HR 7322
True Shutdown Fairness Act
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Bill overview
The True Shutdown Fairness Act aims to provide financial support to federal employees and contractors during government shutdowns. Specifically, it proposes to appropriate funds in fiscal year 2026 to ensure these individuals receive their standard employee compensation and payments to contractors for providing that compensation, even during periods when regular appropriations are not in effect. The bill also includes provisions to adjust contract prices to cover reasonable costs incurred by contractors due to shutdowns and prohibits agencies from implementing reductions in force or placing employees on administrative leave during these periods.
Key provisions
- Provides appropriations for standard employee compensation to federal employees and contractors during shutdowns.
- Adjusts contract prices to compensate contractors for reasonable costs incurred due to shutdowns.
- Prohibits agencies from implementing reductions in force or placing employees on administrative leave during shutdowns.
- Establishes a timeline for agencies to provide compensation to covered employees and contractors.
- Specifies that funds are available until appropriations are enacted that provide funding for the purposes outlined in the bill.
- Limits the use of funds to providing compensation to affected employees and contractors.
- Requires agencies to continue operations to the maximum extent practicable during shutdowns.
- Addresses the continuation of standard employee compensation through the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026.
Who is affected
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119th CONGRESS — 2d Session
H. R. 7322
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To provide for appropriations to pay Federal employees and contractors during periods of lapses in appropriations in fiscal year 2026, and for other purposes.
This Act may be cited as the True Shutdown Fairness Act
.
In this section—
the term agency—
the term contract employee means an employee of a contractor for whom a lapse in regular appropriations could suspend, delay, or interrupt (or, if there is an ongoing lapse in regular appropriations on the date of enactment of this Act, for whom the lapse in regular appropriations suspended, delayed, or interrupted) all or part of the work of the applicable contract, or could stop (or stopped) all or part of the work called for in that contract, including—
a service employee, as defined in section 6701(3) of title 41, United States Code, except that an individual covered under this subparagraph includes an individual described in subparagraph (C) of such section 6701(3);
a laborer or mechanic with respect to whom section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, applies; and
an employee of a business concern that holds a contract, subcontract, or other agreement with an agency that provides for services or supplies, including a service contract under chapter 67 of title 41, United States Code;
the term covered employee—
means each employee of an agency, without regard to whether, for any portion of the period beginning on October 1, 2025, and ending on September 30, 2026—
the individual was subject to furlough;
includes—
a member of the Armed Forces on active duty; and
only includes an individual described in subparagraph (A) or (B) who was an employee or member on, or had accepted an offer of employment with the agency or had enlisted in or accepted an appointment to the Armed Forces (including a reserve component) on or before, the day before the date on which the applicable lapse in regular appropriations began;
the term lapse in regular appropriations, with respect to an agency, means any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for fiscal year 2026 are not in effect for the agency; and
the term standard employee compensation means, with respect to a covered employee or a contract employee, the standard rate of basic pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments otherwise payable on a regular basis to the covered employee or contract employee.
For fiscal year 2026, for any lapse in regular appropriations with respect to an agency, there are appropriated to the head of the agency, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as are necessary to provide, with respect to the period of the lapse in regular appropriations—
The head of each agency to whom amounts are made available under paragraph (1) shall provide standard employee compensation to covered employees of the agency—
if there is a lapse in regular appropriations ongoing on the date of enactment of this Act, as soon as is practicable, but not later than 7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, without regard to—
with respect to any period of a lapse in regular appropriations beginning on or after the date of enactment of this Act, on the regularly scheduled pay dates of the covered employees.
As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall adjust the price of any contract described in paragraph (2) to compensate the applicable contractor for reasonable costs incurred, as described in paragraph (3), regardless of whether the contract provides for, or otherwise prohibits, the contractor to incur those reasonable costs or receive such an adjustment for incurring those reasonable costs.
A contract is described in this paragraph if the contract is a contract of an agency for which, as a result of a lapse in regular appropriations occurring before the date of enactment of this Act, the contractor—
with respect to a lapse in regular appropriations beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, could take an action described in subparagraph (A) or (B).
Reasonable costs described in this paragraph are costs actually incurred by the applicable contractor—
to provide standard employee compensation for the period of the applicable lapse in regular appropriations, at the standard rate of compensation, to any contract employee employed by the contractor who, as a result of that lapse in regular appropriations—
to restore paid leave taken by any contract employee described in subparagraph (A) during the applicable lapse in regular appropriations, if the contractor required or permitted employees of the contractor to use paid leave as a result of that lapse in regular appropriations.
A contractor seeking an adjustment under paragraph (1) shall provide the head of the applicable agency any evidence of the reasonable costs incurred by the contractor described in paragraph (3) as the head of the agency, in consultation with the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, considers appropriate.
Appropriations and funds made available and authority granted under subsection (b) shall be available to the head of an agency until whichever of the following first occurs:
The enactment into law of appropriations for the agency until the end of fiscal year 2026 (including a continuing appropriation) that provide amounts for the purposes for which amounts are made available under subsection (b).
The enactment into law of appropriations for the agency until the end of fiscal year 2026 (including a continuing appropriation) without any appropriation for such purposes.
Amounts provided under subsection (b) may not be used for a purpose described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1) for any portion of a lapse in regular appropriations for which a covered employee is provided with standard employee compensation or a contractor is provided payment to provide a contract employee with standard employee compensation, respectively, using amounts other than amounts provided under subsection (b).
Appropriations made available under subsection (b) may not be obligated by the head of an agency during any period during which continuing appropriations for the purposes for which amounts are made available under subsection (b) are in effect for the agency.
Expenditures made pursuant to subsection (b) shall be charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or authorization whenever an Act in which such applicable appropriation, fund, or authorization is included is enacted into law.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including any appropriation Act), the amounts provided under subsection (b)—
shall be available solely for a purpose described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1); and
may not be transferred, reprogrammed, obligated, or expended for any other purpose.
For fiscal year 2026, standard employee compensation provided to covered employees, and payments to contractors to provide standard employee compensation to contract employees, provided by an agency using amounts provided under subsection (b) shall be subject to—
Funds appropriated by this section may be obligated and expended notwithstanding section 15 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2680) and section 504(a)(1) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3094(a)(1)).
This section shall be construed to provide each covered employee and contract employee with standard employee compensation for the period of the lapse in regular appropriations as if the covered employee or contract employee was performing the duties of the covered employee or contract employee during the lapse in regular appropriations.
Nothing in this section may be construed to require an agency to take any action that the agency is not required to take under the terms of a contract during any period during which there is not a lapse in regular appropriations.
Covered employees and contract employees shall perform their typical duties to the maximum extent practicable during a lapse in regular appropriations.
This section does not authorize or necessarily imply that an agency or employee may incur any obligations or expenditures that are not explicitly authorized by this section.
In this section—
the term agency—
During a lapse in regular appropriations, none of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to—
propose or implement a reduction in force, or any similar effort, to permanently reduce the number of employees employed by an agency; or
place any employee of an agency in administrative leave for more than 10 work days in any calendar year.
Nothing in this section may be construed to affect a voluntary separation payment offered to an employee under section 3523 of title 5, United States Code.