The House has passed a fiscal 2007 Science-State-Justice-Commerce spending bill with language requiring agencies funded under the bill to prove more of their workers are teleworking or risk losing funding.
Subcommittee chairman Frank Wolf, R-Va., put forward similar legislation for the past two years, but this year it could clash with renewed managerial resistance to teleworking due to a stolen Department of Veterans Affairs drive and the ensuing agency shakedown–one that reverberated throughout the federal government.
The bill directs the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Small Business Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation to detail plans to increase the number of telecommuters and identify obstacles to doing so.
The bill also requires the agencies to certify that telecommuting opportunities have increased over the fiscal year 2006 levels or forfeit $5 million in funds, and also requires agencies to designate a telework coordinator.
