Sponsors (9)
The bill would give many TSA workers more paid work time and likely improve punctuality and payroll accuracy, but it raises significant long‑term costs for taxpayers and retirement systems and creates privacy and implementation challenges.
TSA employees would receive paid on-duty time for travel between duty stations and airport parking/transit, increasing take-home pay and reducing unpaid commute burdens.
TSA and airport security operations could see improved punctuality and employee morale, which may reduce tardiness and staffing gaps at checkpoints.
TSA could get a feasibility study to identify low-cost ways (for example, mobile reporting) to track arrivals/departures and modernize timekeeping systems, potentially improving payroll accuracy and administrative efficiency over time.
Federal taxpayers and the government could face substantially higher payroll and retirement liabilities if additional travel time is treated as basic pay for retirement, increasing long‑term costs.
TSA employees could face privacy risks if mobile phone or location data are used to verify arrivals, raising concerns about location tracking and employee surveillance.
The Transportation Security Administration could incur administrative complexity and divert staff/time to implement new on-duty travel rules and tracking systems, creating short-term operational burdens.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires TSA to study whether travel between duty locations and airport parking lots/transit stops can be treated as on-duty time and report findings to Congress within 270 days.
Introduced January 31, 2025 by Timothy M. Kennedy · Last progress March 11, 2025
Requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator to deliver a feasibility study, within 270 days of enactment, on whether time TSA employees spend traveling between their regular duty locations and airport parking lots or bus/transit stops can be treated as on-duty hours. The study must examine travel times at small-, medium-, and large-hub airports, average commuting times excluding those segments, methods to verify arrival/departure (including mobile phone/location data), estimated costs (including effects on basic pay for retirement), and other considerations the Administrator deems relevant. One provision only provides a short title and contains no substantive policy.