Issue Position: Telework

Issue Position

Work is something you do, not someplace you go. There is no magic to strapping yourself in a metal box and driving -- sometimes an hour or even longer -- to our offices and sitting in front of computers all day. Information accessed at workplaces can just as easily be accessed from computers in our living rooms. Throughout my career, I have worked with both Republicans and Democrats to support telework, which offers a 21st century workplace option that can ease traffic congestion and reduce air pollution, as well as cut gasoline consumption and dependency on foreign oil. Both employees and employers benefit from telework. Study after study has shown that telework leads to better morale, greater productivity, increased worker retention and lower costs for office space.

As chairman of the then-Science-State-Justice and Commerce Appropriations subcommittee, I forced agencies within my jurisdiction to increase telework opportunities for eligible employees. More recently, I worked to enact the Telework Improvement Act of 2010, which builds on previous efforts to establish a formal government-wide criteria for teleworking. Federal government employees now have the ability to telework when a snowstorm hits, or on a more regular schedule to reflect their childcare needs.

Telework is about doing more with less and adopting best practice procedures regularly employed by the private sector, which allows us to save taxpayer money by reducing the footprint of the federal government.

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