MAKE CENTS Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3267 To provide adequate information about excessive Federal spending, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 11, 2020 Ms. ERNST (for herself and Mr. PERDUE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To provide adequate information about excessive Federal spending, 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 ‘‘Making Americans 4 Know about Excessive spending through Commonsense 5 Efforts to Notice and Target Shenanigans Act’’ or the 6 ‘‘MAKE CENTS Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 8 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 9 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3267 IS TITLE I—BILLION DOLLAR BOONDOGGLES Sec. 101. Annual report. TITLE II—COST OPENNESS AND SPENDING TRANSPARENCY Sec. 201. Disclosure requirements for recipients of Federal funds. TITLE III—END-OF-YEAR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY Sec. 301. Definitions. Sec. 302. Requirements for Executive agency spending at the end of a fiscal year. TITLE IV—NO BUDGET, NO PAY Sec. 401. Definition. Sec. 402. Timely approval of concurrent resolution on the budget and the ap- propriations bills. Sec. 403. No pay without concurrent resolution on the budget and the appro- priations bills. Sec. 404. Determinations. Sec. 405. Effective date. TITLE V—NO BUDGET, NO RECESS Sec. 501. No budget, no recess. Sec. 502. Completion of House action on regular appropriations bills. TITLE I—BILLION DOLLAR 1 BOONDOGGLES 2 SEC. 101. ANNUAL REPORT. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 4 (1) the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means— 5 (A) an Executive agency, as defined in sec- 6 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code; and 7 (B) an independent regulatory agency, as 8 defined in section 3502 of title 44, United 9 States Code; 10 (2) the term ‘‘covered project’’ means a project 11 funded by a covered agency— 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3267 IS (A) that is more than 5 years behind 1 schedule; or 2 (B) for which the amount spent on the 3 project is not less than $1,000,000,000 more 4 than the original cost estimate for the project; 5 and 6 (3) the term ‘‘project’’ means a major acquisi- 7 tion, a major defense acquisition program (as de- 8 fined in section 2430 of title 10, United States 9 Code), a procurement, a construction project, a re- 10 mediation or clean-up effort, or any other time-lim- 11 ited endeavor, that is not funded through direct 12 spending (as defined in section 250(c) of the Bal- 13 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 14 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900(c)). 15 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the 16 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 17 of Management and Budget shall issue guidance requiring 18 covered agencies to include, on an annual basis in a report 19 described in paragraph (2) of section 3516(a) of title 31, 20 United States Code, or a consolidated report described in 21 paragraph (1) of such section, information relating to each 22 covered project of the covered agency, which shall in- 23 clude— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3267 IS (1) a brief description of the covered project, 1 including— 2 (A) the purpose of the covered project; 3 (B) each location in which the covered 4 project is carried out; 5 (C) the contract or award number of the 6 covered project, where applicable; 7 (D) the year in which the covered project 8 was initiated; 9 (E) the Federal share of the total cost of 10 the covered project; and 11 (F) each primary contractor, subcon- 12 tractor, grant recipient, and subgrantee recipi- 13 ent of the covered project; 14 (2) an explanation of any change to the original 15 scope of the covered project, including by the addi- 16 tion or narrowing of the initial requirements of the 17 covered project; 18 (3) the original expected date for completion of 19 the covered project; 20 (4) the current expected date for completion of 21 the covered project; 22 (5) the original cost estimate for the covered 23 project, as adjusted to reflect increases in the Con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3267 IS sumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, as 1 published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; 2 (6) the current cost estimate for the covered 3 project, as adjusted to reflect increases in the Con- 4 sumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, as 5 published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; 6 (7) an explanation for a delay in completion or 7 an increase in the original cost estimate for the cov- 8 ered project, including, where applicable, any impact 9 of insufficient or delayed appropriations; and 10 (8) the amount of and rationale for any award, 11 incentive fee, or other type of bonus, if any, awarded 12 for the covered project. 13 TITLE II—COST OPENNESS AND 14 SPENDING TRANSPARENCY 15 SEC. 201. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR RECIPIENTS 16 OF FEDERAL FUNDS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 13 of 18 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 19 end the following: 20 ‘‘§ 1356. Disclosure requirements for recipients of 21 Federal funds 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual or entity (includ- 23 ing a State or local government and a recipient of a Fed- 24 eral research grant) carrying out a program, project, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3267 IS activity that is, in whole or in part, carried out using Fed- 1 eral funds shall clearly state in any statement, press re- 2 lease, requests for proposal, bid solicitation, or other docu- 3 ment describing the program, project, or activity, other 4 than a communication containing not more than 280 char- 5 acters— 6 ‘‘(1) the percentage of the total costs of the 7 program, project, or activity which will be financed 8 with Federal funds; 9 ‘‘(2) the dollar amount of the Federal funds 10 made available for the program, project, or activity; 11 and 12 ‘‘(3) the percentage of the total costs of, and 13 dollar amount for, the program, project, or activity 14 that will be financed by nongovernmental sources. 15 ‘‘(b) NONCOMPLIANCE.—If the Director of the Office 16 of Management and Budget determines that an individual 17 or entity is failing to comply with subsection (a), the Di- 18 rector may direct the head of each agency providing Fed- 19 eral funds to the individual or entity to withhold not more 20 than 25 percent of the amount of Federal funds that 21 would otherwise be provided to the individual or entity, 22 until the date on which the individual or entity complies 23 with subsection (a).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3267 IS (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 1 The table of sections for subchapter III of chapter 13 of 2 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 3 end the following: 4 ‘‘1356. Disclosure requirements for recipients of Federal funds.’’. TITLE III—END-OF-YEAR FISCAL 5 RESPONSIBILITY 6 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this title: 8 (1) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe- 9 riod’’ means the 2-month period immediately pre- 10 ceding the end of a fiscal year. 11 (2) DISCRETIONARY APPROPRIATIONS.—The 12 term ‘‘discretionary appropriations’’ has the mean- 13 ing given the term in section 250(c) of the Balanced 14 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 15 (2 U.S.C. 900(c)). 16 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 17 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 18 105 of title 5, United States Code. 19 SEC. 302. REQUIREMENTS FOR EXECUTIVE AGENCY SPEND- 20 ING AT THE END OF A FISCAL YEAR. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 22 (c), the amount of discretionary appropriations obligated 23 by an Executive agency during each month of a covered 24 period may not exceed the average monthly amount of dis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3267 IS cretionary appropriations obligated by the Executive agen- 1 cy during the 10-month period immediately preceding the 2 covered period. 3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the end 4 of each fiscal year, each Executive agency shall submit to 5 Congress and post on a publicly available website an 6 itemized list of discretionary appropriations obligated by 7 the Executive agency during the covered period imme- 8 diately preceding the date on which the report is sub- 9 mitted. 10 (c) EXCEPTION.—This section shall not apply with 11 respect to any discretionary appropriations obligated by 12 an Executive agency for national security-related activi- 13 ties. 14 TITLE IV—NO BUDGET, NO PAY 15 SEC. 401. DEFINITION. 16 In this title, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’— 17 (1) has the meaning given under section 2106 18 of title 5, United States Code; and 19 (2) does not include the Vice President. 20 SEC. 402. TIMELY APPROVAL OF CONCURRENT RESOLU- 21 TION ON THE BUDGET AND THE APPROPRIA- 22 TIONS BILLS. 23 If both Houses of Congress have not approved a con- 24 current resolution on the budget as described under sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3267 IS tion 301 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 1 Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632) for a fiscal year before 2 October 1 of that fiscal year and have not passed all the 3 regular appropriations bills for the next fiscal year before 4 October 1 of that fiscal year, the pay of each Member of 5 Congress may not be paid for each day following that Oc- 6 tober 1 until the date on which both Houses of Congress 7 approve a concurrent resolution on the budget for that fis- 8 cal year and all the regular appropriations bills. 9 SEC. 403. NO PAY WITHOUT CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON 10 THE BUDGET AND THE APPROPRIATIONS 11 BILLS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 13 sion of law, no funds may be appropriated or otherwise 14 be made available from the United States Treasury for 15 the pay of any Member of Congress during any period de- 16 termined by the Chairpersons of the Committee on the 17 Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen- 18 ate or the Chairpersons of the Committee on the Budget 19 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 20 Representatives under section 404. 21 (b) NO RETROACTIVE PAY.—A Member of Congress 22 may not receive pay for any period determined by the 23 Chairpersons of the Committee on the Budget and the 24 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate or the Chair- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3267 IS persons of the Committee on the Budget and the Com- 1 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 2 under section 404, at any time after the end of that pe- 3 riod. 4 SEC. 404. DETERMINATIONS. 5 (a) SENATE.— 6 (1) REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATIONS.—On Octo- 7 ber 1 of each year, the Secretary of the Senate shall 8 submit a request to the Chairpersons of the Com- 9 mittee on the Budget and the Committee on Appro- 10 priations of the Senate for certification of deter- 11 minations made under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 12 of paragraph (2). 13 (2) DETERMINATIONS.—The Chairpersons of 14 the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on 15 Appropriations of the Senate shall— 16 (A) on October 1 of each year, make a de- 17 termination of whether Congress is in compli- 18 ance with section 402 and whether Senators 19 may not be paid under that section; 20 (B) determine the period of days following 21 each October 1 that Senators may not be paid 22 under section 402; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3267 IS (C) provide timely certification of the de- 1 terminations under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 2 upon the request of the Secretary of the Senate. 3 (b) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 4 (1) REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATIONS.—On Octo- 5 ber 1 of each year, the Chief Administrative Officer 6 of the House of Representatives shall submit a re- 7 quest to the Chairpersons of the Committee on the 8 Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the 9 House of Representatives for certification of deter- 10 minations made under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 11 of paragraph (2). 12 (2) DETERMINATIONS.—The Chairpersons of 13 the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on 14 Appropriations of the House of Representatives 15 shall— 16 (A) on October 1 of each year, make a de- 17 termination of whether Congress is in compli- 18 ance with section 402 and whether Members of 19 the House of Representatives may not be paid 20 under that section; 21 (B) determine the period of days following 22 each October 1 that Members of the House of 23 Representatives may not be paid under section 24 402; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3267.IS S3267 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3267 IS (C) provide timely certification of the de- 1 terminations under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 2 upon the request of the Chief Administrative 3 Officer of the House of Representatives. 4 SEC. 405. EFFECTIVE DATE. 5 This title shall take effect on February 1, 2021. 6 TITLE V—NO BUDGET, NO 7 RECESS 8 SEC. 501. NO BUDGET, NO RECESS. 9 Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 10 (2 U.S.C. 631) is amended— 11 (1) by striking ‘‘The timetable’’ and inserting 12 the following: 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The timetable’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(b) NO BUDGET, NO RECESS.— 16 ‘‘(1) LIMITS IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF 17 REPRESENTATIVES.—The procedures specified in 18 paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) shal [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]