From what I can tell, anything really worth having or doing in life comes in fits and starts. The things worth fighting for and the things you have to struggle to achieve are often the things that mean the most. How does the adage go again? Good things don’t come easily?

It seems telework is no different. The telework measure was rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Introduced by Representative John Sarbanes of Maryland, the measure would have required uniform rules for federal employees who work at sites other than their regular government offices.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated a cost of $30 million for the government over the next five years. The figure, however does not take into account financial savings possible through telework, which is more difficult to estimate with accuracy.

Despite this setback, it is important to note that a similar telework bill was approved by the House in 2008. Unfortunately it was not passed in the Senate. But it is likely that the measure will be reintroduced soon with hope of passage.

It is interesting to me that here in Minnesota we seem to see very strong bipartisan support of the telework bill, yet the issue is more polarized in Washington DC. I have hypotheses as to why that may be, but what do you think the reason may be? Can a telework bill pass soon?

Adeel Lari, M.B.A., P.E.
Director of Innovative Financing, Research Fellow, and Teleworker
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota