Accountability for Utility Executives Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2844 To provide that certain executives of publicly traded utility companies may not receive bonuses or severance payments, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 13, 2019 Mr. SCHUMER (for Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide that certain executives of publicly traded utility companies may not receive bonuses or severance pay- ments, 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 ‘‘Accountability for Util- 4 ity Executives Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS ON CERTAIN BONUSES AND SEVER- 6 ANCE PAYMENTS. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 8 (1) the term ‘‘bankruptcy proceedings’’ means a 9 case commenced under title 11, United States Code; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2844.IS S2844 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2844 IS (2) the term ‘‘C-suite executive’’ means, with 1 respect to a covered company— 2 (A) the chief executive officer of the cov- 3 ered company; 4 (B) the chief financial officer of the cov- 5 ered company; 6 (C) the chief operating officer of the cov- 7 ered company; 8 (D) the chief information officer of the 9 covered company; and 10 (E) the equivalent of an official described 11 in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D); 12 (3) the term ‘‘covered company’’ means an 13 issuer— 14 (A) that— 15 (i) is a debtor in bankruptcy pro- 16 ceedings; and 17 (ii)(I) is an owner or operator of— 18 (aa) a public water system; or 19 (bb) a treatment works; or 20 (II) is an electric utility; and 21 (B) the securities of which are traded on 22 a national securities exchange; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2844.IS S2844 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2844 IS (4) the term ‘‘electric utility’’ has the meaning 1 given the term in section 3 of the Federal Power Act 2 (16 U.S.C. 796); 3 (5) the terms ‘‘exchange’’, ‘‘issuer’’, and ‘‘secu- 4 rity’’ have the meanings given the terms in section 5 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 6 U.S.C. 78c(a)); 7 (6) the term ‘‘golden parachute compensation’’ 8 means, with respect to a covered company, any type 9 of compensation (whether present, deferred, or con- 10 tingent) that is based on or otherwise relates to the 11 acquisition, merger, consolidation, sale, or other dis- 12 position of all or substantially all of the assets of the 13 covered company; 14 (7) the term ‘‘national securities exchange’’ 15 means an exchange that is registered under section 16 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 17 78f); 18 (8) the term ‘‘public water system’’ has the 19 meaning given the term in section 1401 of the Safe 20 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f); and 21 (9) the term ‘‘treatment works’’ has the mean- 22 ing given the term in section 212 of the Federal 23 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1292). 24 (b) PROHIBITION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2844.IS S2844 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2844 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—A covered company may 1 not— 2 (A) pay a bonus to a C-suite executive of 3 the covered company; or 4 (B) otherwise provide an individual de- 5 scribed in subparagraph (A) with any golden 6 parachute compensation. 7 (2) TAXATION.—If a covered company pays a 8 bonus or otherwise provides compensation in viola- 9 tion of paragraph (1), that bonus or compensation, 10 as applicable, shall be treated for purposes of the In- 11 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 as if it were an excess 12 parachute payment under section 280G of such 13 Code. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2844.IS S2844 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS