119-s102

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 102 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 102

 To require Federal agencies to impose in-person work requirements for 
 employees of those agencies and to occupy a certain portion of the 
 office space of those agencies, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 January 15, 2025

 Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require Federal agencies to impose in-person work requirements for 
 employees of those agencies and to occupy a certain portion of the 
 office space of those agencies, 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 ``Reinforce Occupancy Obligations for 
Maximized Interagency Efficiency Act'' or the ``ROOMIE Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
 Administrator of General Services.

    (2) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the 
 meaning given the term in 

section 621 of title 40, United 
 States Code.

    (3) Federal civilian real property.--The term ``Federal 
 civilian real property'' has the meaning given the term in 
 

section 3 of the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 
 (40 U.S.C. 1303 note; Public Law 114-287).

    (4) Usable square feet.--The term ``usable square feet'' 
 has the meaning given the term by the Administrator.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds that--

    (1) according to a 2023 review of Federal agencies by the 
 Government Accountability Office--
        (A) 17 Federal agencies ``used on average an 
 estimated 25 percent or less of the capacity of their 
 headquarters buildings''; and
        (B) 1 Federal agency headquarters examined would 
 only occupy 67 percent of the office space of the 
 Federal agency if 100 percent of the employees of the 
 Federal agency worked in-person;

    (2) according to a 2024 report by the Public Buildings 
 Reform Board established by 

section 4

    (a) of the Federal Assets 
 Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (40 U.S.C. 1303 note; Public Law 
 114-287)--
        (A) in the National Capital Region, the Federal 
 Government owns or leases almost 90,000,000 square feet 
 of property;
        (B) a sample of Federal properties in Washington, 
 D.C., maintained only 12 percent capacity on average;
            (C) ``billions of dollars are being expended on 
 buildings that should be disposed of given the new 
 normal of low occupancy''; and
            (D) some Federal agencies have developed cultural 
 expectations that they should retain a ``flagship'' 
 property despite significant under usage of that 
 property; and

    (3) according to a 2023 report by the Office of Audits of 
 the Office of Inspector General of the General Services 
 Administration--
        (A) Federal Government buildings can pose 
 significant health risks if they remain underutilized; 
 and
        (B) since July 2023, ``elevated levels of 
 Legionella'', which is a bacterium that can cause 
 serious infection and death, ``were found in six GSA-
 controlled buildings, all of which are open to the 
 public''.

SEC. 4. IN-PERSON WORK REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Federal Agency Policy Modification.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
 enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal agency shall 
 amend the policies of the Federal agency, if necessary, to 
 require--
        (A) not less than 80 percent of the employees of 
 the Federal agency to work in-person Monday through 
 Friday of each week, not including any day that is a 
 legal public holiday described in 

section 6103 of title 
 5, United States Code, as certified by the Director of 
 the Office of Personnel Management; and
        (B) except as provided in paragraph

    (2) , not less 
 than 60 percent of the usable square feet of the office 
 space of the Federal agency in any Federal civilian 
 real property owned, leased, or controlled by the 
 Federal agency to be occupied by employees of the 
 Federal agency, as certified by the Administrator.

    (2) Exception.--
        (A) In general.--If a Federal agency does not 
 employ enough individuals to occupy 60 percent of the 
 usable square feet of the office space of the Federal 
 agency in any Federal civilian real property owned, 
 leased, or controlled by the Federal agency, the head 
 of the Federal agency shall, not later than 1 year 
 after the date of enactment of this Act, prepare and 
 submit to the Administrator, the Committee on 
 Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and the 
 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
 House of Representatives an occupancy plan in 
 accordance with subparagraph
        (B) .
        (B) Requirements.--An occupancy plan prepared and 
 submitted under subparagraph
        (A) shall detail how the 
 Federal agency plans to reach 60 percent occupancy in 
 the usable square feet of the office space of the 
 Federal agency in any Federal civilian real property 
 owned, leased, or controlled by the Federal agency 
 through the use of individuals employed by any Federal 
 agency, with special consideration given to individuals 
 employed by different Federal agencies.

    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date that is 120 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall submit to Congress a report regarding the 
implementation of the requirement under subsection

    (a)

    (1) , as certified 
by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the 
Administrator, as applicable.

SEC. 5. NONCOMPLIANCE.

    (a) In General.--If a Federal agency fails to comply with 

section 4

    (a) by the deadlines described in that section, the Federal agency or 
the General Services Administration, as applicable, shall sell, 
terminate, or be prohibited from re-signing the lease for, the 
applicable Federal civilian real property in accordance with subsection

    (b) or
            (c) , as applicable.

    (b) Property Owned or Controlled by the Federal Agency.--If the 
Federal agency owns or controls the Federal civilian real property in 
which the office space described in subsection

    (a) is located, the 
Federal agency or the General Services Administration, as applicable, 
shall sell the Federal civilian real property.
            (c) Property Leased by the Federal Agency.--If the Federal agency 
leases the Federal civilian real property in which the office space 
described in subsection

    (a) is located, the Federal agency or the 
General Services Administration, as applicable--

    (1) if the lease contains an early termination or other 
 applicable provision--
        (A) shall execute that provision and terminate the 
 lease early; and
        (B) shall not re-sign the lease; or

    (2) if the lease does not contain an early termination or 
 other applicable provision, shall not re-sign the lease.
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