Earmark Elimination Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 501 To prohibit earmarks. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 1, 2021 Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, Ms. ERNST, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. LEE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. PAUL, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. TOOMEY, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To prohibit earmarks. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Earmark Elimination 4 Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS. 6 (a) BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS, AMENDMENTS, 7 AMENDMENTS BETWEEN THE HOUSES, AND CON- 8 FERENCE REPORTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in 10 the Senate to consider a bill, joint resolution, mo- 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S501.IS S501 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 501 IS tion, amendment, amendment between the Houses, 1 or conference report that includes an earmark. 2 (2) PROCEDURE.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon a point of order 4 being made by any Senator under paragraph 5 (1) against an earmark, and such point of order 6 being sustained, such earmark shall be stricken. 7 (B) FORM OF THE POINT OF ORDER.—A 8 point of order under paragraph (1) may be 9 raised by a Senator as provided in section 10 313(e) of the Congressional Budget Act of 11 1974 (2 U.S.C. 644(e)). 12 (b) CONFERENCE REPORT AND AMENDMENT BE- 13 TWEEN THE HOUSES PROCEDURE.—When the Senate is 14 considering a conference report, or an amendment between 15 the Houses— 16 (1) upon a point of order being made by any 17 Senator under subsection (a) with respect to one or 18 more earmarks, and such point of order being sus- 19 tained, such earmarks shall be stricken; and 20 (2) after all points of order under subsection 21 (a) have been disposed of— 22 (A) the Senate shall proceed to consider 23 the question of whether the Senate shall recede 24 from its amendment and concur with a further 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S501.IS S501 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 501 IS amendment, or concur in the House amendment 1 with a further amendment, as the case may be, 2 which further amendment shall consist of only 3 that portion of the conference report or House 4 amendment, as the case may be, not so strick- 5 en; 6 (B) any such motion in the Senate shall be 7 debatable under the same conditions as was the 8 conference report or amendment between the 9 Houses; and 10 (C) in any case in which such point of 11 order is sustained against a conference report 12 (or Senate amendment derived from such con- 13 ference report by operation of this subsection), 14 no further amendment shall be in order. 15 (c) WAIVER; APPEAL.—A point of order under sub- 16 section (a) may be waived only by an affirmative vote of 17 two-thirds of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen and 18 sworn. An affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members 19 of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required 20 to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point 21 of order raised under subsection (a). 22 (d) DEFINITIONS.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S501.IS S501 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 501 IS (1) EARMARK.—For the purpose of this section, 1 the term ‘‘earmark’’ means a provision or report 2 language— 3 (A) included primarily at the request of a 4 Senator or Member of the House of Represent- 5 atives that provides, authorizes, or recommends 6 a specific amount of discretionary budget au- 7 thority, credit authority, or other spending au- 8 thority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, 9 grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with 10 or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, 11 locality or Congressional district, other than 12 through a statutory or administrative formula- 13 driven or competitive award process; 14 (B) that— 15 (i) provides a Federal tax deduction, 16 credit, exclusion, or preference to a par- 17 ticular beneficiary or limited group of 18 beneficiaries under the Internal Revenue 19 Code of 1986; and 20 (ii) contains eligibility criteria that are 21 not uniform in application with respect to 22 potential beneficiaries of such provision; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S501.IS S501 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 501 IS (C) that modifies the Harmonized Tariff 1 Schedule of the United States in a manner that 2 benefits ten or fewer entities. 3 (2) DETERMINATION BY THE SENATE.—In the 4 event the Chair is unable to ascertain whether a pro- 5 vision with respect to which a Senator raises a point 6 of order under subsection (a) constitutes an ear- 7 mark, the question of whether the provision con- 8 stitutes an earmark shall be submitted to the Senate 9 and be decided without debate. 10 (e) APPLICATION.—This section shall not apply to 11 any authorization of appropriations to a Federal entity if 12 such authorization is not specifically targeted to a State, 13 locality, or congressional district. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S501.IS S501 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS