Budget Process Accountability Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 86 To provide that the salaries of Members of a House of Congress will be held in escrow if that House has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2020 by April 15, 2019, and to withhold the salary of the Director of OMB upon failure to submit the President’s budget to Congress as required by section 1105 of title 31, United States Code. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. BIGGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on the Budget, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide that the salaries of Members of a House of Congress will be held in escrow if that House has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2020 by April 15, 2019, and to withhold the salary of the Director of OMB upon failure to submit the President’s budget to Congress as required by section 1105 of title 31, United States Code. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Jan 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H86.IH H86 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 86 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Budget Process Ac- 2 countability Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 4 ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO AGREE TO BUDG- 5 ET RESOLUTION. 6 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—If by April 15, 2019, a 8 House of Congress has not agreed to a concurrent 9 resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2020 pursu- 10 ant to section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act 11 of 1974, during the period described in paragraph 12 (2) the payroll administrator of that House of Con- 13 gress shall deposit in an escrow account all pay- 14 ments otherwise required to be made during such 15 period for the compensation of Members of Congress 16 who serve in that House of Congress, and shall re- 17 lease such payments to such Members only upon the 18 expiration of such period. 19 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a 20 House of Congress, the period described in this 21 paragraph is the period which begins on April 16, 22 2019, and ends on the earlier of— 23 (A) the day on which the House of Con- 24 gress agrees to a concurrent resolution on the 25 budget for fiscal year 2020 pursuant to section 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Jan 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H86.IH H86 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 86 IH 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; 1 or 2 (B) the last day of the One Hundred Six- 3 teenth Congress. 4 (3) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF 5 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 6 payroll administrator shall provide for the same 7 withholding and remittance with respect to a pay- 8 ment deposited in an escrow account under para- 9 graph (1) that would apply to the payment if the 10 payment were not subject to paragraph (1). 11 (4) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE 12 CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is 13 carried out in a manner that shall not vary the com- 14 pensation of Senators or Representatives in violation 15 of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the 16 Constitution of the United States, the payroll ad- 17 ministrator of a House of Congress shall release for 18 payments to Members of that House of Congress 19 any amounts remaining in any escrow account under 20 this section on the last day of the One Hundred Six- 21 teenth Congress. 22 (5) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— 23 The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the pay- 24 roll administrators of the Houses of Congress with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Jan 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H86.IH H86 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 86 IH such assistance as may be necessary to enable the 1 payroll administrators to carry out this section. 2 (b) TREATMENT OF DELEGATES AS MEMBERS.—In 3 this section, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ includes a 4 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 5 (c) PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR DEFINED.—In this 6 section, the term ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of 7 Congress means— 8 (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, 9 the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 10 Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the 11 Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by 12 the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this 13 section; and 14 (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of 15 the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Sec- 16 retary of the Senate who is designated by the Sec- 17 retary to carry out this section. 18 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH STATU- 19 TORY REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT THE PRESI- 20 DENT’S BUDGET. 21 Not later than 3 days after the President’s budget 22 is due, the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel 23 Management shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Jan 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H86.IH H86 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 86 IH (1) make an annual determination of whether 1 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg- 2 et (OMB) and the President are in compliance with 3 section 1105 of title 31, United States Code; and 4 (2) provide a written notification of such deter- 5 mination to the Chairpersons of the Committee on 6 the Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of 7 the Senate and the Chairpersons of the Committee 8 on the Budget and the Committee on Appropriations 9 of the House of Representatives. 10 SEC. 4. NO PAY UPON FAILURE TO TIMELY SUBMIT THE 11 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET TO CONGRESS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 13 sion of law, no funds may be appropriated or otherwise 14 be made available from the United States Treasury for 15 the pay of the Director of OMB, Deputy Director of OMB, 16 and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB during 17 any period of noncompliance determined by the Inspector 18 General of the Office of Personnel Management under sec- 19 tion 3. 20 (b) NO RETROACTIVE PAY.—The Director of OMB, 21 Deputy Director of OMB, and the Deputy Director for 22 Management of OMB may not receive pay for any period 23 of noncompliance determined by the Inspector General of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Jan 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H86.IH H86 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 86 IH the Office of Personnel Management under section 3 at 1 any time after the end of that period. 2 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3 Sections 3 and 4 shall take effect upon the date of 4 enactment of this Act. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Jan 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H86.IH H86 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS