-Go considerations: None.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 313
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA and would not affect the budgets of state,
local, or tribal governments.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Dan Ready; Impact on
State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Jon Sperl; Impact on the
Private Sector: Paige Piper/Bach.
Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
PART III--EMPLOYEES
* * * * * * *
SUBPART E--ATTENDANCE AND LEAVE
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 63--LEAVE
SUBCHAPTER I--ANNUAL AND SICK LEAVE
Sec.
6301. Definitions.
* * * * * * *
SUBCHAPTER II--OTHER PAID LEAVE
* * * * * * *
6329. Disabled veteran leave.
* * * * * * *
SUBCHAPTER II--OTHER PAID LEAVE
* * * * * * *
Sec. 6329. Disabled veteran leave
(a) During the 12-month period beginning on the first day of
employment, any employee who is a veteran with a service-
connected disability rated at 30 percent or more is entitled to
leave, without loss or reduction in pay, for purposes of
undergoing medical treatment for such disability for which sick
leave could regularly be used.
(b)(1) The leave credited to an employee under subsection (a)
may not exceed 104 hours.
(2) Any leave credited to an employee pursuant to subsection
(a) that is not used during the 12-month period described in
such subsection may not be carried over and shall be forfeited.
(c) In order to verify that leave credited to an employee
pursuant to subsection (a) is used for treating a service-
connected disability, such employee shall submit to the head of
the employing agency certification, in such form and manner as
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management may
prescribe, that such employee used such leave for purposes of
being furnished treatment for such disability by a health care
provider.
(d) In this section--
(1) the term ``employee'' has the meaning given such
term in section 2105, and includes an officer or
employee of the United States Postal Service or of the
Postal Regulatory Commission;
(2) the term ``service-connected'' has the meaning
given such term in section 101(16) of title 38; and
(3) the term ``veteran'' has the meaning given such
term in section 101(2) of such title.
* * * * * * *