# Plain Language Summary of H.R. 7199

This bill ties emergency COVID-19 relief money that the Department of the Interior receives to a requirement that the department bring employees back to the office. Specifically, the Department of the Interior cannot use any leftover COVID-19 relief funds until it returns to the same work-from-home policies that existed on December 31, 2019—essentially before the pandemic changed how federal employees worked.

The bill affects Interior Department employees and the public services they provide. Interior manages public lands, national parks, wildlife refuges, and natural resources across the country. If the department wants to access emergency relief funds that Congress has already approved, it must first reinstate pre-pandemic office attendance requirements. The bill also requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit a plan within 30 days explaining how the department will reopen its offices and return to 2019-era telework levels. This means the department would need to significantly reduce remote work and get more employees back into physical offices.

The practical impact depends on your perspective. If you work for the Interior Department, this could mean losing the flexibility to work from home that many federal employees gained during the pandemic. For the general public, this could affect how quickly the department can use emergency funds for its operations and programs—potentially slowing down projects or services if the department struggles with the transition back to office work. The bill essentially uses federal funding as leverage to force a specific workplace policy change, regardless of whether remote work has been effective for the department's mission.

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to reinstate pre-pandemic in-office work policies at the Department of the Interior in order to receive certain supplemental emergency relief funds, and for other purposes.

Burgess, Michael C.

 <p>This bill bars the use of any of the unobligated COVID-19 relief funds made available to the Department of the Interior until Interior reinstates the telework policies, practices, and levels of telework as in effect at Interior on December 31, 2019.</p> <p>No later than 30 days after the enactment of this bill, Interior shall submit to Congress a plan for opening the offices of Interior for in-office work in a manner consistent with the policies, practices, and levels of telework as in effect on December 31, 2019. </p>