PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.

Emergency Telework Act of 2020

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 22, 2020

Emergency Telework Act of 2020

This bill requires each federal agency (executive, legislative, and judicial) to allow eligible employees to telework full-time during the public health emergency declared on January 31, 2020, relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). An employee is considered eligible if the employee has not received specified disciplinary action and is otherwise determined eligible by the agency.

In the event the public health emergency is renewed, the bill's requirements continue to apply if the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), determines the requirements would reduce the spread of COVID-19. If the requirements no longer apply, agencies may still allow high-risk employees or employees at certain work sites to telework full-time during the renewal period.

Additionally, OPM must, in coordination with HHS, develop an expansive telework policy for use in future outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
PlainBill analysis is coming later. This page presents official source data. We have not yet published a PlainBill explanation for this bill.

Who introduced it

Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] · D–MD

Committees

  • Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
2 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

  2. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.

Source last updated: Jan 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze S.3561 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine S.3561 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine S.3561 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine S.3561 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

View full prompt & sources