[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 423 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 423
To protect regular order for budgeting for the Department of Veterans
Affairs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 5, 2025
Mr. Sullivan (for himself, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Budd, Mr. Wicker, Mrs.
Blackburn, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Daines, Mr. Grassley, Mr.
Ricketts, Mr. Tuberville, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Tillis, and Ms. Ernst)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect regular order for budgeting for the Department of Veterans
Affairs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Regular Order for
Veterans Act of 2025'' or the ``PRO Veterans Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. PROTECTING REGULAR ORDER FOR VETERANS.
(a) Quarterly Briefings on Department of Veterans Affairs Budgetary
Shortfalls.--
(1) Quarterly briefings.--
(A) Quarterly briefings required.--During the first
quarter beginning after the date of the enactment of
this Act and in each quarter thereafter until the date
that is three years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
provide to the appropriate committees of Congress a
quarterly briefing, in person, on the budget of the
Department of Veterans Affairs and any shortfall the
Department may be experiencing.
(B) Plans.--In any case in which the Secretary
informs Congress during a briefing under paragraph (1)
that the Department is experiencing a shortfall, the
Secretary shall, during such briefing, present the
plans of the Secretary to address or mitigate the
shortfall.
(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(i) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
and
(ii) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(B) Shortfall.--The term ``shortfall'', with
respect to a fiscal year, means that the amount of
appropriations required by the Department of Veterans
Affairs for such fiscal year to meet all of the
statutory obligations of the Department during that
fiscal year exceeds the amount of appropriations
requested for the Department for that fiscal year in
the budget of the President submitted pursuant to
section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for
that fiscal year.
(b) Limitations on Provision of Incentives for Critical Skills to
Senior Executive Service Employees of Department of Veterans Affairs.--
Section 706(d) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(7)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B)(ii), a critical skill
incentive may not be provided under paragraph (1) to an employee of the
Department employed in a Senior Executive Service position, or a
position in another comparable system for senior-level Government
employees, as defined by the Secretary, whose position is at the
Central Office of the Department, including the Veterans Health
Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National
Cemetery Administration, regardless of the actual location where the
employee performs the functions of the position.
``(B)(i) A critical skill incentive provided under paragraph (1) to
an employee of the Department employed in a Senior Executive Service
position, or a position in another comparable system for senior-level
Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, not described in
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph may only be provided--
``(I) on an individual basis and may not be provided to a
group of such employees; and
``(II) upon approval of the following officers or those
serving in an acting capacity:
``(aa) The Under Secretary for Benefits, the Under
Secretary for Health, or the Under Secretary for
Memorial Affairs.
``(bb) The Assistant Secretary for Human Resources
and Administration.
``(cc) The Director of the Office of Management or
the Chief Financial Officer.
``(dd) The Assistant Secretary for Accountability
and Whistleblower Protection.
``(ee) The General Counsel.
``(ff) Such other officers as the Secretary
determines appropriate.
``(ii) In the case of an employee of the Department employed in a
Senior Executive Service position, or a position in another comparable
system for senior-level Government employees, as defined by the
Secretary, whose position is primarily at the Central Office of the
Department, but who performs some portion of the employee's job
function at other facilities of the Department, as defined by the
Secretary, not at Central Office--
``(I) the employee shall not be considered described in
subparagraph (A) with respect to the portion of the employee's
job function that is based out of non-Central Office facilities
of the Department; and
``(II) any critical skill incentive provided under
paragraph (1) to the employee for the portion of the employee's
job function that is based out of facilities of the Department
other than the Central Office shall be proportionate to the
time spent at those Department facilities.
``(C)(i) Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of
the Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act of 2025, and not less
frequently than once each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives an annual report
on the employees of the Department employed in a Senior Executive
Service position, or a position in another comparable system for
senior-level Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, who
were provided a critical skill incentive under paragraph (1).
``(ii) Reports submitted pursuant to clause (i) may be submitted by
incorporating their contents into other congressionally mandated
reports to the committees described in such clause.
``(D) In this paragraph, the term `Senior Executive Service
position' has the meaning given such term in section 3132(a) of title
5.''.
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