No Ongoing Perks Enrichment Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1466 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, to eliminate automatic pay adjustments for Members of Congress, to prohibit the use of funds provided for the official travel expenses of Members of Congress and other officers and employees of the legislative branch for first-class airline accommodations, and to amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a uniform 5-year post-employment ban on lobbying by former Members of Congress. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Mr. O’HALLERAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subse- quently determined 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, to eliminate automatic pay adjustments for Members of Congress, to prohibit the use of funds provided for the official travel expenses of Members of Congress and other officers and employees of the legislative branch for first-class airline accom- modations, and to amend title 18, United States Code, VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1466 IH to establish a uniform 5-year post-employment ban on lobbying by former Members of Congress. 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 Ongoing Perks En- 4 richment Act’’ or the ‘‘NOPE Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 6 ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO AGREE TO BUDG- 7 ET RESOLUTION. 8 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If by April 15, 2019, a 10 House of Congress has not agreed to a concurrent 11 resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2020 pursu- 12 ant to section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act 13 of 1974, during the period described in paragraph 14 (2) the payroll administrator of that House of Con- 15 gress shall deposit in an escrow account all pay- 16 ments otherwise required to be made during such 17 period for the compensation of Members of Congress 18 who serve in that House of Congress, and shall re- 19 lease such payments to such Members only upon the 20 expiration of such period. 21 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a 22 House of Congress, the period described in this 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1466 IH paragraph is the period which begins on April 16, 1 2019 and ends on the earlier of— 2 (A) the day on which the House of Con- 3 gress agrees to a concurrent resolution on the 4 budget for fiscal year 2020 pursuant to section 5 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; 6 or 7 (B) the last day of the One Hundred Six- 8 teenth Congress. 9 (3) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF 10 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 11 payroll administrator shall provide for the same 12 withholding and remittance with respect to a pay- 13 ment deposited in an escrow account under para- 14 graph (1) that would apply to the payment if the 15 payment were not subject to paragraph (1). 16 (4) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE 17 CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is 18 carried out in a manner that shall not vary the com- 19 pensation of Senators or Representatives in violation 20 of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the 21 Constitution of the United States, the payroll ad- 22 ministrator of a House of Congress shall release for 23 payments to Members of that House of Congress 24 any amounts remaining in any escrow account under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1466 IH this section on the last day of the One Hundred Six- 1 teenth Congress. 2 (5) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— 3 The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the pay- 4 roll administrators of the Houses of Congress with 5 such assistance as may be necessary to enable the 6 payroll administrators to carry out this section. 7 (b) TREATMENT OF DELEGATES AS MEMBERS.—In 8 this section, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ includes a 9 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 10 (c) PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR DEFINED.—In this 11 section, the ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of Con- 12 gress means— 13 (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, 14 the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 15 Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the 16 Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by 17 the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this 18 section; and 19 (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of 20 the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Sec- 21 retary of the Senate who is designated by the Sec- 22 retary to carry out this section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1466 IH SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC PAY ADJUSTMENTS 1 FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 601(a) 3 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4 4501) is repealed. 5 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 6 Section 601(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 4501(1)) is 7 amended— 8 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)’’; 9 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), 10 and (C) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively; 11 and 12 (3) by striking ‘‘as adjusted by paragraph (2)’’ 13 and inserting ‘‘adjusted as provided by law’’. 14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend- 15 ments made by this section shall take effect December 31, 16 2018. 17 SEC. 4. PROHIBITING USE OF FUNDS FOR OFFICIAL TRAV- 18 EL EXPENSES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 19 AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES FOR 20 AIRLINE ACCOMMODATIONS OTHER THAN 21 COACH CLASS. 22 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsection 23 (b), no funds appropriated or otherwise made available for 24 the official travel expenses of a Member of Congress or 25 other officer or employee of any office in the legislative 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1466 IH branch may be used for airline accommodations which are 1 not coach-class accommodations. 2 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Funds described in subsection (a) 3 may be used for airline accommodations which are not 4 coach-class accommodations for an individual described in 5 subsection (a) if the use of the funds for such accommoda- 6 tions would be permitted under sections 301–10.121 7 through 301–10.125 of title 41 of the Code of Federal 8 Regulations if the individual were an employee of an agen- 9 cy which is subject to chapter 301 of such title. 10 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 11 tion may be construed to affect any officer or employee 12 of an office of the legislative branch which, as of the date 13 of the enactment of this Act, is subject to chapter 301 14 of title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 15 (d) DEFINITIONS.— 16 (1) COACH-CLASS ACCOMMODATIONS.—In this 17 section, the term ‘‘coach-class accommodations’’ 18 means the basic class of accommodation by airlines 19 that is normally the lowest fare offered regardless of 20 airline terminology used, and (as referred to by air- 21 lines) may include tourist class or economy class, as 22 well as single class when the airline offers only one 23 class of accommodations to all travelers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1466 IH (2) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—In this section, 1 the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means a Senator or 2 a Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com- 3 missioner to, the Congress. 4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 5 respect to fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding fiscal year. 6 SEC. 5. 5-YEAR POST-EMPLOYMENT BAN ON LOBBYING BY 7 FORMER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 8 (a) FORMER SENATORS.—Subparagraph (A) of sec- 9 tion 207(e)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 10 by striking ‘‘within 2 years after that person leaves office’’ 11 and inserting ‘‘within 5 years after that person leaves of- 12 fice’’. 13 (b) FORMER MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REP- 14 RESENTATIVES.—Paragraph (1) of section 207(e) of such 15 title is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and insert- 16 ing the following: 17 ‘‘(B) MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REP- 18 RESENTATIVES.—Any person who is a Member 19 of the House of Representatives and who, with- 20 in 5 years after that person leaves office, know- 21 ingly makes, with the intent to influence, any 22 communication to or appearance before any 23 Member, officer, or employee of either House of 24 Congress and any employee of any other legisla- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1466 IH tive office of the Congress, on behalf of any 1 other person (except the United States) in con- 2 nection with any matter on which such former 3 Member seeks action by a Member, officer, or 4 employee of either House of Congress, in his or 5 her official capacity, shall be punished as pro- 6 vided in section 216 of this title. 7 ‘‘(C) OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE OF REP- 8 RESENTATIVES.—Any person who is an elected 9 officer of the House of Representatives and 10 who, within 1 year after that person leaves of- 11 fice, knowingly makes, with the intent to influ- 12 ence, any communication to or appearance be- 13 fore any Member, officer, or employee of the 14 House of Representatives, on behalf of any 15 other person (except the United States) in con- 16 nection with any matter on which such former 17 elected officer seeks action by a Member, offi- 18 cer, or employee of either House of Congress, in 19 his or her official capacity, shall be punished as 20 provided in section 216 of this title.’’. 21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 22 this section shall apply with respect to any individual who, 23 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, leaves 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1466 IH an office to which section 207(e)(1) of title 18, United 1 States Code, applies. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:35 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS