House Committee Clears Good Government Bills Impacting Feds, Postal Employees
During a business meeting on Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform advanced six ‘good government’ bills. The legislation includes four federal workforce and government oversight packages and two items specific to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
The committee passed the following bills, sending them to the full House for consideration:
H.R. 1930, the Federal Advisory Committee Transparency Act;
H.R. 2485, the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act;
H.R. 2681, the Integrity Committee Transparency Act;
H.R. 978, the Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act;
H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act; and
H.R. 3077, the Postal Service Improvement Act
The Federal Advisory Committee Transparency Act was introduced during Sunshine Week in March – a national initiative dedicated to increasing transparency and oversight of government actors. The bill builds off of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which requires committees providing advice to federal agencies and the president to operate with transparency. Lawmakers reported concerns that agencies use loopholes in the law to avoid reporting requirements.
The Federal Advisory Committee Transparency Act would close such loopholes by clarifying that the legislation applies to subcommittees as well as parent committees and clarifying that a committee set up by a contractor is subject to FACA if it is formed under direction by the president or an agency.
The Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act would create a single website on which Congress and the public can easily “search, sort, and download agency congressional reports.” This bipartisan bill was introduced by Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL) and James Comer (R-KY). The bill passed through the House of Representatives in the 116th Congress unanimously, but did not move forward in the Senate.
The Integrity Committee Transparency Act focuses on increasing transparency within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)’s Integrity Committee (IC). The bill would expedite the adjudication of cases and seek to avoid backlogs by requiring stricter reporting requirements for any requests for deadline extensions. The bill would attempt to promote transparency of allegations against OIGs by requiring the IC to report the number of allegations against each OIG and increase accountability by requiring semi-annual briefings to Congress by the IC, and briefing upon request for specific issues. The bill would also authorize the appointment of a former Inspector General to the IC.
Finally, the Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act would require agencies to publish publicly safety plans outlining their strategies for maintaining the health of their workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing employees vaccines, requiring employee travel, and protecting employees in locations outside of federal buildings.
The legislation is named after Chai Suthammanont, a constituent of bill sponsor Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA). Suthammanont was a federal employee who died from complications related to COVID-19.
The committee also passed the Postal Service Reform Act and the Postal Service Improvement Act. The Postal Service Reform Act has been endorsed by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) for repealing a mandate that the USPS pre-fund decades’ worth of health benefits for its future retirees. This mandate has financially challenged the USPS. NALC also applauded the bill for reforming the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) to maximize participation in Medicare once active postal employees retire and reach age 65.
The Postal Service Improvement Act would require all mail-in ballots in federal elections include trackable barcodes and other features that would make it easier for postal employees to sort and track ballots, among other initiatives.
“The Postal Service Improvement Act will enable the Postal Service to more easily support boards of elections and voters to track mail-in ballots, and will create equity for postal employees by giving them access to 12 weeks of paid parental leave,” said Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) upon introduction of the bill. “These provisions will make the Postal Service more effective and help attract employees who want to build a career in public service. Alongside the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act, which will set the Postal Service on the right financial path, this bill will help the Postal Service better serve the American people.”
Many of these legislative items were introduced and passed with bipartisan support, and all now move to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
