Veterans Affairs Retaliation Prevention Act of 2015
Latest action. Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by voice voteA vote decided by which side sounds louder. No individual positions are recorded, so no member can be held to a position afterward.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).
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.
The summary continues for 1 more paragraph. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 27, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Civibrief does not map this action to a stage in the process. See the official record.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on May 21, 2015: Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Voice Vote.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jeff Miller (R-FL) introduced it on January 27, 2015, and 15 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 15 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 27, 2015, 4244 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4130 days ago, on May 21, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseOrdered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action