Veterans Health and Accountability Act
Latest action · Dec 3, 2015 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedNov 3, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Veterans Health and Accountability Act
This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to revise the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Choice Program eligibility requirements.
The VA may: (1) remove or demote a VA employee based on performance or misconduct, and (2) also remove an individual from the civil service or demote the individual through a reduction in grade or annual pay rate.
An employee may appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board within seven days of removal or demotion.
Between the date on which an individual appeals a removal from the civil service and the date on which the administrative judge issues a final decision, the individual may not receive any pay, awards, bonuses, or other specified benefits.
A demoted individual: (1) shall be paid at the demoted rate as of the date of demotion, (2) may not be placed on administrative leave or any other category of paid leave while an appeal is ongoing, and (3) may only receive pay and other benefits if the individual reports for duty.
The VA may not remove or demote an employee during the pendency of a whistle blower complaint made to the VA Office of Special Counsel or to the central whistle blower office until a final decision has been made.
An individual's appointment to a permanent position within the competitive service or as a career appointee within the Senior Executive Service (SES) shall become final after an 18-month probationary period, which the VA may extend. Final appointment shall be made by the employee's supervisor.
An additional method is established for filing whistle blower complaints in which a VA employee may file such complaints with his or her immediate and next-level supervisors, and ultimately with the VA after having properly filed a complaint at each supervisory level.
The VA may not exempt any employee from such whistle blower coverage.
The VA shall carry out specified adverse actions against a supervisor who commits a prohibited personnel action relating to a whistle blower complaint.
A supervisor who commits a prohibited personnel action shall not be paid any award or bonus for a one-year period, and any award or bonus paid during that period shall be recouped.
The performance appraisal system for SES employees is revised, including by providing for five annual performance level ratings for SES employees as follows: outstanding, exceeds fully successful, fully successful, minimally satisfactory, and unsatisfactory.
The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 is amended to reduce to $300 million the aggregate amount of awards and bonuses that may be paid by the VA in each of FY2016-FY2018.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Referred Nov 3, 2015 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Dec 3, 2015 | |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Nov 3, 2015 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 3, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Nov 3, 2015Introduced in House
- Nov 3, 2015Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H7640)
- Nov 3, 2015Referred 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.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H7640 | Frank C. Guinta R-NH | Nov 4, 2015 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 163, November 3, 2015, page H7625.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 1994 | VA Accountability Act of 2015 | Related bill | Jul 30, 2015 |
| S 2291 | VA Patient Protection Act of 2015 | Related bill | Nov 18, 2015 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to expand the Veterans Choice Program, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the removal or demotion of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs based on performance or misconduct, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Veterans Health and Accountability Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
- Administrative remedies
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Congressional oversight
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Employee leave
- Employee performance
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Evidence and witnesses
- Federal officials
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
- Government studies and investigations
- Merit Systems Protection Board
- Veterans' medical care
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Nov 3, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
