Changing How Federal Agencies Deal With Workplace Discrimination (H.R. 135)
Do you support or oppose this bill?
What is H.R. 135?
(Updated January 14, 2020)
This bill would seek to prevent discrimination in federal agencies by creating new procedures for handling it. It'd set up an independent Equal Employment Opportunity program in every federal agency, tasked with resolving discrimination and retaliation issues. They would report directly to the head of the agency.
Argument in favor
This bill increases federal agencies’ ability to take action against discrimination and retaliation. Everyone deserves to feel safe in the workplace, especially when they are reporting instances of discrimination or retaliation.
Argument opposed
Discrimination and retaliation in the workplace are bad things, yes. But there are already departments tasked with enforcing these rules in the federal government. Creating more bureaucracy isn’t the answer.
Impact
Federal agencies.
Cost of H.R. 135
A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.
Additional Info
In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) re-introduced this bill with the support of four bipartisan cosponsors to strengthen protections for federal employees, and offered the following statement about it during the last Congress:
"The Federal Employee Antidiscrimination Act will help ensure that federal employees can report discrimination without suffering retaliation and that such reports will be thoroughly, fairly, and timely investigated and adjudicated. The bill would also prohibit policies, forms or agreements that seek to prevent employees from disclosing waste, fraud, or illegal actions to the Congress."
Media:
- Sponsoring Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) Statement (Previous Version)
- CBO Cost Estimate (Previous Version)
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Coalition for Change (Previous Version - In Favor)
(Photo Credit: Flickr user USDAgov)
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