House of Representatives | Senate | Joint Matters Section 1. Short Title.
The short title of the bill is the ``Legislative Reorganization Act of 1993''.
Section 2. Rulemaking Power of the House and Senate.
This section is the standard text in ``rulemaking statutes'' noting that the provisions amending House or Senate rules can be changed by the House or Senate acting unilaterally under each Chamber's constitutional right to determine the rules of its own proceedings.
Section 101. Multiple Referral of Legislation. TITLE I -- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Speaker, if practicable, should designate a lead committee for all jointly referred measures, and impose subject matter and time limitations on reporting by the other committees which received the legislation.
Section 102. Membership on Committees.
Subsection (a). Assignment Limits Members would be limited to two full committee and four subcommittee assignments. These limitations would be waived only with the approval of relevant party caucus and the full House.
Subsection (b). De Minimis Procedure for Committee Review If the size of a standing committee falls below 50 percent of the 103d Congress level, the House Rules Committee shall consider legislation to abolish the committee and transfer its jurisdiction to other committees.
Subsection (c). Limitations on the Number of Subcommittees. The change establishes in House Rules a limit of 5 subcommittees for major and exclusive committees (except Appropriations), and 4 subcommittees for non-major committee. The terms exclusive, major, and non-major are used here as defined in the rules of the majority party caucus. Further, committees may not establish any subunit other than a subcommittee unless the House, by resolution, authorizes its creation.
Section 103. Scheduling.
Amends Rule XI to require one week advance notice of all committee and subcommittee meetings and hearings, unless compliance is impracticable. Additional sense of the House language encourages the development of a legislative schedule with 4-day workweeks, exclusive periods for floor and committee work, and rationalizes committee and subcommittee scheduling through computer scheduling.
Section 104. Subcommittee Meetings Prohibited During Full Committee Meetings.
This recommendation precludes subcommittees from meeting during full committee sessions without prior written approval.
Section 105. Committee Reports.
This provision would require committee reports and joint explanatory statements accompanying conference reports to describe provisions that directly or indirectly change current law, or earmark funds or provide a specific tax expenditure.
Section 106. Notice of Jurisdictional Violations.
This provision requires the Appropriations Committee to notify legislative committees of actions affecting their jurisdictions, and requires legislative committees to notify the Appropriations Committee of actions affecting its jurisdiction.
Section 107. Independent Investigations and Fact-Finding for Ethics Investigations.
Party leaders would appoint a pool of up to 20 outside ``fact-finders'' for potential use in ethics investigations; provision sets qualifications for service and limitations on employment during such service.
Section 108. Use of Independent Fact-Finders by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
At its discretion the Standards Committee could use independent fact-finders in lieu of 4- or 6-member investigative subcommittee now authorized in House Rules, with authority for fact-finders to recommend formal charges of violation.
Section 109. Term of Membership and Chairmanship on Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The maximum term for Members of the Intelligence Committee is extended from 6 to 8 years of continuous service (or no more than 4 of any 6 successive Congresses). If a Member is appointed as chairman in his/her fourth and final term, the Speaker would have the option of appointing that Member as chairman for an additional term. Service for part of a session of a Congress shall not be taken into account in these limitations.
Section 110. Reform of Oversight Process.
Committees are required to (1) adopt oversight agendas, (2) coordinate oversight activities, (3) review at least every 10 years all matters within their jurisdiction, (4) hold oversight hearings on agency reports, and (5) publish information on oversight activities. The Speaker is authorized to appoint ad hoc oversight committees.
Section 111. Staff Training.
This section expresses the sense of the House that the House Administration Committee should evaluate current training and orientation programs for House employees. The Committee also is urged to develop, administer, and coordinate programs for House staff to enhance their skills and knowledge.
Section 112. Availability of Legislative Information.
This section expressed the sense of the House that (1) the 3-day layover requirement for reports not be waived unless reports have been available for 24 hours; (2) amendments considered under suspension should be printed and available for 24 hours; (3) committee reports should be prepared on computer disk for easier dissemination; (4) in-House cable channels should provide summaries of pending legislation; (5) full text of bills, reports, U.S. Code and Statutes, and support agency reports should be available on line; (6) specified legislative information should be made available to public and Depository Libraries by computer for nominal charge.
Section 113. Public Understanding of Congress.
This section expresses the sense of the House that (1) debate content should be enhanced; (2) private sector efforts to improve public understanding of Congress and the legislative process should be encouraged; (3) citizen access telephone lines should provide agenda information; and (4) Congress should make better use of computer technology to enhance the quality and availability of information on Congress for the public; (5) Congress should make orientation programs and other training facilities available to newly accredited journalists as a means of fostering better public understanding of congressional operations.
Section 114. House-Senate Staff Salary Parity.
The provision urges the House Administration Committee and the House Appropriations Committee (in consultation with their Senate counterparts) to study the salary ranges of House and Senate personal, committee, and administrative staff, with a view toward achieving staff salary parity between the Chambers.
Section 115. Expansion of unauthorized appropriations points of order.
This section expands the current point of order against consideration of unauthorized appropriations to provisions in the bill providing appropriations in excess of the level set in the most recent authorization bill.
Section 116. Motion to recommit.
The section guarantees the minority the right to offer a motion to recommit with instructions if such a motion is offered by the minority leader or a designee. Under the new language, the Speaker could postpone for up to two hours the consideration of such a motion.
Section 117. Debate in the House.
This section amends House Rule XIV to expand the range of permissible references in House debate to Senate actions to permit references to Senate action or inaction on any measure or matter, to quote from Senate proceedings on any measure or matter, to refer to individual Senators and to the Rules of the Senate and to refer to the effect of such Senate practices or Rules on measures or matters pending in the Senate.
Section 118. Committee reports.
The section requires committee reports to include the names of the committee members voting for and against reporting a measure or matter, or in the case of voice vote on the motion to report, a listing of the committee members actually present at the time of such vote.
Section 119. Publication of committee attendance and voting records.
This section requires all committees to publish twice each year the voting and attendance records of members at all committee meetings and meetings of each committee's subcommittees.
Section 120. Accuracy of the Congressional Record
This section amends House Rules to provide for a ``substantially verbatim account of remarks'' in the Congressional Record. Members are limited to making only technical grammatical and typographical corrections in transcripts of their remarks. Deletion of unparliamentary remarks can only be made by unanimous consent or order of the House. Violations of the new rule would be subject to investigation by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
Section 121. Recodification of Rules of the House of Representatives.
This section directs the Parliamentarian of the House to complete by the beginning of the 105th Congress a draft recodification of the Rules of the House. In this project, the Parliamentarian may utilize the services of the Congressional Research Service and the Government Printing Office.
Provisions to be supplied by Senate. TITLE II -- SENATE
SUBTITLE A -- CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS TITLE III -- JOINT HOUSE AND SENATE MATTERS
CHAPTER 1. BIENNIAL BUDGETING
Section 301. Revision of Timetable.
Section 301 revises the timetable for the congressional budget process (beginning with the 104th Congress) to reflect the changes that appear elsewhere in the chapter; these changes establish biennial budget resolutions and appropriations bills and require that authorizations be made for a minimum of two years. The budget resolution and appropriations bills would be considered in the first session, while authorizing legislation would be considered during the second session.
Section 302. Amendments to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
Section 302 reflects the technical amendments to the Budget Act necessary to change to a biennial budget resolution, including revisions to the sections covering reconciliation and enforcement of the budget resolution.
Section 303. Amendments to Title 31, United States Code.
Section 303 amends Section 1105 of Title 31 to require the President to submit budgets biennially, and to include additional information to assist Congress in planning expenditures and revenues over a two-year cycle.
Section 304. Conforming Amendments to Rules of House of Representatives.
Section 304 amends the rules of the House to reflect the changes included elsewhere in the bill, primarily involving the switch to a biennial timetable for the budget resolution. A portion of this section directs the House Budget Committee to focus on program oversight and review, to consult with legislative committees about program and policy trends and problems, and to report to the Speaker at the end of each Congress on up-coming issues and policy developments which might affect the future agenda of the House.
Section 305. Multi-Year Authorizations.
Section 305 establishes a point of order against considering any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that authorizes appropriations for a period less than two fiscal years. An exception is made in cases of a program, project, or activity for which funds are to be spent for less than two years.
CHAPTER 2. ADDITIONAL BUDGET PROCESS CHANGES
Section 321. CBO Reports to Budget Committees.
Section 321 requires that the Congressional Budget Office file quarterly budget reports with the House and Senate Budget Committees. These reports are to compare revenues, spending, and the deficit for the current fiscal year with the assumptions used in the congressional budget resolution. CBO also will be required to make the reports available to other interested parties upon request. These reports will enable the Congress to compare actual budget results to earlier estimates.
Section 322. GNP Budget Analysis; Fiscal and Budget Policy Reports.
Section 322 requires the Economic Report of the President to include a GNP budget analysis, which is to describe broad policy objectives for the economy, and is to present a GNP budget showing how current national output (by major category) will be affected by the President's pursuit of these objectives. The President also would be required to submit separate fiscal policy reports which are to lay out the President's long-term fiscal policy goals, 10-year budget projections, relevant comparisons between U.S. fiscal policies and those of our international competitors, and performance indicators that can be used by the Congress to assess the effectiveness of Federal programs.
Section 323. Government-Wide Review.
The Joint Committee agreed to an amendment during its markup sessions mandating the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to undertake a comprehensive review of Federal Government user fees. The Director is mandated to conduct a review of all such fees, and report to the Congress and the President information on such fees including the date at which the current fee was most recently established and any alteration in such fees required to adjust their levels as a result of intervening changes in the consumer price index or other relevant indicator of the cost of goods and services. The report is due within 90 days of the enactment of this Act, and consideration of the first concurrent resolution on the budget to be considered after enactment of this Act if prohibited if such report is not delivered by CBO in a timely fashion.
Section 324. Content of Budget Resolutions.
This section directs the inclusion in all budget resolutions of data on the total amount of revenue forgone to the Federal government as a result of tax expenditures. The budget resolution is to include an estimate of the revenue losses under current law of such specialized tax treatments and the aggregate amount by which such total shall be increased or decreased in the upcoming fiscal period.
CHAPTER 3. EFFECTIVE DATE
Section 331. Effective Date; Application.
The amendments included in the subtitle take effect January 1, 1995, and apply to bienniums beginning after September 30, 1995. The changes in the Budget Act and in title 31 of the U. S. Code do not apply in fiscal year 1995.
SUBTITLE B -- STAFFING AND INSTRUMENTALITIES
Section 341. Legislative Branch Streamlining and Restructuring.
The Speaker will appoint a task force to make recommendations and issue a report (along with the appropriate Senate committees) to the leadership to achieve: (1) economic efficiencies and cost savings in the administrative operations of the legislative branch, and (2) staffing reductions consistent with reductions implemented for the executive branch under the National Performance Review. If fully implemented, this would lead to a 12 percent reduction in legislative branch personnel. The base employment level from which reductions would be taken is the number of full-time legislative branch staff employed as of September 30, 1992. The task force must report before the beginning of the second session of the 104th Congress (January 3, 1996). Task force recommendations approved by the leadership will be implemented in the legislative branch appropriation bill for Fiscal Year 1997.
Section 342. Authorization and Funding of Certain Congressional Instrumentalities.
This section eliminates the permanent authorization of the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Government Printing Office, the Office of Technology Assessment, and the Congressional Budget Office. It establishes an eight year reauthorization schedule for each entity beginning in Fiscal Year 1997. The section also changes statutory provisions providing permanent authorization for these entities.
Section 343. Coordination of Legislative Branch Services.
This section directs the appropriate committees of the House and Senate to study and report to their party leaders by the end of the 104th Congress regarding how better coordination might be achieved in legislative branch services, positions, and organizations. The services for which greater coordination is to be sought include printing, recording, photography, tour guide services, folding and packaging, chaplains' services, flag offices, security and parking, disbursements and receipts of official expenses, legal services, bill drafting services, the Congressional Budget Office, library and research services, computer services, and the operation of the Office of the Architect and maintenance of buildings and grounds. The section suggests the creation of a bicameral management board to implement any proposals resulting from this study.
Section 344. Privatization and Competitive Bidding.
This section directs the appropriate committees of the House and Senate to study and report to their party leaders by the end of the 104th Congress regarding the feasibility of granting to private firms by competitive bid the right to operate congressional barber and beauty shops, gymnasiums and health clubs, health and medical services, restaurants, automobile services (including purchase and leasing), and child care. Contracts for such services and bids could be periodically reauthorized, but for a period not exceeding five years.
SUBTITLE C -- APPLICATION OF FEDERAL LAWS
Section 351. Definitions.
Defines ``congressional employee'' to include employees of the House, the Senate, or the Architect of the Capitol.
Defines ``employee of the House of Representatives'' as (1) an individual who was eligible to file a formal complaint with the House Office of Fair Employment Practices under House Rules prior to the enactment of this subtitle; (2) an applicant for such a position lasting longer than 90 days; and (3) a former employee as defined above.
Defines ``employee of the Senate'' as (1) an individual whose pay is disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate; (2) an applicant for such a position lasting longer than 90 days; and (3) a former employee as identified above.
Defines ``employee of the Architect of the Capitol'' as (1) an individual employed by the Architect or within the administrative jurisdiction of the Architect who is paid from legislative branch funds; (2) an applicant for such a position lasting longer than 90 days; and (3) a former employee as defined above.
Section 352. Application of laws.
This section provides that the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sections 102 through 104 of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 shall apply to congressional employees, subject to congressional approval of implementing regulations proposed by the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance. Such regulations may also propose providing coverage to congressional employees under other statutes.
Section 353. Office of Compliance.
This section establishes in the legislative branch: (1) an Office of Compliance (Office) with (2) a Board of Directors, consisting of eight individuals serving without pay appointed to maximum of one five-year term jointly by the Speaker of the House, the majority leader of the Senate, and the minority leaders of the House and the Senate; (3) a Director of the Office, appointed jointly by the Speaker, the majority leader of the Senate, and the minority leaders of the House and the Senate.
Section 354. Study and Regulations.
This section requires the Director to conduct a study of the application to congressional employees of the provisions of Federal law referred to in section 352. A report containing the results of the study is to be submitted to Congress no later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this subtitle, and the Director is to propose appropriate implementing regulations within an additional 180 days. The regulations proposed shall not go into effect unless approved by Congress, by adoption of a concurrent resolution, under fast-track procedures.
The section also defines ``employee of an instrumentality'' to include any employee of the General Accounting Office, the Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress, the Office of Technology Assessment, and any other unit of the legislative branch other than an office of the House, the Senate, or the Architect of the Capitol. The Director is to conduct a similar study of the application to employees of congressional instrumentalities of the same provisions of Federal law (section 352). The study report is due to Congress not later than 180 days after submission of the report on the application of such laws to congressional employees. Instrumentality employees may be provided additional employment protections, subject to the enactment of appropriate legislation under normal legislative procedures.
Section 355. Other Functions.
This section provides for certain other functions to be performed by the Director as follows: (1) adoption of procedural rules for the Office, including hearing boards, which are to be published in the Congressional Record; (2) conduct investigations necessary for the resolution of complaints as described herein; (3) carry out a program of education for Members, employing authorities, and congressional employees informing them of their rights and duties under applicable laws; (4) distribute such information in a manner suitable for posting and dissemination to new Members and employees; (5) publish enforcement statistics pertaining to the activities of the Office and the outcome of complaint proceedings and (6) collect demographic data relative to race, sex, wages, etc. of congressional employees.
Section 356. Procedure for Consideration of Alleged Violations.
This section outlines a four-step procedure for consideration of alleged violations of applicable laws to consist of counseling, mediation, formal complaint and administrative hearing, and judicial review.
Section 357. Step I: Counseling.
Aggrieved employees may within 180 days of an alleged violation request counseling through the Office which shall continue for a period of 30 days or for such lesser duration as the Office and employee may agree to.
Section 358. Step II: Mediation.
At the employee's request, counseling is followed by a mediation period of 30 days, subject to an additional 30-day extension, during which the Office, the employee, and the employing office meet separately or jointly for the purpose of resolving the dispute.
Section 359. Step III: Formal Complaint and Hearing.
Within 30 days of notice of the end of mediation, the congressional employee may file a formal complaint with the Office which shall be heard by a 3-member independent Board of hearing officers selected by the Director from among experienced adjudicators and arbitrators recommended by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and similar professional organizations.
All hearings are in closed session and on the record with reasonable prehearing discovery permitted at the Board's discretion. The Board may authorize subpoenas for attendance of witnesses and the production of documents. Board subpoenas are enforceable in (1) matters involving the Senate, by application to an appropriate Federal district court; or (2) matters involving the House, by report to the Committee on Rules which may refer disobedience by current Members or House employees to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
Within 45 days of the conclusion of hearings, the Board transmits its decision to the employee and employing office, together with a written statement of its reasoning, which also shall be made available to the public. The decision includes appropriate remedies for any violations found but neither House nor Senate Members personally, nor their office accounts, may be made liable for payment of compensation. Monetary relief of this nature instead will be satisfied from a separate fund established in each House for that purpose; including if awarded, attorneys fees. No punitive damages may be awarded. The Board decision may at the request of the employee or Member be reviewed by the Director who within 60 days is to affirm, reverse, or remand the matter for further consideration.
Section 360. Judicial Review.
Any aggrieved congressional employee or any House or Senate Member aggrieved by a final decision may seek judicial review of the Board proceedings before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which is to decide all relevant questions of law and interpret constitutional and statutory provisions. The standard of review requires the court to set aside any final decision that it finds to be (1) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not consistent with law, (2) not made consistent with required procedures, or (3) unsupported by substantial evidence. Attorneys fees in the court proceeding may be allowed a prevailing congressional employee.
Section 361. Resolution of Complaint.
Complaints may be withdrawn subject to approval by the Director.
Section 362. Prohibition of Intimidation.
Reprisals against congressional employees for exercising rights under this Act may be the basis of a complaint subject to the foregoing procedures and remedies.
Section 363. Confidentiality.
Generally, all counseling, mediation, and hearings are ``strictly confidential,'' except for disclosures required for purposes of judicial review or for access to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
Section 364. Political Affiliation and Place of Residence.
This section declares that it is not a violation of law to consider in making employment decisions the party affiliation, domicile, or political compatibility of a present or potential staff employee in a congressional office.
Section 365. Other Review.
No other administrative or judicial review is available for redress of practices violative of the Act.
SUBTITLE D -- MISCELLANEOUS
Section 371. Sunset Agency Reporting Requirements.
The House Committee on Government Operations and the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, with the assistance of the GAO, are charged with examining statutory reporting requirements and reporting legislation by a date certain to eliminate nonessential agency reports. The Committees also are instructed to develop a procedure to sunset agency reports within 5 years unless the reports are reauthorized, and to report legislation to achieve this objective.
Section 372. Joint Committee on Information Management.
This provision abolishes the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee on the Library. It creates a Joint Committee on Information Management, comprised of 5 Senators drawn from the Rules and Administration Committee and 5 Representatives drawn from the House Administration Committee with rotating chairmanship between the Chambers. The new Committee will (1) have the functions of the Joint Printing and Library Committees; (2) coordinate information management for Congress; (3) establish standards and policies for information technology in Congress; (4) and ensure public dissemination of executive branch information.
SUBTITLE E -- BUDGET CONTROL
Section 381. Short Title; Purpose.
Cites this subtitle as the ``Budget Control Act of 1993,'' with an expressed purpose to monitor total costs of direct spending programs and to direct the President and Congress to address adjustments in direct spending levels.
Section 382. Establishment of Direct Spending Targets.
This section requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to report to Congress on projected direct spending for each fiscal year from Fiscal Year 1994 through Fiscal Year 1997, and specifies economic and technical assumptions which the Director shall use in preparing such report.
Section 383. Annual Review of Direct Spending and Receipts by President.
This section directs the President to provide in his budget submission a review of direct spending and receipts, along with information on total outlays for programs specified in the direct spending targets and projected spending for the five succeeding fiscal years. The President shall include information supporting the adjustment of direct spending targets based on the actual outlays.
Section 384. Direct Spending Message by President.
If actual outlays exceeded the spending target or if estimates show that the target will be exceeded in the current or a future budget year, the President is directed to explain the causes of the disparity between the estimated and actual direct spending and to include recommendations for addressing the direct spending overages, if any. The President's recommendations may include any of the following: to reduce direct spending outlays, increase revenues, or both to end the spending overage, to only reduce the spending overage, or to take no legislative action. The President shall submit, with this message, the text of an appropriate ``direct spending resolution'' implementing his recommendations.
Section 385. Required Response by Congress.
The concurrent resolution on the budget must include a separate title containing reconciliation directives to the appropriate House and Senate committees to make appropriate reductions in direct spending outlays or in increased revenues by the amount specified by the President. If less than the full amount is recouped, the Budget Committee shall report a resolution directing the Government Operations Committee to report legislation increasing the direct spending targets accordingly, and no budget resolution may be considered until the House has agreed to adjust the targets. Neither shall it be in order to consider a budget resolution conference report unless the conference report fully addresses all direct spending overages. If the Budget Committee fails to act in a timely fashion on such issues, the concurrent resolution submitted with the President's budget shall be automatically discharged and its consideration becomes a privileged item of business in the House.
Section 386. Adjustments to Direct Spending Targets.
This section specifies the methodology to be used by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in adjusting the direct spending targets and revenue targets from those of the prior year.
Section 387. Relationship to Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Exempts outlay reductions or revenue increases undertaken pursuant to direct spending control process from budget enforcement procedures under Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Section 388. Estimating Margin.
If direct spending overage is less than .5 percent of the direct spending target for that fiscal year, the control process will not be triggered.
Section 389. Consideration of Appropriation Bills.
This section prohibits consideration of any general appropriation bill if the Congress has failed to complete action on a direct spending control measure as required above. However, the Rules Committee may report a rule granting a blanket waiver of this section for all general appropriation bills.
Section 390. Means-Tested Programs.
Urges the President and Congress to consider all other alternatives before proposing reductions in means-tested programs.
Section 391. Effective Date.
The subtitle applies to direct spending targets from Fiscal Year 1994 through Fiscal Year 1997 and terminates at the end of Fiscal Year 1997.