People Empowerment Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4409 To require approval through referendum for any increases to any locally enacted and administered taxes or issuances of any municipal bond in an amount greater than $25,000,000, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. SAN NICOLAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To require approval through referendum for any increases to any locally enacted and administered taxes or issuances of any municipal bond in an amount greater than $25,000,000, 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 ‘‘People Empowerment 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4409.IH H4409 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4409 IH (1) The Guam Legislature enacted Guam Pub- 1 lic Law 24–222 in 1998, requiring voter referendum 2 for any tax increases and any issuance of General 3 Obligation Bond in an amount greater than 4 $25,000,000. 5 (2) The Guam Legislature has circumvented 6 Guam Public Law 24–222, passing local tax in- 7 creases and entered into 28 General Obligation 8 Bonds, 16 of which were in excess of $25,000,000 9 without ratification by the voters of Guam. 10 (3) When public laws expressly mandate the in- 11 volvement of the electorate with their vote on spe- 12 cific matters of law, such laws must be respected, 13 and the people must be afforded the opportunity to 14 vote. 15 (4) Congress will act to protect the people of 16 Guam’s authority in determining increases in taxes 17 paid to their local government by ratifying such 18 power in the Organic Act of Guam. 19 SEC. 3. VOTER APPROVAL REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN REV- 20 ENUE LAWS. 21 The Organic Act of Guam (48 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.) 22 is amended by inserting after section 11, the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4409.IH H4409 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4409 IH ‘‘CONDITIONS FOR LAWS RELATED TO TAXATION AND 1 ISSUANCE OF BONDS 2 ‘‘SEC. 11A. (a) Notwithstanding section 11, a law en- 3 acted by the Government of Guam that provides for 4 issuance of municipal bonds in an amount greater than 5 $25,000,000, an increase in a tax, or the imposition of 6 a new tax— 7 ‘‘(1) shall not contain any provision except 8 those necessary to enact the issuance, increase, or 9 imposition; and 10 ‘‘(2) shall not take effect until after the law is 11 approved by a simple majority of voters on a ref- 12 erendum on the law held in accordance with this sec- 13 tion. 14 ‘‘(b) Not more than 10 days after a law that provides 15 for issuance of a municipal bond in an amount greater 16 than $25,000,000, an increase in a tax, or the imposition 17 of a new tax is enacted, the Secretary of the Guam Legis- 18 lature shall transmit to the Guam Election Commission 19 the full text of the law. 20 ‘‘(c) The question of whether the voters of Guam ap- 21 prove or disapprove of the law transmitted under sub- 22 section (b) shall be placed on the ballot at the next General 23 Election that is 90 days or more after such transmission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4409.IH H4409 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4409 IH ‘‘(d) Not less than 30 days before a General Election 1 described in subsection (c), the Guam Election Commis- 2 sion shall— 3 ‘‘(1) cause to appear in a daily periodical of 4 mass publication on Guam the full text of the law 5 transmitted under subsection (b); and 6 ‘‘(2) ensure that the following is included in the 7 voter education packet sent to voters before the Gen- 8 eral Election for which the referendum on the law is 9 included on the ballot: 10 ‘‘(A) The full text of the law transmitted 11 under subsection (b). 12 ‘‘(B) An explanation of the pros and cons 13 of each position on the question of the law 14 transmitted under subsection (b). 15 ‘‘(C) Other information necessary for vot- 16 ers to arrive at an informed position on the 17 question of the law transmitted under sub- 18 section (b). 19 ‘‘(e) This section may be waived during a state of 20 emergency declared by a two-thirds vote of the Guam Leg- 21 islature and signed by the Governor of Guam. A waiver 22 under this subsection shall only apply during such state 23 of emergency. A tax or increase instituted during a waiver 24 under this subsection shall not be valid or enforceable 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4409.IH H4409 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4409 IH after the state of emergency has ended, except to the ex- 1 tent that amounts were due and not paid under that tax 2 or increase during the state of emergency. 3 ‘‘(f) This section shall not be interpreted to require 4 voter ratification of a tax increased or imposed or a bond 5 issued by the Government of the United States of Amer- 6 ica. 7 ‘‘(g) This section shall continue to apply after de-link- 8 age of the Guam income tax from the Internal Revenue 9 Code of 1986 (or a successor Federal tax code), should 10 such a de-linkage occur.’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4409.IH H4409 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS