Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Ban on Self-Interested Contracting Act” or the “BASIC Act”.
Ban on Self-Interested Contracting Act
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit covered Federal awards for certain special Government employees, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Prohibition on covered Federal awards for special Government employees
Prohibition— Chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 220 the following (and conforming the table of sections of such chapter accordingly):
“221. Prohibition on covered Federal awards for special Government employees
“(a) Except as provided in subsection (c), any special Government employee who knowingly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept, directly or indirectly, any covered Federal award offered or issued by their employing agency shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 216 of this title.
“(b) For purposes of subsection (a), a special Government employee indirectly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept a covered Federal award if—
“(1) such award is given, with the employee’s knowledge and acquiescence to the employee's parent, sibling, spouse, child, dependent relative, or a member of the employee's household because of that person's relationship to the employee or the employee’s spouse, minor child, or general partner; or
“(2) such award is given to any organization with whom the employee is an officer, director, trustee, general partner, or employee, or is negotiating for, or otherwise has an arrangement for employment, if—
“(A) the employee will aid or assist the organization in seeking, negotiating, or performing any part of the work under the covered Federal award; or
“(B) the employee will receive any compensation traceable to the covered Federal award.
“(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a special Government employee who—
“(1) only serves as a member of an advisory committee;
“(2) has duties comparable to the duties of an individual in a position at GS–10 of the General Schedule or lower; or
“(3) has a position designated exclusively for students.
“(d) In this section:
“(1) The term “advisory committee” has the meaning given that term in section 1001 of title 5.
“(2) The term “covered Federal award” means a contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other contract-like instrument, including an agreement entered into pursuant to other transaction authority, that awards to the recipient on an annual basis an amount that is more than $1,000,000.”
Revisions required— Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this section, part 3 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and part 200, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be revised to prohibit any officer or employee of an executive branch agency or department from awarding a covered Federal award if to do so would violate section 2(a) of this Act in accordance with this section.
Guidance— The Office of Government Ethics shall issue regulatory guidance on this section and the amendment made by this section.
Sec. 3 Publication of certain information relating to special Government employees
Position data— Section 3330f(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—
by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (A);
by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(C) includes any special Government employee (as that term is defined in section 202(a) of title 18), but not including any such employee who—
“(i) only serves as a member of an advisory committee;
“(ii) has duties comparable to the duties of an individual in a position at GS–10 of the General Schedule or lower; or
“(iii) has a position designated exclusively for students.”
Financial disclosure reports— Notwithstanding chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, including section 13109, each Executive agency shall make publicly available any financial disclosure report filed by a special Government employee with the Executive agency after the date of the enactment of this Act, using the procedures established under section 13107 of such title, except that this subsection shall not apply to any financial disclosure report that is filed by—
an individual described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 13107(a) of such title; or
a special Government employee described in subsection (c) of section 221 of title 18, United States Code (as added by section 2(a) of this Act).
Sec. 4 Database of special Government employees
Section 1103 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(d)
“(1) In this subsection, the term “covered individual”—
“(A) means an individual who is a special Government employee who is not serving on an advisory committee; and
“(B) does not include an individual described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 13107(a).
“(2) The Director, in coordination with the Office of Government Ethics, shall maintain to the extent technically practicable, keep current, and make available to the public over the internet, without a fee or other access charge, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable manner, an electronic database that contains the name of each covered individual, a rolling tally of the number of days the person has served as a special Government employee, and a description of why the individual was designated as a special Government employee rather than a regular employee.”