Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2020

II Calendar No. 506 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4461 To provide for a period of continuing appropriations in the event of a lapse in appropriations under the normal appropriations process, and establish procedures and consequences in the event of a failure to enact appropriations. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 5, 2020 Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which was read the first time AUGUST 6, 2020 Read the second time and placed on the calendar A BILL To provide for a period of continuing appropriations in the event of a lapse in appropriations under the normal appropriations process, and establish procedures and con- sequences in the event of a failure to enact appropria- tions. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4461 PCS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Government 2 Shutdowns Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 31, United 5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘§ 1311. Automatic continuing appropriations 8 ‘‘(a)(1)(A) On and after the first day of each fiscal 9 year, if an appropriation Act for such fiscal year with re- 10 spect to the account for a program, project, or activity 11 has not been enacted and continuing appropriations are 12 not in effect with respect to the program, project, or activ- 13 ity, there are appropriated such sums as may be necessary 14 to continue, at the rate for operations specified in sub- 15 paragraph (B), the program, project, or activity if funds 16 were provided for the program, project, or activity during 17 the preceding fiscal year. 18 ‘‘(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), the rate for 19 operations specified in this subparagraph with respect to 20 a program, project, or activity is the rate for operations 21 for the preceding fiscal year for the program, project, or 22 activity— 23 ‘‘(I) provided in the corresponding appropria- 24 tion Act for such preceding fiscal year; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4461 PCS ‘‘(II) if the corresponding appropriation bill for 1 such preceding fiscal year was not enacted, provided 2 in the law providing continuing appropriations for 3 such preceding fiscal year; or 4 ‘‘(III) if the corresponding appropriation bill 5 and a law providing continuing appropriations for 6 such preceding fiscal year were not enacted, pro- 7 vided under this section for such preceding fiscal 8 year. 9 ‘‘(ii) For entitlements and other mandatory payments 10 whose budget authority was provided for the previous fis- 11 cal year in appropriations Acts, under a law other than 12 this section providing continuing appropriations for such 13 previous year, or under this section, and for activities 14 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, appropriations 15 and funds made available during a fiscal year under this 16 section shall be at the rate necessary to maintain program 17 levels under current law, under the authority and condi- 18 tions provided in the applicable appropriations Act. 19 ‘‘(2) Appropriations and funds made available, and 20 authority granted, for any fiscal year pursuant to this sec- 21 tion for a program, project, or activity shall be available 22 for the period beginning with the first day of any lapse 23 in appropriations during such fiscal year and ending with 24 the date on which the applicable regular appropriation bill 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4461 PCS for such fiscal year is enacted (whether or not such law 1 provides appropriations for such program, project, or ac- 2 tivity) or a law making continuing appropriations for the 3 program, project, or activity is enacted, as the case may 4 be. 5 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 251(a)(1) of the Bal- 6 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 7 (2 U.S.C. 901(a)(1)) and the timetable in section 254(a) 8 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 904(a)), for any fiscal year for 9 which appropriations and funds are made available under 10 this section, the final sequestration report for such fiscal 11 year pursuant to section 254(f)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 12 904(f)(1)) and any order for such fiscal year pursuant to 13 section 254(f)(5) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 901(f)(5)) shall 14 be issued— 15 ‘‘(A) for the Congressional Budget Office, 10 16 days after the date on which all regular appropria- 17 tion Acts for such fiscal year or continuing appro- 18 priations through the end of such fiscal year have 19 been enacted; and 20 ‘‘(B) for the Office of Management and Budget, 21 15 days after the date on which all regular appro- 22 priation Acts for such fiscal year or continuing ap- 23 propriations through the end of such fiscal year have 24 been enacted. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4461 PCS ‘‘(b) An appropriation or funds made available, or au- 1 thority granted, for a program, project, or activity for any 2 fiscal year pursuant to this section shall be subject to the 3 terms and conditions imposed with respect to the appro- 4 priation made or funds made available for the preceding 5 fiscal year, or authority granted for such program, project, 6 or activity under current law. 7 ‘‘(c) Expenditures made for a program, project, or 8 activity for any fiscal year pursuant to this section shall 9 be charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or au- 10 thorization whenever a regular appropriation Act, or a law 11 making continuing appropriations until the end of such 12 fiscal year, for such program, project, or activity is en- 13 acted. 14 ‘‘(d) This section shall not apply to a program, 15 project, or activity during a fiscal year if any other provi- 16 sion of law (other than an authorization of appropria- 17 tions)— 18 ‘‘(1) makes an appropriation, makes funds 19 available, or grants authority for such program, 20 project, or activity to continue for such period; or 21 ‘‘(2) specifically provides that no appropriation 22 shall be made, no funds shall be made available, or 23 no authority shall be granted for such program, 24 project, or activity to continue for such period.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4461 PCS (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 for chapter 13 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 2 by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘1311. Automatic continuing appropriations.’’. SEC. 3. TIMELY ENACTMENT OF APPROPRIATION ACTS. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 5 (1) the term ‘‘covered officer or employee’’ 6 means— 7 (A) an officer or employee of the Office of 8 Management and Budget; 9 (B) a Member of Congress; or 10 (C) an employee of the personal office of a 11 Member of Congress, a committee of either 12 House of Congress, or a joint committee of 13 Congress; 14 (2) the term ‘‘covered period’’ means any period 15 on and after the first day of a fiscal year, if all gen- 16 eral appropriations Acts have not been passed in 17 identical form by both Houses and transmitted to 18 Secretary of the Senate or Clerk of the House for 19 enrollment and presentment to the President for his 20 signature; 21 (3) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ has the 22 meaning given that term in section 2106 of title 5, 23 United States Code; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4461 PCS (4) the term ‘‘National Capital Region’’ has the 1 meaning given that term in section 8702 of title 40, 2 United States Code. 3 (b) LIMITS ON TRAVEL EXPENDITURES.— 4 (1) LIMITS ON OFFICIAL TRAVEL.— 5 (A) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in 6 subparagraph (B), during a covered period no 7 amounts may be obligated or expended for offi- 8 cial travel by a covered officer or employee. 9 (B) EXCEPTIONS.— 10 (i) RETURN TO DC.—If a covered offi- 11 cer or employee is away from the seat of 12 Government on the date on which a cov- 13 ered period begins, funds may be obligated 14 and expended for official travel for a single 15 return trip to the seat of Government by 16 the covered officer or employee. 17 (ii) TRAVEL IN NATIONAL CAPITAL 18 REGION.—During a covered period, 19 amounts may be obligated and expended 20 for official travel by a covered officer or 21 employee from one location in the National 22 Capital Region to another location in the 23 National Capital Region. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4461 PCS (iii) NATIONAL SECURITY EVENTS.— 1 During a covered period, if a national se- 2 curity event that triggers a continuity of 3 operations or continuity of Government 4 protocol occurs, amounts may be obligated 5 and expended for official travel by a cov- 6 ered officer or employee for any official 7 travel relating to responding to the na- 8 tional security event or implementing the 9 continuity of operations or continuity of 10 Government protocol. 11 (2) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CAMPAIGN 12 FUNDS.—Section 313 of the Federal Election Cam- 13 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended— 14 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘for 15 ordinary’’ and inserting ‘‘except as provided in 16 subsection (d), for ordinary’’; and 17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS 19 FOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL DURING LAPSE IN APPROPRIA- 20 TIONS.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 22 graph (2), during a covered period (as defined in 23 section 3 of the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act 24 of 2020), a contribution or donation described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4461 PCS subsection (a) may not be obligated or expended for 1 travel in connection with duties of the individual as 2 a holder of Federal office. 3 ‘‘(2) RETURN TO DC.—If the individual is away 4 from the seat of Government on the date on which 5 a covered period (as so defined) begins, a contribu- 6 tion or donation described in subsection (a) may be 7 obligated and expended for travel by the individual 8 to return to the seat of Government.’’. 9 (c) PROCEDURES IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF 10 REPRESENTATIVES.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—During a covered period, in 12 the Senate and the House of Representatives— 13 (A) it shall not be in order to move to pro- 14 ceed to any matter except for— 15 (i) a measure making appropriations 16 for the fiscal year during which the covered 17 period begins; 18 (ii) a motion relating to determining 19 or obtaining the presence of a quorum; or 20 (iii) on and after the 30th calendar 21 day after the first day of a fiscal year— 22 (I) the nomination of an indi- 23 vidual— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4461 PCS (aa) to a position at level I 1 of the Executive Schedule under 2 section 5312 of title 5 of the 3 United States Code; or 4 (bb) to serve as Chief Jus- 5 tice of the United States or an 6 Associate Justice of the Supreme 7 Court of the United States; or 8 (II) a measure extending the pe- 9 riod during which a program, project, 10 or activity is authorized to be carried 11 out (without substantive change to the 12 program, project, or activity or any 13 other program, project, or activity) 14 if— 15 (aa) an appropriation Act 16 for such fiscal year with respect 17 to the program, project, or activ- 18 ity has not been passed in iden- 19 tical form by both Houses and 20 transmitted to Secretary of the 21 Senate or Clerk of the House for 22 enrollment and presentment to 23 the President for his signature; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4461 PCS (bb) the program, project, or 1 activity has expired since the be- 2 ginning of such fiscal year or will 3 expire during the 30-day period 4 beginning on the date of the mo- 5 tion; 6 (B) it shall not be in order to move to re- 7 cess or adjourn for a period of more than 23 8 hours; and 9 (C) at noon each day, or immediately fol- 10 lowing any constructive convening of the Senate 11 under rule IV, paragraph 2 of the Standing 12 Rules of the Senate, the Presiding Officer shall 13 direct the clerk to determine whether a quorum 14 is present. 15 (2) WAIVER.— 16 (A) LIMITATION ON PERIOD.—It shall not 17 be in order in the Senate or the House of Rep- 18 resentatives to move to waive any provision of 19 paragraph (1) for a period that is longer than 20 7 days. 21 (B) SUPERMAJORITY VOTE.—A provision 22 of paragraph (1) may only be waived or sus- 23 pended upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4461.PCS S4461 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4461 PCS of the Members of the applicable House of Con- 1 gress, duly chosen and sworn. 2 (d) MOTION TO PROCEED TO APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—On and after the 30th cal- 4 endar day after the first day of each fiscal year, if 5 an appropriation Act for such fiscal year with re- 6 spect to a program, project, or activity has not been 7 passed in identical form by both Houses and trans- 8 mitted to Secretary of the Senate or Clerk of the 9 House for enrollment and presentment to the Presi- 10 dent for his signature, it shall be in order in the 11 Senate, notwithstanding rule XXII or any pending 12 executive measure or matter, to move to proceed to 13 any appropriations bill or joint resolution for the 14 program, project, or activity that has been sponsored 15 and cosponsored by not less than 3 Senators who 16 are members of or caucus with the party in the ma- 17 jority in the Senate and not less than 3 Senators 18 who are members of or caucus with the party in the 19 minority in the Senate. 20 (2) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]