Federal

REAL House Act

Source: Congress.gov · 1,120 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill increases the number of House Representatives (elected officials who represent people in Congress) from the current number to 585 starting with the 2030 census (a count of the U.S. population taken every 10 years). After 2030, the number of Representatives will increase further after each census, but no state will lose Representatives compared to the previous census count.

Who It Affects

The Architect of the Capitol (the official who manages the Capitol building), the Administrator of General Services (the official who manages federal buildings and property), and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (the leader of the House).

Key Provisions

• The number of House Representatives becomes 585 for the 2030 census (Sec. 2(a)). • For censuses after 2030, the number of Representatives increases by up to 10 additional seats per census, but no state can have fewer Representatives than it had in the previous census (Sec. 2(a)). • The Architect of the Capitol must study what new buildings, offices and other facilities the House will need and submit a report by December 31, 2025 (Sec. 3(a)). • After each future census, the Architect must again study facility needs and submit a report by January 1 of the year before the new Congress begins (Sec. 3(b)).

What Changes

The total number of House Representatives will grow from its current size to 585 in 2030. Each state keeps the number of Representatives it has now, but more Representatives will be added overall to reflect population changes shown by the census.

Important Definitions

"Hold harmless number" means the additional Representatives needed to make sure no state gets fewer Representatives than it had before (Sec. 2(a)).

Effective Date

These changes apply starting with the 2030 census and all subsequent censuses (Sec. 2(b)).

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 622 To increase the number of Members of the House of Representatives, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2023 Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself and Mr. CASTEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, and Transportation and In- frastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To increase the number of Members of the House of Representatives, 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 ‘‘Restoring Equal and 4 Accountable Legislators in the House Act’’ or the ‘‘REAL 5 House Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H622.IH H622 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 622 IH SEC. 2. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 22 of the Act entitled ‘‘An 2 Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial 3 census and to provide for apportionment of Representa- 4 tives in Congress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), 5 is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the then ex- 7 isting number of Representatives’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘the applicable number of Representatives deter- 9 mined under subsection (d)’’; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 11 section: 12 ‘‘(d) DETERMINATION OF APPLICABLE NUMBER OF 13 REPRESENTATIVES.— 14 ‘‘(1) INITIAL NUMBER FOR 2030 CENSUS.—In 15 the case of the regular decennial census conducted 16 for 2030, the applicable number of Representatives 17 determined under this subsection is 585. 18 ‘‘(2) NUMBER FOR SUBSEQUENT CENSUSES.— 19 In the case of the regular decennial census con- 20 ducted for 2040 and each subsequent regular decen- 21 nial census, the applicable number of Representa- 22 tives determined under this subsection is the number 23 equal to the sum of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H622.IH H622 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 622 IH ‘‘(A) the applicable number of Representa- 1 tives determined under this subsection for the 2 previous regular decennial census; and 3 ‘‘(B) the hold harmless number described 4 in paragraph (3), 5 rounded to the nearest odd number. 6 ‘‘(3) HOLD HARMLESS NUMBER.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 8 graph (B), the term ‘hold harmless number’ 9 means, with respect to a regular decennial cen- 10 sus, the number of additional Representatives 11 which would be required to ensure that, after 12 the apportionment of the applicable number of 13 Representatives determined under this sub- 14 section for that regular decennial census, the 15 number of Representatives received by each 16 State would not be fewer than the number of 17 Representatives to which that State was enti- 18 tled under the statement required by subsection 19 (a) for the previous decennial census. 20 ‘‘(B) LIMIT.—The hold harmless number 21 with respect to a regular decennial census may 22 not exceed 10.’’. 23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subject to subsection (c), the 24 amendments made by this section shall apply with respect 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H622.IH H622 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 622 IH to the regular decennial census conducted for 2030 and 1 each subsequent decennial census. 2 SEC. 3. STUDY OF FACILITY NEEDS AND LOGISTICAL 3 ISSUES. 4 (a) STUDY RELATING TO EXPANSION OF NUMBER 5 OF MEMBERS.— 6 (1) STUDY.—The Architect of the Capitol, in 7 consultation with the Administrator of General Serv- 8 ices and such other persons as the Architect con- 9 siders appropriate, shall conduct a study of the facil- 10 ity needs and other logistical issues involved in ex- 11 panding the number of Members of the House of 12 Representatives as determined by the regular decen- 13 nial census conducted for 2030, as provided in this 14 Act and the amendments made by this Act. 15 (2) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 16 2025, the Architect of the Capitol shall submit a re- 17 port to the Speaker of the House of Representatives 18 on the study conducted under paragraph (1), and 19 shall include in the report such recommendations as 20 the Architect considers appropriate. 21 (b) STUDY PRIOR TO EACH SUBSEQUENT REAPPOR- 22 TIONMENT.— 23 (1) STUDY.—After each regular decennial cen- 24 sus, the Architect of the Capitol, in consultation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H622.IH H622 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 622 IH with the Administrator of General Services and such 1 other persons as the Architect considers appropriate, 2 shall conduct a study of the facility needs and other 3 logistical issues involved in setting the number of 4 Members of the House of Representatives, as deter- 5 mined by such census, at the applicable number of 6 Representatives under section 22(d) of the Act enti- 7 tled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subse- 8 quent decennial census and to provide for apportion- 9 ment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 10 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(d)), as amended by this 11 Act. 12 (2) REPORT.—Not later than January 1 of the 13 year immediately preceding the first year of a Con- 14 gress for which the number of Representatives is set 15 at the applicable number of Representatives under 16 section 22(d) of such Act, as determined by the reg- 17 ular decennial census, the Architect of the Capitol 18 shall submit a report to the Speaker of the House 19 of Representatives on the study conducted under 20 paragraph (1), and shall include in the report such 21 recommendations as the Architect considers appro- 22 priate. 23 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 24 apply with respect to the regular decennial census 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H622.IH H622 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 622 IH conducted for 2030 and each subsequent regular de- 1 cennial census. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H622.IH H622 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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