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#  Legislative Bulletin.........................................................January 4, 2007

**Contents:**

**H.Res. 6---**Adopting Rules for the One Hundred Tenth Congress

**H.Res. 6---Adopting Rules for the One Hundred Tenth Congress**

**[Order of Business]{.underline}**: The 110^th^ Congress is scheduled
to begin with a quorum call and the election of the Speaker on Thursday,
January 4, 2007.  Consideration of the rules package (H.Res. 6) follows
soon after in the order of business.  At this point, since the rules
have yet to be adopted, the House operates under "general parliamentary
law," and precedent generally suggests that means operating under the
rules of the preceding Congress. 

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H.Res. 6 is scheduled for consideration subject to a structured rule
(H.Res. 5). The rule provides for the rules package to be essentially
divided into five parts (by title) and considered separately. This
approach allows the Majority to consider, debate, and vote on each title
(ethics, fiscal responsibility, civility, etc.) on its own---without a
motion to commit on each title. The Minority will only have one such
motion to offer an alternative proposal.

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**[Background]{.underline}**: Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 of the U.S.
Constitution states that "each House may determine the Rules of its
Proceedings." Accordingly, at the start of every new Congress, the House
of Representatives adopts new rules, normally the standing rules of the
preceding Congress with various changes. (As a continuing body with only
a third of its Members elected every two years, the Senate does not pass
new rules each new Congress.)

**[Summary of the Major Provisions:]{.underline}**

**Note**: H.Res. 6 treats Members, Delegates, and Resident Commissioners
the same. For purposes of this brief, unless otherwise noted, any
mention of House Rules' application to Members also covers Delegates and
Resident Commissioners.

**Title I---Adoption of the Rules of the 109^th^ Congress**

-   Adopts the Rules of the 109^th^ Congress, *as amended by the
    resolution*, for the 110^th^ Congress.

**Title II---Ethics**

-   Amends the official code of conduct to prohibit Members from
    influencing an employment decision or employment practice of any
    private entity by taking, withholding, or threatening official
    action. This provision is targeted at ending the so-called **K
    Street Project**. It should be noted that it is already illegal to
    condition any official act on something else.

-   Amends the **gift ban** to prohibit Members and staff from accepting
    gifts from a registered lobbyist or from private entities that
    retain or employ registered lobbyists---regardless of current dollar
    thresholds. As with the current rules, the restriction would not
    apply if the Member or staff pays fair market value or if the giver
    is a relative or a long-standing personal friend. Tickets to
    sporting events and entertainments events would be valued at the
    face value of the ticket.

-   Provides that the following travel related rules apply to any Member
    or staff and stipulates that these provisions take effect on March
    1, 2007.

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-   Expands the current ban on reimbursement for privately funded travel
    from lobbyists to also include a ban on travel reimbursement by
    private entities that employ a lobbyist.

-   Provides that a reimbursement (including payment in kind) received
    directly from an institution of higher learning (as defined in the
    Higher Education Act) ***is permissible under the rules and thus not
    considered a gift.***

-   Provides that attendance at or participation in a one-day event is
    permissible under the rules, and also states that a two-night stay
    may be permitted by the Ethics Committee (on a case-by-case basis)
    when its determined to be practically required to participate in the
    one-day event.

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-   Prohibits travel related reimbursements for any trip on which the
    traveler is accompanied on any segment by a registered lobbyist or
    agent of a foreign principal (both are hereafter referred to as
    "registered lobbyist"). ***Provides an exception when the source of
    the reimbursement is an institution of higher learning.***

-   Prohibits travel related reimbursements for any trip that is
    financed in whole or part by a private entity that retains or
    employs a registered lobbyist, unless the lobbyist's involvement in
    the trip planning is considered de minimis under Ethics Committee
    standards.

-   Requires Members and staff, et al, before accepting travel otherwise
    permitted under House rules, to provide the House Ethics Committee a
    written certification of the following from the source of the trip:

    -   the trip will not be financed in any part by a registered
        lobbyist;

    -   that the source either a) does not retain or employ a registered
        lobbyist, or b) ***is an institution of higher learning***,
        or c) certifies that the trip meets the relevant Ethics
        Committee standards regarding de minimis lobbyist involvement
        and specifically details the extent of that involvement;

    -   that the source will not accept any funds from another source
        that are earmarked (directly or indirectly) to finance any
        aspect of the trip; and

    -   that the traveler will not be accompanied on any segment of the
        trip by a registered lobbyist.

-   Requires Members and staff, after the Ethics Committee has
    promulgated the relevant regulations, to obtain prior approval from
    the Ethics Committee for the trip.

-   Changes the current reporting requirement for allowable travel from
    30 days to 15 days after the travel has been completed to disclose
    to the Ethics Committee the expenses to be reimbursed.

-   Prohibits Members and staff from using personal funds, official
    funds, or campaign funds for a flight on a non-governmental airplane
    that is not licensed by the FAA to operate for compensation or hire.

-   Directs the Ethics Committee, within 45 days after adoption of these
    rules and at annual intervals thereafter, to develop and revise:

a)  guidelines on judging the reasonableness of an expense or
    expenditure (under Clause 5 of rule XXV) including factors that may
    establish a connection between a trip and official duties, the
    reasonableness of an amount spent by a sponsor, the relationship
    between an event and an officially connected purpose, and a direct
    and immediate relationship between a source of funding and an event;
    and

b)  regulations describing the information it will require individuals
    (subject to this clause) to submit to the Ethics Committee in order
    to obtain the prior committee approval for travel covered by this
    clause.

-   Adds to the existing reporting requirements on allowable travel a
    requirement to submit to the House Ethics Committee a description of
    the meetings and events attended during the travel.

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-   Requires **annual ethics training** by the Ethics Committee. Staff
    would be required to file a certification on January 31 of each year
    that he or she had received such training within the past
    year---this requirement does not appear applicable to Members and
    thus it is unclear how it would be enforced.

-   Renames the following committees:

> *From: To:*
>
> Committee on Education and Workforce Committee and Education and Labor
>
> Committee on International Relations Committee on Foreign Affairs
>
> Committee on Resources Committee on Natural Resources
>
> Committee on Government Reform Committee on Oversight and Government
> Reform
>
> Committee on Science Committee on Science and Technology

-   Reserves the first ten bill numbers (H.R. 1-10) for assignment by
    the Speaker.

**Title III---Civility**

-   Prohibits roll call votes from being held open for "the sole purpose
    of reversing the outcome" of a given vote. However, the resolution
    does not define sole purpose, nor does it provide the Minority with
    any method to enforce this new rule.

-   Requires that in conducting **conferences with the Senate**: 1)
    meetings only occur when the House manager has been notified and
    given a reasonable opportunity to attend; 2) that all provisions on
    which the House and the Senate disagree be open for discussion at
    any meeting; and 3) that conferees be given an opportunity to
    re-sign (and thus reconsider) a conference agreement if it changes
    in any way. The resolution further requires that House managers be
    given a time and place to access a copy of the final conference
    agreement and affix their signatures. Finally, a conference report
    could not be considered by the House if it differs in any way from
    the language agreed to by the conferees.

**Title IV---Fiscal Responsibility**

-   Prohibits a budget resolution from being considered that includes
    **reconciliation instructions** to change existing law that would
    either reduce the surplus or increase the deficit over one, five, or
    ten years. Given that all legislation affecting revenues is scored
    statically (without regard for increased revenues generated from
    expected economic growth), this change would make it far more
    difficult to consider budgets that cut taxes *or make current tax
    law permanent*.

-   Does *not* repeal the requirement in House Rules that imposes a
    higher hurdle (three-fifths of the Members voting) for raising
    income tax rates. However, the current rule could still be waived by
    the Rules Committee.

-   Ensures that most of the crucial **points of order** under the
    Budget Act apply to unreported bills. Under current law, such points
    of order only apply to measures "as reported." This change closes a
    loophole that many conservatives have historically sought to close.

-   Requires that all bills or joint resolutions considered by the House
    include either a list of **earmarks** ("congressional earmarks,
    limited tax benefits, and limited tariff benefits") in the text or
    committee report and the name of the Member requesting each earmark
    *or* a statement that no such earmarks are included. This provision
    would cover unreported bills, managers' amendments, and conference
    reports---but not suspensions---and could not be waived. The
    resolution defines a congressional earmark as:

> A provision or report language included primarily at the request of a
> Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Senator providing,
> authorizing or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget
> authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a
> contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other
> expenditure with or to any entity, or targeted to a specific State,
> locality or Congressional district, other than through a statutory or
> administrative formula-driven or competitive award process.
>
> The resolution defines a limited tax benefit as:
>
> Any revenue-losing provision that provides a federal tax deduction,
> credit, or exclusion, or preference to 10 or fewer beneficiaries under
> the Internal Revenue Code...and contains eligibility criteria that are
> not uniform in application with respect to potential beneficiaries of
> such provision, or...any federal tax provision which provides one
> beneficiary temporary or permanent transition relief from a change to
> the Internal Revenue Code.
>
> The resolution defines a limited tariff benefit as "a provision
> modifying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States in a
> manner that benefits 10 or fewer entities."
>
> In addition, the bill requires every Member requesting an earmark to
> provide a written statement to the chairman and ranking member of the
> committee with jurisdiction that includes the following
> information: 1) the requesting Member's name, 2) the name and address
> of the intended recipient or the intended location of the activity, 3)
> the purpose, and 4) a certification that the Member or spouse has no
> financial interest in the earmark. These statements would be
> maintained and open to public inspection *if* an earmark was included
> in reported bill or conference report (not unreported bills, manager's
> amendments, etc.) Finally, the resolution amends the Code of Conduct
> to prohibit conditioning the inclusion of an earmark on any vote cast
> by a Member.
>
> This earmark reform language essentially builds upon the resolution
> (H.Res. 1000) passed in the 109^th^ Congress to formally close most of
> the loopholes that were identified early on---most of which were
> practically addressed by the so-called Boehner protocol. Earmarks
> included in bills on the suspension calendar would continue to be
> exempt from the reforms.

-   Provides a **PAYGO** ("pay as you go") point of order in the House
    by prohibiting the consideration of any direct spending *or tax
    legislation* that would have the net affect of increasing the
    deficit or reducing the surplus over one, five, and ten years. This
    reform is merely a change to House Rules---it is not a statutory
    change that would bring back the PAYGO requirements in effect from
    1990-2002, which included a sequester or an across-the-board cut as
    an enforcement mechanism.

> In recent years, many conservatives have been concerned with efforts
> to restore PAYGO rules. For instance, the Family Budget Protection Act
> (FBPA)---consensus RSC budget process reform language introduced in
> the past two Congresses---does not include either PAYGO rule or
> statutory changes. It is important to note that even when PAYGO was in
> effect that it never worked. When the time came for a sequester,
> Congress always tampered or ignored PAYGO to ensure that new spending
> would not have to be paid for. No PAYGO sequester ever occurred. In
> addition, PAYGO only applies to new tax and spending policies and does
> nothing to control the exploding costs of current
> entitlements---namely Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.
> Accordingly, FBPA included a cap on all entitlements (outside of
> Social Security) so that Congress would begin to control the cost of
> current spending.
>
> Finally, PAYGO treats new tax and spending policies differently
> because current law or "the baseline" assumes that all spending will
> continue at current rates into the future (adjusted for inflation)
> even if discretionary or set to expire, whereas low tax rates
> scheduled to sunset are not expected to continue at such levels. As a
> result, a bill to extend the Bush tax cuts or make them permanent
> would be subject to a PAYGO point of order as a new reduction in
> revenues that either increases the deficit or reduces the surplus.
>
> **Title V---Miscellaneous**

-   Provides for the consideration of five measures---*none of which
    have been introduced yet*. This **"rule within a rule" strategy**
    allows the Democratic Majority to bypass rule votes on five of their
    key "100 Hour agenda" measures (minimum wage increase, embryonic
    stem cell research funding, 9/11 recommendations, and negotiating
    authority for the Secretary of HHS with regard to drug prices). Each
    rule within a rule waives all points of order lying against each
    prospective legislation, provides for three hours of debate (equally
    divided), and allows for no amendments with one motion to recommit.

-   Allows the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to adopt a
    rule authorizing the taking of **depositions** by a Member or
    *counsel/staff* of the Committee. The provision requires that the
    Minority Members and staff of the Committee be given "equitable
    treatment" with regard to notice and opportunity to participate.

-   Excuses the **Rules Committee** from having to include the outcome
    of recorded votes in committee (and the names of Members voting for
    or against) in the contents of committee reports.

-   **Deems the House-passed budget** (H.Con.Res. 376) from the 109^th^
    Congress as effective until the adoption of a new concurrent budget
    resolution in the 110^th^ Congress. The resolution also requires the
    Chairman of the Budget Committee to submit 302(a) allocations into
    the Congressional Record based on the deemed budget's spending
    levels. In addition, the resolution retains the "point of order
    protection," negotiated two years ago by the RSC to ensure that
    appropriations bills leave the House floor within budget or else
    receive an extra vote on fiscal grounds.

-   Allows the Speaker (or the Chairman of the Committee on the Whole)
    to declare an emergency recess subject to the call of the chair when
    notified of an imminent threat to the House.

-   Clarifies that references to Section 306 of the Congressional Budget
    Act shall be construed as references to joint resolutions. Section
    306 bars consideration of "any bill, resolution, amendment, motion,
    or conference report" dealing with any matter within the
    jurisdiction of the Budget Committee. This clarification, included
    in previous rule packages, ensures that a budget point of order does
    not lie against a "self-executing rule" issued by the Rules
    Committee to bring a bill that exceeds the budget into compliance.
    Normally such a fix is requested by the Budget Committee itself.

-   Clarifies that points of order under Section 303 of the
    Congressional Budget Act shall be determined on the basis of the
    text made available for floor consideration. Section 303 bars
    consideration of certain spending bills until the annual budget
    resolution is adopted. This clarification, included in previous
    rules packages, aligns Section 303 with the rest of the Budget Act
    so that a point of order does not lie against a bill "as reported"
    from committee when it exceeds the budget and then is brought into
    compliance prior to floor consideration.

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-   Bars former Members of Congress and spouses who are now registered
    lobbyists from using the House **exercise facilities**.

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**[Committee Action]{.underline}**: None.

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**[Cost to Taxpayers]{.underline}**: None.

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**[Does the Resolution Expand the Size and Scope of the Federal
Government?]{.underline}**: No.

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**[Does the Resolution Contain Any New State-Government,
Local-Government, or Private-Sector Mandates?]{.underline}**: No.

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**[RSC Staff Contact]{.underline}**: Russ Vought,
<russell.vought@mail.house.gov>, (202) 226-8581