Hold Congress Accountable Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 211 To reduce the annual rate of pay of Members of Congress if a Government shutdown occurs during a year, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. SCHRADER (for himself, Mr. COOPER, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. CORREA, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. SPANBERGER, and Mr. ROSE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To reduce the annual rate of pay of Members of Congress if a Government shutdown occurs during a year, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Hold Congress Ac- 4 countable Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:25 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H211.IH H211 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 211 IH SEC. 2. REQUIRING REDUCTION OF PAY OF MEMBERS OF 1 CONGRESS IF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN OC- 2 CURS. 3 (a) REDUCTION OF PAY FOR EACH DAY OF GOVERN- 4 MENT SHUTDOWN.—If on any day during a year a Gov- 5 ernment shutdown is in effect, the annual rate of pay ap- 6 plicable under section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorga- 7 nization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501) with respect to each 8 Member of Congress for the year shall be reduced by an 9 amount equal to the product of— 10 (1) an amount equal to one day’s worth of pay 11 under such annual rate; and 12 (2) the number of 24-hour periods during which 13 the Government shutdown is in effect. 14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 15 respect to days occurring after the date of the regularly 16 scheduled general election for Federal office held in No- 17 vember 2020. 18 SEC. 3. SPECIAL RULE FOR ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH 19 CONGRESS. 20 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If on any day 21 during the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress a Govern- 22 ment shutdown is in effect, the payroll administrator of 23 that House of Congress shall— 24 (1) withhold from the payments otherwise re- 25 quired to be made with respect to a pay period for 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:25 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H211.IH H211 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 211 IH the compensation of each Member of Congress who 1 serves in that House of Congress an amount equal 2 to the product of— 3 (A) an amount equal to one day’s worth of 4 pay under the annual rate of pay applicable to 5 the Member under section 601(a) of the Legis- 6 lative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 7 4501); and 8 (B) the number of 24-hour periods during 9 which the Government shutdown is in effect 10 which occur during the pay period; and 11 (2) deposit in an escrow account all amounts 12 withheld under paragraph (1). 13 (b) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE CON- 14 GRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is carried out 15 in a manner that shall not vary the compensation of Sen- 16 ators or Representatives in violation of the twenty-seventh 17 article of amendment to the Constitution of the United 18 States, the payroll administrator of a House of Congress 19 shall release for payments to Members of that House of 20 Congress any amounts remaining in any escrow account 21 under this section on the last day of the One Hundred 22 Sixteenth Congress. 23 (c) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The 24 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll admin- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:25 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H211.IH H211 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 211 IH istrators of the Houses of Congress with such assistance 1 as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrators 2 to carry out this section. 3 (d) PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR DEFINED.—In this 4 section, the ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of Con- 5 gress means— 6 (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, 7 the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 8 Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the 9 Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by 10 the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this 11 section; and 12 (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of 13 the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Sec- 14 retary of the Senate who is designated by the Sec- 15 retary to carry out this section. 16 (e) EXCEPTION FOR DAYS OCCURRING AFTER GEN- 17 ERAL ELECTION.—This section does not apply with re- 18 spect to any day during the One Hundred Sixteenth Con- 19 gress which occurs after the date of the regularly sched- 20 uled general election for Federal office held in November 21 2020. 22 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN. 23 For purposes of this Act, a Government shutdown 24 shall be considered to be in effect if there is a lapse in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:25 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H211.IH H211 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 211 IH appropriations for any Federal agency or department as 1 a result of a failure to enact a regular appropriations bill 2 or continuing resolution. 3 SEC. 5. MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED. 4 In this Act, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means 5 an individual serving in a position under subparagraph 6 (A), (B), or (C) of section 601(a) of the Legislative Reor- 7 ganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501). 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:25 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H211.IH H211 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS