Proxy Vote Windfall Prohibition Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7251 To provide for reductions in the Members’ Representational Allowance of Members of the House of Representatives who fail to appear to cast votes or record presence in the House at any time during which proxy voting is permitted in the House. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2020 Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana (for himself and Mrs. LESKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To provide for reductions in the Members’ Representational Allowance of Members of the House of Representatives who fail to appear to cast votes or record presence in the House at any time during which proxy voting is permitted in the House. 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 ‘‘Proxy Vote Windfall 4 Prohibition Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:02 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7251.IH H7251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7251 IH SEC. 2. REDUCTION IN MEMBERS’ REPRESENTATIONAL AL- 1 LOWANCE OF MEMBERS FAILING TO APPEAR 2 WHILE PROXY VOTING IS PERMITTED. 3 Section 101 of the House of Representatives Admin- 4 istrative Reform Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5 5341) is amended— 6 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) 7 as subsections (d) through (f); and 8 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 9 lowing new subsection: 10 ‘‘(b) REDUCTIONS.— 11 ‘‘(1) FAILURE TO APPEAR TO CAST VOTES OR 12 RECORD PRESENCE IN HOUSE AT ANY TIME DURING 13 WHICH PROXY VOTING IS PERMITTED.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, at any time during 15 which proxy voting is permitted in the House of 16 Representatives, including during a covered pe- 17 riod under House Resolution 965, One Hun- 18 dred Sixteenth Congress, a Member of the 19 House fails to appear in person in the House to 20 cast a vote or record the Member’s presence in 21 response to a quorum call, the Committee on 22 House Administration shall reduce the Mem- 23 bers’ Representational Allowance for such Mem- 24 ber for the remainder of the fiscal year by the 25 amount which would have been paid from the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:02 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7251.IH H7251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7251 IH Allowance for the Member’s travel expenses if 1 the Member had been present in the House to 2 cast the vote or to record the Member’s pres- 3 ence at the quorum call. 4 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR FAILURE RESULT- 5 ING FROM CARRYING OUT OTHER OFFICIAL AND 6 REPRESENTATIONAL DUTIES.—Subparagraph 7 (A) does not apply if, at the time of a vote or 8 quorum call, a Member is in the District of Co- 9 lumbia but fails to appear in person in the 10 House to cast a vote or record the Member’s 11 presence in response to the quorum call because 12 the Member is carrying out other official and 13 representational duties. 14 ‘‘(2) CORRESPONDING REDUCTION TO AGGRE- 15 GATE MRA FUNDS.—The aggregate amount available 16 under the Members’ Representational Allowances for 17 the House of Representatives for a fiscal year shall 18 be reduced by the amount of any reductions made 19 under paragraph (1) for the fiscal year.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:02 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7251.IH H7251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS