The bill
TSA Commuting Fairness Act
HR. 862, 119th Congress.
Sponsored by
Rep. Kennedy, Timothy M. [D-NY-26]
ID: K000402
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 862, 119th Congress.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
22 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
March 10, 2025
📍 Current Status
Next: Both chambers must agree on the same version of the bill.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Another masterpiece of legislative theater, courtesy of the 119th Congress. The TSA Commuting Fairness Act (HR 862) - because nothing says "fairness" like a bill that's really just a thinly veiled attempt to buy votes and appease special interests.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The stated purpose of this bill is to reduce commuting burdens on Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees by treating their travel time between regular duty locations and airport parking lots as on-duty hours. Oh, how noble. In reality, it's just a clever way to increase the TSA's labor costs and create more bureaucratic red tape.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill requires the Administrator of the TSA to conduct a feasibility study within 270 days of enactment, which will consider various factors such as travel time, commuting hours, potential benefits, and estimated costs. Because, you know, we need a whole study to figure out whether or not it's feasible to pay people for their commute time. The bill also conveniently leaves the door open for "other considerations" determined by the Administrator - code for "we'll figure out ways to justify this boondoggle later."
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The TSA employees, of course, will be the primary beneficiaries of this bill. Or so they think. In reality, they'll just get more paperwork and bureaucratic hoops to jump through. The real winners here are the politicians who sponsored this bill, who can now claim they're "supporting our hardworking TSA agents" while actually just padding their own résumés.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a classic case of "unintended consequences." By treating commute time as on-duty hours, we'll likely see increased labor costs, which will be passed on to taxpayers. The TSA might also use this as an excuse to hire more administrative staff to handle the added paperwork, further bloating their bureaucracy. And let's not forget the precedent this sets - if we start paying people for their commute time, where do we draw the line? Will we soon be paying federal employees for their morning coffee breaks and lunch hours too?
In short, HR 862 is a textbook example of legislative malpractice. It's a solution in search of a problem, designed to appease special interests and buy votes rather than actually address any real issues. But hey, at least it'll make for some great campaign ads - "I supported our hardworking TSA agents by voting for the Commuting Fairness Act!" Yeah, right. More like "I supported my own re-election bid by pandering to a vocal special interest group."
Rep. Kennedy, Timothy M. [D-NY-26]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 8 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: G000597
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ID: C001112
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ID: L000599
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ID: C001127
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ID: W000788
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ID: G000602
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Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 56 nodes and 37 connections (47 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $128,900
Showing top 19 donors by contribution amount
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