Overview

Title

To reduce commuting burdens on Transportation Security Administration employees, and for other purposes.

ELI5 AI

H.R. 862 wants to find out if the time TSA employees spend getting to work could count as part of their job hours, and it looks at how this change might help or cost money.

Summary AI

H.R. 862, known as the "TSA Commuting Fairness Act," proposes a study to explore making commuting time for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, who work at airports, count as on-duty hours. The study will look into how long it takes for TSA employees to travel between their work locations and airport parking or transit stops, and evaluate the potential benefits and costs if such commuting time were considered as part of their work hours. The bill was introduced by Mr. Kennedy of New York and Mr. Garbarino and is aimed at reducing the commuting burdens on TSA employees.

Published

2025-01-31
Congress: 119
Session: 1
Chamber: HOUSE
Status: Introduced in House
Date: 2025-01-31
Package ID: BILLS-119hr862ih

Keywords AI

tsa commuting time feasibility study transportation security administration privacy concerns employee rights federal bill airport employees government spending h.r. 862

Sources

Bill Statistics

Size

Sections:
2
Words:
474
Pages:
3
Sentences:
13

Language

Nouns: 168
Verbs: 38
Adjectives: 26
Adverbs: 1
Numbers: 14
Entities: 41

Complexity

Average Token Length:
4.66
Average Sentence Length:
36.46
Token Entropy:
4.68
Readability (ARI):
22.39

AnalysisAI

The proposed bill, titled the "TSA Commuting Fairness Act," aims to reduce the commuting burdens faced by employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Introduced in the House of Representatives by Mr. Kennedy of New York and Mr. Garbarino, this legislative effort seeks to assess the feasibility of recognizing the commuting time spent by TSA employees traveling from parking lots or public transit stops to their assigned duty locations at airports as part of their official work hours.

Summary of the Bill

The core of the bill is the requirement for the TSA to conduct a detailed study within 270 days of the enactment of the legislation. This study will explore various aspects, including:

  • The time needed for TSA employees to commute between airport duty locations and transport facilities at different sizes of airports, classified as small, medium, and large hubs.
  • The potential benefits of classifying this commuting time as work hours, which may affect employee compensation and benefits.
  • The feasibility of utilizing technology, such as mobile phones and location data, to track the arrival and departure of TSA employees, ensuring accurate time reporting.
  • The associated costs, including impacts on retirement earnings, if commuting time is considered as part of official working hours.

Significant Issues

Several issues arise from the bill's provisions:

  1. Privacy Concerns: The potential use of personal mobile devices and location data to monitor employees raises privacy issues. Employees might feel their privacy is invaded, and there are legal implications concerning the handling of personal data.

  2. Vague Language: The bill contains language that allows for discretion under the term "other considerations determined appropriate by the Administrator." This lack of specificity can lead to decisions being made without adequate transparency or oversight.

  3. Financial Implications: The feasibility study itself could incur unnecessary costs if it concludes that including commuting time as on-duty time is not practical or beneficial. Moreover, without clear guidelines on budget limits, there is a risk of unexpected financial strain.

  4. Technical Complexity: The bill's technical nature might be challenging for the general public to understand, potentially hindering public engagement and debate.

Impact on the Public and Stakeholders

Broadly, this bill has the potential to impact both TSA employees and the general public in varied ways:

  • For TSA Employees: If the study results in commuting time being classified as work hours, employees could benefit from increased pay and improved retirement benefits, leading to greater job satisfaction and financial security.

  • For the TSA and Government Finances: Recognizing commuting time as work hours might increase operational costs for the TSA. This would necessitate careful financial planning and allocation of resources to prevent strain on government budgets.

  • For Legal and Privacy Advocacy: The use of location tracking technology could draw criticism from privacy advocates, leading to increased scrutiny of privacy laws and policies concerning employee tracking.

In conclusion, while the bill is aimed at alleviating the commuting burden on TSA employees, it does present notable financial, technical, and privacy issues that need to be carefully considered. The outcomes of the proposed feasibility study could significantly impact how work hours are defined for TSA employees, potentially setting a precedent for similar discussions in other sectors.

Issues

  • The potential use of mobile phones and location data to track TSA employees' arrivals and departures in Section 2 raises significant privacy concerns. This issue may have ethical and legal implications for employee rights regarding personal data usage.

  • Section 2 includes vague language with the 'Other considerations determined appropriate by the Administrator' clause, which lacks specificity and transparency. This could lead to discretionary decisions that aren't publicly accountable, raising concerns about governance and oversight.

  • The feasibility study's potential for resulting in unnecessary expenses is an important financial issue. If the study concludes that treating commuting time as on-duty is not feasible, the resources spent on the study could be deemed wasteful, leading to criticism of government spending priorities.

  • The absence of specific guidelines on how the estimated costs will be determined or limited in Section 2 can lead to unexpected financial burdens. Without clear cost estimations, this leaves room for budget overruns and fiscal uncertainty.

  • The technical language used in Section 2 may be difficult for the general public to understand, which poses a challenge for transparency and informed public debate. Ensuring that legislative texts are accessible is important for democratic participation.

Sections

Sections are presented as they are annotated in the original legislative text. Any missing headers, numbers, or non-consecutive order is due to the original text.

1. Short title Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

The first section of the bill provides the short title, stating that it can be referred to as the “TSA Commuting Fairness Act”.

2. Feasibility study on TSA commuting benefits Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

The bill requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to conduct a study, within 270 days, on the feasibility of considering the time TSA employees spend traveling between airport duty locations and parking areas or public transit stops as work hours. The study will evaluate factors like travel time across different airport sizes, commuting time, potential benefits, the use of technology to track work hours, and the costs involved in considering this time as part of the employees' retirement benefits.