Duplication Scoring Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7438 To amend section 719 of title 31, United States Code, to require the Comp- troller General of the United States to analyze certain legislation in order to prevent duplication of and overlap with existing Federal pro- grams, offices, and initiatives, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 1, 2020 Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. HARRIS, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. COMER, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. PERRY, and Mr. YOHO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Com- mittees on the Budget, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend section 719 of title 31, United States Code, to require the Comptroller General of the United States to analyze certain legislation in order to prevent duplica- tion of and overlap with existing Federal programs, of- fices, and initiatives, 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 ‘‘Duplication Scoring 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7438.IH H7438 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7438 IH SEC. 2. ASSESSMENTS OF REPORTED BILLS BY GAO. 1 Section 719 of title 31, United States Code, is 2 amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(i)(1) In this subsection— 4 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered bill or resolution’ means 5 a bill or joint resolution of a public character re- 6 ported by any committee of Congress (including the 7 Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on 8 the Budget of either House); 9 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 10 the Congressional Budget Office; 11 ‘‘(C) the term ‘existing duplicative or overlap- 12 ping feature’ means an element of the Federal Gov- 13 ernment previously identified as an area of duplica- 14 tion, overlap, and fragmentation in a GAO duplica- 15 tion and overlap report; 16 ‘‘(D) the term ‘GAO duplication and overlap re- 17 port’ means each annual report prepared by the 18 Comptroller General under section 21 of the Joint 19 Resolution entitled ‘Joint Resolution increasing the 20 statutory limit on the public debt’, approved Feb- 21 ruary 12, 2010 (31 U.S.C. 712 note); and 22 ‘‘(E) the term ‘new duplicative or overlapping 23 feature’ means a new Federal program, office, or 24 initiative created under a covered bill or joint resolu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7438.IH H7438 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7438 IH tion that would duplicate or overlap with an existing 1 duplicative or overlapping feature. 2 ‘‘(2) For each covered bill or joint resolution, to the 3 extent practicable, the Comptroller General shall deter- 4 mine the extent to which the covered bill or joint resolution 5 risks creating a new duplicative or overlapping feature. 6 ‘‘(3) If the covered bill or joint resolution risks cre- 7 ating a new duplicative or overlapping feature, the Comp- 8 troller General shall prepare information that includes— 9 ‘‘(A) the name of the new Federal program, of- 10 fice, or initiative; and 11 ‘‘(B) a reference to— 12 ‘‘(i) the section of the covered bill or joint 13 resolution in which the new duplicative or over- 14 lapping feature is established; and 15 ‘‘(ii) the GAO duplication and overlap re- 16 port in which the existing duplicative or over- 17 lapping feature is identified. 18 ‘‘(4) For the information prepared under paragraph 19 (3) the Comptroller General shall to the extent prac- 20 ticable— 21 ‘‘(A) submit such information to the Director; 22 and 23 ‘‘(B) publish such information on the website of 24 the Government Accountability Office. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7438.IH H7438 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7438 IH ‘‘(5) Subject to paragraph (3), the Director may in- 1 clude the information submitted by the Comptroller Gen- 2 eral under subparagraph (4)(A) with the estimate for the 3 covered bill or joint resolution to which the assessment 4 pertains submitted by the Director under section 402 of 5 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 653). 6 ‘‘(6) If the Comptroller General has not submitted 7 to the Director the information for a covered bill or joint 8 resolution under paragraph (4)(A) on the date on which 9 the Director submits the estimate for the covered bill or 10 joint resolution to which the information pertains under 11 section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 12 U.S.C. 653), the Director may, on the date on which the 13 Comptroller General submits the information to the Direc- 14 tor, prepare and submit to each applicable committee a 15 version of the estimate for the covered bill or joint resolu- 16 tion that includes the information.’’. 17 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 18 The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 19 on the earlier of— 20 (1) the date that is 60 days after the date on 21 which the Director of the Office of Management and 22 Budget next, in accordance with section 1122(a) of 23 title 31, United States Code, updates the informa- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7438.IH H7438 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7438 IH tion made available on the website required under 1 that section; or 2 (2) the date on which a new Congress begins 3 after the date that is 1 year after the date of enact- 4 ment of this Act. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7438.IH H7438 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS