Veterans Affairs Retaliation Prevention Act of 2015
Latest action · May 21, 2015 Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Voice Vote.
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.
- IntroducedJan 27, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Veterans Affairs Retaliation Prevention Act of 2015
Authorizes a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employee to file a whistleblower complaint with his or her immediate supervisor. Gives that supervisor two business days to determine and notify the employee as to whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the complaint discloses a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. Requires that supervisor to include in the employee notification specific actions that the supervisor will take to address a complaint deemed reasonably valid.
Authorizes an employee whose supervisor fails to make a timely determination regarding the complaint or address the complaint to the employee's satisfaction, to file such complaint with the next-level supervisor, who shall make a determination regarding the complaint in accordance with the procedures this Act requires the immediate supervisor to follow.
Authorizes an employee to file a whistleblower complaint with the VA Secretary if the employee has filed such complaint with each level of supervisors between the employee and the Secretary in accordance with such procedures.
Requires each employee who receives a positive determination from a supervisor regarding a complaint to be: (1) informed by the Secretary of the employee's ability to volunteer for a transfer, and (2) given transfer preference.
Directs the Secretary to carry out the following adverse actions against VA employees who are determined to have committed a prohibited personnel action relating to whistleblower complaints: (1) not less than a 14-day suspension, and not more than removal, for a first offense, and (2) removal for a second offense. Gives employees no more than five days following notification of such a proposed adverse action to dispute it.
Requires the Secretary to charge an offending employee a fee that takes into account the costs borne by the federal government due to such prohibited personnel action.
Requires the Secretary, when evaluating a supervisor's performance, to take into account any failure to follow this Act's procedures or any commission of a prohibited personnel action relating to a whistleblower complaint. Denies awards or bonuses to supervisors found to have committed such prohibited personnel actions.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide each VA employee with annual training regarding whistleblower complaints; (2) provide annual training on merit system protection that the Special Counsel certifies as satisfactory; and (3) publish on the VA's website and prominently display at VA facilities the rights of an employee to file, and to petition Congress regarding, a whistleblower complaint.
Cosponsors 15
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 11, 2015 to Jul 7, 2016.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-AL | Martha Roby | Feb 11, 2015 | |
| R-CO | Mike Coffman | Feb 11, 2015 | |
| R-PA | Ryan A. Costello | Feb 11, 2015 | |
| R-KS | Tim Huelskamp | Feb 11, 2015 | |
| R-OK | Tom Cole | Feb 12, 2015 | |
| R-CO | Doug Lamborn | Feb 20, 2015 | |
| R-VA | Robert J. Wittman | Feb 25, 2015 | |
| R-IN | Jackie Walorski | Mar 19, 2015 | |
| R-UT | Chris Stewart | Apr 13, 2015 | |
| R-MI | David A. Trott | Apr 13, 2015 | |
| R-PA | Tim Murphy | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| R-TX | John Abney Culberson | Apr 15, 2015 | |
| R-PA | Keith J. Rothfus | May 12, 2015 | |
| R-PA | Mike Kelly | Jun 15, 2015 | |
| R-CA | Ken Calvert | Jul 7, 2016 |
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 Jan 27, 2015Markup May 21, 2015 |
| Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee | Referred Feb 6, 2015Hearings Mar 19, 2015Markup Apr 21, 2015Reported Apr 21, 2015 | |
| Economic Opportunity Subcommittee | Referred Feb 6, 2015Discharged Mar 13, 2015 | |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Jan 27, 2015 |
Actions 10
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 21, 2015Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- May 21, 2015Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Apr 21, 2015Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Apr 21, 2015Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Voice Vote .
- Mar 19, 2015Subcommittee Hearings Held.
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.
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Jul 15, 2015H.R. 571, Veterans Affairs Retaliation Prevention Act of 2015As ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on May 21, 2015
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 13, January 27, 2015, page H640.
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 114-13 | ADDRESSING CONTINUED WHISTLEBLOWER RETALIATION WITHIN VA67 pages | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Apr 13, 2015 |
| Serial No. 114-11 | LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 571, H.R. 593, H.R. 1015, H.R. 1016, H.R. 1017, H.R. 1128, AND H.R. 112979 pages | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Mar 19, 2015 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2806 | Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 | Related bill | Apr 18, 2016 |
| HR 5325 | Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act | Related bill | Sep 29, 2016 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the treatment of whistleblower complaints by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Veterans Affairs Retaliation Prevention Act of 2015
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Administrative remedies
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Employee performance
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
- Government information and archives
- Legal fees and court costs
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 27, 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.
