No Pay for Proxy Voting Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7044 To withhold the pay of Members of the House of Representatives who cast a vote or record their presence in the House by proxy, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2020 Mr. BUDD (for himself, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. POSEY, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, and Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on House Administration A BILL To withhold the pay of Members of the House of Representa- tives who cast a vote or record their presence in the House by proxy, 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 ‘‘No Pay for Proxy Vot- 4 ing Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WITHHOLDING PAY OF MEMBERS WHO VOTE BY 6 PROXY. 7 (a) WITHHOLDING.—If on any day during a Congress 8 a Member of the House of Representatives uses a des- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:04 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7044.IH H7044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7044 IH ignated proxy to cast a vote in the House or record the 1 Member’s presence in the House in response to a quorum 2 call, the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Rep- 3 resentatives shall— 4 (1) withhold from the payments otherwise re- 5 quired to be made with respect to a pay period for 6 the compensation of the Member an amount equal to 7 the product of— 8 (A) an amount equal to one day’s worth of 9 pay under the annual rate of pay applicable to 10 the Member under section 601(a) of the Legis- 11 lative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 12 4501); and 13 (B) the number of days during the pay pe- 14 riod on which the Member uses a designated 15 proxy to cast a vote in the House or record the 16 Member’s presence in the House in response to 17 a quorum call; and 18 (2) deposit in an escrow account all amounts 19 withheld under paragraph (1). 20 (b) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE CON- 21 GRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is carried out 22 in a manner that shall not vary the compensation of Rep- 23 resentatives in violation of the twenty-seventh article of 24 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:04 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7044.IH H7044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7044 IH Chief Administrative Officer shall release for payments to 1 Members any amounts remaining in any escrow account 2 under this section on the last day of the Congress during 3 which the amounts were deposited in the account. 4 (c) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The 5 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the Chief Adminis- 6 trative Officer with such assistance as may be necessary 7 to enable the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this 8 section. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:04 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7044.IH H7044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS