Solidarity in Salary Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 845 To prohibit the payment of a salary to Members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President during periods during which a Government shut- down is in effect, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 29, 2019 Mr. GOLDEN (for himself, Mr. ROSE of New York, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. COO- PER, Ms. PINGREE, and Mr. COX of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit the payment of a salary to Members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President during periods during which a Government shutdown is in effect, 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 ‘‘Solidarity in Salary 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H845.IH H845 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 845 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITING PAYING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF 1 CONGRESS DURING GOVERNMENT SHUT- 2 DOWNS. 3 (a) RULE FOR ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CON- 4 GRESS.— 5 (1) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If on any 6 day during a pay period occurring during the One 7 Hundred Sixteenth Congress a Government shut- 8 down is in effect, the payroll administrator of each 9 House of Congress shall— 10 (A) deposit in an escrow account and ex- 11 clude from the payments otherwise required to 12 be made with respect to that pay period for the 13 compensation of each Member of Congress who 14 serves in that House of Congress an amount 15 equal to the product of— 16 (i) the daily rate of pay of the Mem- 17 ber under section 601(a) of the Legislative 18 Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 19 4501); and 20 (ii) the number of 24-hour periods 21 during the pay period during which the 22 Government shutdown is in effect; and 23 (B) release amounts deposited in an es- 24 crow account under subparagraph (A) to such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H845.IH H845 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 845 IH Member of Congress only upon the expiration of 1 the period described in paragraph (2). 2 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period described 3 in this paragraph is the period that— 4 (A) begins on the first day on which the 5 applicable Government shutdown is in effect; 6 and 7 (B) ends on the earlier of— 8 (i) the date on which the applicable 9 Government shutdown is no longer in ef- 10 fect; or 11 (ii) the last day of the One Hundred 12 Sixteenth Congress. 13 (3) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF 14 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 15 payroll administrator of each House of Congress 16 shall provide for the same withholding and remit- 17 tance with respect to a payment deposited in an es- 18 crow account under paragraph (1) that would apply 19 to the payment if the payment were not subject to 20 paragraph (1). 21 (4) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE 22 CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this subsection 23 is carried out in a manner that shall not vary the 24 compensation of Senators or Representatives in vio- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H845.IH H845 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 845 IH lation of the twenty-seventh amendment to the Con- 1 stitution of the United States, the payroll adminis- 2 trator of a House of Congress shall release for pay- 3 ment to Members of that House of Congress any 4 amounts remaining in any escrow account under this 5 section on the last day of the One Hundred Six- 6 teenth Congress. 7 (b) SUBSEQUENT CONGRESSES.—On and after the 8 first day of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, if 9 on any day during a pay period a Government shutdown 10 is in effect, the payroll administrator of each House of 11 Congress shall exclude from the payments otherwise re- 12 quired to be made with respect to that pay period for the 13 compensation of each Member of Congress who serves in 14 that House of Congress an amount equal to the product 15 of— 16 (1) the daily rate of pay of the Member under 17 section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act 18 of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501); and 19 (2) the number of 24-hour periods during the 20 pay period during which the Government shutdown 21 is in effect. 22 (c) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The 23 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll admin- 24 istrator of each House of Congress with such assistance 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H845.IH H845 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 845 IH as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrator 1 to carry out this Act. 2 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 3 (1) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means an 4 individual serving in a position covered under sub- 5 paragraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 601(a)(1) of 6 the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 7 U.S.C. 4501(1)); and 8 (2) the term ‘‘payroll administrator’’, with re- 9 spect to a House of Congress, means— 10 (A) in the case of the House of Represent- 11 atives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 12 House of Representatives, or an employee of 13 the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 14 who is designated by the Chief Administrative 15 Officer to carry out this Act; and 16 (B) in the case of the Senate, the Sec- 17 retary of the Senate, or an employee of the Of- 18 fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des- 19 ignated by the Secretary to carry out this Act. 20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING PAYING SALARIES OF PRESIDENT 21 AND VICE PRESIDENT DURING GOVERNMENT 22 SHUTDOWNS. 23 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If on any day 24 during a pay period occurring during the term of office 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H845.IH H845 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 845 IH of the President or Vice President a Government shut- 1 down is in effect, the Director of the Office of Personnel 2 Management shall— 3 (1) deposit in an escrow account and exclude 4 from the payments otherwise required to be made 5 with respect to that pay period for the compensation 6 of the President and the Vice President an amount 7 equal to the product of— 8 (A) the daily rate of pay of the President 9 or Vice President (as the case may be) under 10 applicable law; and 11 (B) the number of 24-hour periods during 12 the pay period during which the Government 13 shutdown is in effect; and 14 (2) release amounts deposited in an escrow ac- 15 count under paragraph (1) to the President and the 16 Vice President only upon the expiration of the period 17 described in subsection (b). 18 (b) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period described in 19 this subsection is the period that— 20 (1) begins on the first day on which the appli- 21 cable Government shutdown is in effect; and 22 (2) ends on the earlier of— 23 (A) the date on which the applicable Gov- 24 ernment shutdown is no longer in effect; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H845.IH H845 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 845 IH (B) the last day of the term of office of the 1 President and Vice President during which the 2 period begins. 3 (c) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF AMOUNTS 4 FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The Director of 5 the Office of Personnel Management shall provide for the 6 same withholding and remittance with respect to a pay- 7 ment deposited in an escrow account under subsection (a) 8 that would apply to the payment if the payment were not 9 subject to subsection (a). 10 (d) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF TERM.—The 11 Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall re- 12 lease for payment to the President and Vice President any 13 amounts remaining in the escrow account under this sec- 14 tion on the last day of the term of office of the President 15 and Vice President during which the period described in 16 subsection (b) begins. 17 SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DEFINED. 18 In this Act, the term ‘‘Government shutdown’’ means 19 a lapse in appropriations for 1 or more Federal agencies 20 or departments as a result of a failure to enact a regular 21 appropriations bill or continuing resolution. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H845.IH H845 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS