District of Columbia Paperwork Reduction Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 735 To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to eliminate Congressional review of newly passed District laws. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 23, 2019 Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to eliminate Congressional review of newly passed District laws. 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; REFERENCES IN ACT. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘District of Columbia Paperwork Reduction Act’’. 5 (b) REFERENCES IN ACT.—Except as may otherwise 6 be provided, whenever in this Act an amendment is ex- 7 pressed in terms of an amendment to or repeal of a section 8 or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H735.IH H735 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 735 IH made to that section or other provision of the District of 1 Columbia Home Rule Act. 2 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF 3 NEWLY PASSED DISTRICT LAWS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 602 (sec. 1–206.02, D.C. 5 Official Code) is amended by striking subsection (c). 6 (b) CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTIONS OF DIS- 7 APPROVAL.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The District of Columbia 9 Home Rule Act is amended by striking section 604 10 (sec. 1–206.04, D.C. Official Code). 11 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 12 tents is amended by striking the item relating to sec- 13 tion 604. 14 (3) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWER.—This 15 subsection and the amendments made by this sub- 16 section are enacted by Congress— 17 (A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power 18 of the House of Representatives and the Sen- 19 ate, respectively, and as such they shall be con- 20 sidered as a part of the rules of each House, re- 21 spectively, or of that House to which they spe- 22 cifically apply, and such rules shall supersede 23 other rules only to the extent that they are in- 24 consistent therewith; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H735.IH H735 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 735 IH (B) with full recognition of the constitu- 1 tional right of either House to change such 2 rules (so far as relating to such House) at any 3 time, in the same manner, and to the same ex- 4 tent as in the case of any other rule of such 5 House. 6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 7 (1) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOME RULE ACT.— 8 (A) Section 303 (sec. 1–203.03, D.C. Official Code) 9 is amended— 10 (i) in subsection (a), by striking the second 11 sentence; and 12 (ii) by striking subsection (b) and redesig- 13 nating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 14 (b) and (c). 15 (B) Section 404 (sec. 1–204.04, D.C. Official 16 Code), as amended by the Local Budget Autonomy 17 Amendment Act of 2012, is amended by striking 18 ‘‘subject to the provisions of section 602(c)’’ each 19 place it appears in subsections (e) and (f). 20 (C) Section 446 (sec. 1–204.46, D.C. Official 21 Code), as amended by section 2(e) of the Local 22 Budget Autonomy Amendment Act of 2012, is 23 amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H735.IH H735 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 735 IH (i) in the second sentence of subsection 1 (a), by striking ‘‘pursuant to the procedure set 2 forth in section 602(c)’’; 3 (ii) in subsection (c) in the matter pre- 4 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 5 472(d)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 472(d)’’; 6 (iii) in subsection (c) in the matter pre- 7 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 8 475(e)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 475(e)’’; and 9 (iv) in paragraph (1) of subsection (c), by 10 striking ‘‘and has completed the review process 11 under section 602(c)(3)’’. 12 (D) Section 462 (sec. 1–204.62, D.C. Official 13 Code) is amended— 14 (i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a) The 15 Council’’ and inserting ‘‘The Council’’; and 16 (ii) by striking subsections (b) and (c). 17 (E) Section 472(d) (sec. 1–204.72(d), D.C. Of- 18 ficial Code), as amended by section 2(h) of the Local 19 Budget Autonomy Amendment Act of 2012, is 20 amended to read as follows: 21 ‘‘(d) PAYMENTS NOT SUBJECT TO APPROPRIA- 22 TION.—Section 446(c) shall not apply to any amount obli- 23 gated or expended by the District for the payment of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H735.IH H735 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 735 IH principal of, interest on, or redemption premium for any 1 revenue anticipation note issued under subsection (a).’’. 2 (F) Section 475(e) (sec. 1–204.75(e), D.C. Of- 3 ficial Code), as amended by section 2(h) of the Local 4 Budget Autonomy Amendment Act of 2012, is 5 amended to read as follows: 6 ‘‘(e) PAYMENTS NOT SUBJECT TO APPROPRIA- 7 TION.—Section 446(c) shall not apply to any amount obli- 8 gated or expended by the District for the payment of the 9 principal of, interest on, or redemption premium for any 10 revenue anticipation note issued under this section.’’. 11 (2) OTHER LAWS.—(A) Section 2(b)(1) of 12 Amendment No. 1 (relating to initiative and ref- 13 erendum) to title IV (the District Charter) (sec. 1– 14 204.102(b)(1). D.C. Official Code) is amended by 15 striking ‘‘the appropriate custodian’’ and all that fol- 16 lows through ‘‘portion of such act to’’. 17 (B) Section 5 of Amendment No. 1 (relating to 18 initiative and referendum) to title IV (the District 19 Charter) (sec. 1–204.105, D.C. Official Code) is 20 amended by striking ‘‘, and such act’’ and all that 21 follows and inserting a period. 22 (C) Section 16 of the District of Columbia Elec- 23 tion Code of 1955 (sec. 1–1001.16, D.C. Official 24 Code)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H735.IH H735 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 735 IH (i) in subsection (j)(2)— 1 (I) by striking ‘‘sections 404 and 2 602(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 404’’; and 3 (II) by striking the second sentence; 4 and 5 (ii) in subsection (m)— 6 (I) in the first sentence, by striking 7 ‘‘the appropriate custodian’’ and all that 8 follows through ‘‘parts of such act to’’; 9 (II) by striking ‘‘is held. If, however, 10 after’’ and inserting ‘‘is held unless, 11 under’’; and 12 (III) by striking ‘‘section, the act 13 which’’ and all that follows and inserting 14 ‘‘section.’’. 15 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 16 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 17 respect to each act of the District of Columbia— 18 (1) passed by the Council of the District of Co- 19 lumbia and signed by the Mayor of the District of 20 Columbia; 21 (2) vetoed by the Mayor and repassed by the 22 Council; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H735.IH H735 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 735 IH (3) passed by the Council and allowed to be- 1 come effective by the Mayor without the Mayor’s sig- 2 nature; or 3 (4) in the case of initiated acts and acts subject 4 to referendum, ratified by a majority of the reg- 5 istered qualified electors voting on the initiative or 6 referendum, 7 on or after October 1, 2019. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H735.IH H735 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS