No Bonuses During Blackouts Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5258 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose the alternative minimum tax on certain State regulated electric utilities that have not fully adopted climate-resilient infrastructure. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 22, 2019 Mr. HARDER of California (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. AGUILAR, and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose the alternative minimum tax on certain State regulated electric utilities that have not fully adopted climate-resil- ient infrastructure. 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 Bonuses During 4 Blackouts Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5258 IH SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX IMPOSED ON CERTAIN 1 STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILITIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 55(a) of the Internal Rev- 3 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘a corporation 4 described in subsection (f) or’’ after ‘‘In the case of’’. 5 (b) CERTAIN STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILI- 6 TIES.—Section 55 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 7 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 8 section: 9 ‘‘(f) CERTAIN STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILI- 10 TIES.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A corporation is described 12 in this subsection if it is— 13 ‘‘(A) a State regulated electric utility (as 14 such term is defined in section 3(18) of the 15 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978), 16 ‘‘(B) a debtor in a case commenced under 17 title 11 of the United States Code on January 18 29, 2019, and 19 ‘‘(C) a corporation that— 20 ‘‘(i) makes payments, other than pay- 21 ments of salary, that are incentive-based 22 cash payments to any of the 13 highest- 23 compensated employees of such corpora- 24 tion, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5258 IH ‘‘(ii) owns or leases infrastructure 1 other than climate-resilient infrastructure. 2 ‘‘(2) CLIMATE-RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 3 For purposes of this section, the term ‘climate-resil- 4 ient infrastructure’ means infrastructure with the 5 ability to reduce the impact of major weather events 6 and natural disasters. 7 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR AFFILIATED 8 GROUPS.—If any member of an affiliated group of 9 corporations that files a consolidated return is a cor- 10 poration described in this subsection, all members of 11 such group shall be considered corporations de- 12 scribed in this subsection for purposes of chapter 6 13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 15 (1) Section 38(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue 16 Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘described in 17 section 55(f)’’ after ‘‘In the case of a corporation’’. 18 (2) Section 53(d)(2) of such Code is amended 19 by inserting ‘‘described in section 55(f)’’ after ‘‘in 20 the case of a corporation’’. 21 (3) Section 55(b)(1) of such Code is amended 22 to read as follows: 23 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF TENTATIVE TAX.— 24 ‘‘(A) NONCORPORATE TAXPAYERS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5258 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 1 taxpayer other than a corporation, the ten- 2 tative minimum tax for the taxable year is 3 the sum of— 4 ‘‘(I) 26 percent of so much of the 5 taxable excess as does not exceed 6 $175,000, plus— 7 ‘‘(II) 28 percent of so much of 8 the taxable excess as exceeds 9 $175,000. 10 The amount determined under the pre- 11 ceding sentence shall be reduced by the al- 12 ternative minimum tax foreign tax credit 13 for the taxable year. 14 ‘‘(ii) TAXABLE EXCESS.—For pur- 15 poses of this subsection, the term ‘taxable 16 excess’ means so much of the alternative 17 minimum taxable income for the taxable 18 year as exceeds the exemption amount. 19 ‘‘(iii) MARRIED INDIVIDUAL FILING 20 SEPARATE RETURN.—In the case of a mar- 21 ried individual filing a separate return, 22 clause (i) shall be applied by substituting 23 50 percent of the dollar amount otherwise 24 applicable under subclause (I) and sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5258 IH clause (II) thereof. For purposes of the 1 preceding sentence, marital status shall be 2 determined under section 7703. 3 ‘‘(B) CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a 4 corporation described in subsection (f), the ten- 5 tative minimum tax for the taxable year is— 6 ‘‘(i) 20 percent of so much of the al- 7 ternative minimum taxable income for the 8 taxable year as exceeds the exemption 9 amount, reduced by 10 ‘‘(ii) the alternative minimum tax for- 11 eign tax credit for the taxable year.’’. 12 (4) Section 55(b)(3) of such Code is amended 13 by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 14 graph (1)(A)(i)’’. 15 (5) Section 59(a) of such Code is amended— 16 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘sec- 17 tion 55(b)(1) in lieu of the highest rate of tax 18 specified in section 1’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara- 19 graph (A)(i) or (B)(i) of section 55(b)(1) 20 (whichever applies) in lieu of the highest rate of 21 tax specified in section 1 or 11 (whichever ap- 22 plies)’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5258 IH (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘means’’ 1 and all that follows and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘means— 3 ‘‘(A) in the case of a taxpayer other than 4 a corporation, the amount determined under the 5 first sentence of section 55(b)(1)(A)(i), or 6 ‘‘(B) in the case of a corporation described 7 in section 55(f), the amount determined under 8 section 55(b)(1)(B)(i).’’. 9 (6) Section 897(a)(2)(A) of such Code is 10 amended by striking ‘‘section 55(b)(1)’’ and insert- 11 ing ‘‘section 55(b)(1)(A)’’. 12 (7) Section 911(f) of such Code is amended— 13 (A) by striking ‘‘section 55(b)(1)(B)’’ each 14 place it appears and inserting ‘‘section 15 55(b)(1)(A)(ii)’’; and 16 (B) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘sec- 17 tion 55(b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 18 55(b)(1)(A)(i)’’. 19 (8) Section 55(c)(1) of such Code is amended 20 by inserting before the first period the following: ‘‘, 21 the section 936 credit allowable under section 27(b), 22 and the Puerto Rico economic activity credit under 23 section 30A’’. 24 (9) Section 55(d) of such Code is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5258 IH (A) redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) 1 as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively, and in- 2 serting after paragraph (1) the following: 3 ‘‘(2) CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a corpora- 4 tion, the term ‘exemption amount’ means $40,000.’’; 5 (B) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), 6 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph 7 (B), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘, 8 and’’ at the end of subparagraph (C), and by 9 adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(D) $150,000 in the case of a taxpayer 11 described in paragraph (2).’’; 12 (C) in paragraph (4) (as so redesig- 13 nated)— 14 (i) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking 15 ‘‘(b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)(1)(A)(i)’’; 16 and 17 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik- 18 ing ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 19 graph (3)’’. 20 (10) Section 55 of such Code is amended by re- 21 storing subsection (e) as though it had not been 22 struck by Public Law 115–97. 23 (11) Section 56(b)(2) of such Code is amended 24 by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5258 IH (D) and by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR PERSONAL HOLD- 3 ING COMPANIES.—In the case of circulation ex- 4 penditures described in section 173, the adjust- 5 ments provided in this paragraph shall apply 6 also to a personal holding company (as defined 7 in section 542).’’. 8 (12) Section 56 of such Code is amended by re- 9 storing subsections (c) and (g) as though they had 10 not been struck by Public Law 115–97. 11 (13) Section 847(9) of such Code is amended 12 by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Nothing in the 13 preceding sentence shall be construed to affect the 14 application of section 56(g) (relating to adjustments 15 based on adjusted current earnings).’’ 16 (14) Section 848 of such Code is amended by 17 restoring subsection (i) as though it had not been 18 struck by Public Law 115–97. 19 (15) Section 58(a) of such Code is amended by 20 redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4) and 21 by inserting the following after paragraph (2): 22 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO PERSONAL SERVICE COR- 23 PORATIONS.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a per- 24 sonal service corporation (within the meaning of sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5258 IH tion 469(j)(2)) shall be treated as a taxpayer other 1 than a corporation.’’. 2 (16) Section 59 of such Code is amended by re- 3 storing subsections (b) and (f) as though they had 4 not been struck by Public Law 115–97. 5 (17) Section 11(d) of such Code is amended by 6 striking ‘‘the tax imposed by subsection (a)’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘the taxes imposed by subsection (a) and 8 section 55’’. 9 (18) Section 12 of such Code is amended by re- 10 storing paragraph (7) as though it had not been 11 struck by Public Law 115–97. 12 (19) Section 168(k) of such Code is amended 13 by restoring paragraph (4) as though it had not 14 been struck by Public Law 115–97. 15 (20) Section 882(a)(1) of such Code is amended 16 by inserting ‘‘, 55,’’ after ‘‘section 11’’. 17 (21) Section 962(a)(1) of such Code is amended 18 by inserting ‘‘and 55’’ after ‘‘section 11’’. 19 (22) Section 1561(a) of such Code is amend- 20 ed— 21 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 22 graph (1), by striking the period at the end of 23 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by in- 24 serting after paragraph (2) the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 5258 IH ‘‘(3) one $40,000 exemption amount for pur- 1 poses of computing the amount of the minimum 2 tax.’’; and 3 (B) by restoring the last sentence as 4 though it had not been struck by Public Law 5 115–97. 6 (23) Section 6425(c)(1)(A) of such Code is 7 amended to read as it read before the passage of 8 Public Law 115–97. 9 (24) Section 6655(e)(2) of such Code is amend- 10 ed by inserting ‘‘and alternative minimum taxable 11 income’’ each place it appeared before the passage of 12 Public Law 115–97. 13 (25) Section 6655(g)(1)(A) of such Code is 14 amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of clause (i), 15 by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii), and by in- 16 serting after clause (i) the following: 17 ‘‘(ii) the tax imposed by section 55, 18 plus’’. 19 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 21 December 31, 2019. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS