No Budget, No Pay Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 236 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. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. WITTMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 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. 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 ‘‘No Budget, No Pay 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H236.IH H236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 236 IH SEC. 2. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 1 ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO AGREE TO BUDG- 2 ET RESOLUTION. 3 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—If by April 15, 2019, a 5 House of Congress has not agreed to a concurrent 6 resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2020 pursu- 7 ant to section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act 8 of 1974, during the period described in paragraph 9 (2) the payroll administrator of that House of Con- 10 gress shall deposit in an escrow account all pay- 11 ments otherwise required to be made during such 12 period for the compensation of Members of Congress 13 who serve in that House of Congress, and shall re- 14 lease such payments to such Members only upon the 15 expiration of such period. 16 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a 17 House of Congress, the period described in this 18 paragraph is the period which begins on April 16, 19 2019 and ends on the earlier of— 20 (A) the day on which the House of Con- 21 gress agrees to a concurrent resolution on the 22 budget for fiscal year 2020 pursuant to section 23 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; 24 or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H236.IH H236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 236 IH (B) the last day of the One Hundred Six- 1 teenth Congress. 2 (3) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF 3 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 4 payroll administrator shall provide for the same 5 withholding and remittance with respect to a pay- 6 ment deposited in an escrow account under para- 7 graph (1) that would apply to the payment if the 8 payment were not subject to paragraph (1). 9 (4) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE 10 CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is 11 carried out in a manner that shall not vary the com- 12 pensation of Senators or Representatives in violation 13 of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the 14 Constitution of the United States, the payroll ad- 15 ministrator of a House of Congress shall release for 16 payments to Members of that House of Congress 17 any amounts remaining in any escrow account under 18 this section on the last day of the One Hundred Six- 19 teenth Congress. 20 (5) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— 21 The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the pay- 22 roll administrators of the Houses of Congress with 23 such assistance as may be necessary to enable the 24 payroll administrators to carry out this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H236.IH H236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 236 IH (b) TREATMENT OF DELEGATES AS MEMBERS.—In 1 this section, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ includes a 2 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 3 (c) 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 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H236.IH H236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS