I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5258 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose the alternative 

minimum tax on certain State regulated electric utilities that have not 

fully adopted climate-resilient infrastructure. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 22, 2019 

Mr. HARDER of California (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. AGUILAR, and Mr. 

GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose 

the alternative minimum tax on certain State regulated 

electric utilities that have not fully adopted climate-resilient infrastructure. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Bonuses During 

5 Blackouts Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX IMPOSED ON CERTAIN 

2 STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 55(a) of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘a corporation 

5 described in subsection (f) or’’ after ‘‘In the case of’’. 

6 (b) CERTAIN STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILI7 TIES.—Section 55 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub9 section: 

10 ‘‘(f) CERTAIN STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILI11 TIES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A corporation is described 

13 in this subsection if it is— 

14 ‘‘(A) a State regulated electric utility (as 

15 such term is defined in section 3(18) of the 

16 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978), 

17 ‘‘(B) a debtor in a case commenced under 

18 title 11 of the United States Code on January 

19 29, 2019, and 

20 ‘‘(C) a corporation that— 

21 ‘‘(i) makes payments, other than pay22 ments of salary, that are incentive-based 

23 cash payments to any of the 13 highest24 compensated employees of such corpora25 tion, or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) owns or leases infrastructure 

2 other than climate-resilient infrastructure. 

3 ‘‘(2) CLIMATE-RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

4 For purposes of this section, the term ‘climate-resil5 ient infrastructure’ means infrastructure with the 

6 ability to reduce the impact of major weather events 

7 and natural disasters. 

8 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR AFFILIATED

9 GROUPS.—If any member of an affiliated group of 

10 corporations that files a consolidated return is a cor11 poration described in this subsection, all members of 

12 such group shall be considered corporations de13 scribed in this subsection for purposes of chapter 6 

14 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) Section 38(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue 

17 Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘described in 

18 section 55(f)’’ after ‘‘In the case of a corporation’’. 

19 (2) Section 53(d)(2) of such Code is amended 

20 by inserting ‘‘described in section 55(f)’’ after ‘‘in 

21 the case of a corporation’’. 

22 (3) Section 55(b)(1) of such Code is amended 

23 to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF TENTATIVE TAX.— 

25 ‘‘(A) NONCORPORATE TAXPAYERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

2 taxpayer other than a corporation, the ten3 tative minimum tax for the taxable year is 

4 the sum of— 

5 ‘‘(I) 26 percent of so much of the 

6 taxable excess as does not exceed 

7 $175,000, plus— 

8 ‘‘(II) 28 percent of so much of 

9 the taxable excess as exceeds 

10 $175,000. 

11 The amount determined under the pre12 ceding sentence shall be reduced by the al13 ternative minimum tax foreign tax credit 

14 for the taxable year. 

15 ‘‘(ii) TAXABLE EXCESS.—For pur16 poses of this subsection, the term ‘taxable 

17 excess’ means so much of the alternative 

18 minimum taxable income for the taxable 

19 year as exceeds the exemption amount. 

20 ‘‘(iii) MARRIED INDIVIDUAL FILING

21 SEPARATE RETURN.—In the case of a mar22 ried individual filing a separate return, 

23 clause (i) shall be applied by substituting 

24 50 percent of the dollar amount otherwise 

25 applicable under subclause (I) and subVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258

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1 clause (II) thereof. For purposes of the 

2 preceding sentence, marital status shall be 

3 determined under section 7703. 

4 ‘‘(B) CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a 

5 corporation described in subsection (f), the ten6 tative minimum tax for the taxable year is— 

7 ‘‘(i) 20 percent of so much of the al8 ternative minimum taxable income for the 

9 taxable year as exceeds the exemption 

10 amount, reduced by 

11 ‘‘(ii) the alternative minimum tax for12 eign tax credit for the taxable year.’’. 

13 (4) Section 55(b)(3) of such Code is amended 

14 by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘para15 graph (1)(A)(i)’’. 

16 (5) Section 59(a) of such Code is amended— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘sec18 tion 55(b)(1) in lieu of the highest rate of tax 

19 specified in section 1’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara20 graph (A)(i) or (B)(i) of section 55(b)(1) 

21 (whichever applies) in lieu of the highest rate of 

22 tax specified in section 1 or 11 (whichever ap23 plies)’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘means’’ 

2 and all that follows and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘means— 

4 ‘‘(A) in the case of a taxpayer other than 

5 a corporation, the amount determined under the 

6 first sentence of section 55(b)(1)(A)(i), or 

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of a corporation described 

8 in section 55(f), the amount determined under 

9 section 55(b)(1)(B)(i).’’. 

10 (6) Section 897(a)(2)(A) of such Code is 

11 amended by striking ‘‘section 55(b)(1)’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘section 55(b)(1)(A)’’. 

13 (7) Section 911(f) of such Code is amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘section 55(b)(1)(B)’’ each 

15 place it appears and inserting ‘‘section 

16 55(b)(1)(A)(ii)’’; and 

17 (B) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘sec18 tion 55(b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

19 55(b)(1)(A)(i)’’. 

20 (8) Section 55(c)(1) of such Code is amended 

21 by inserting before the first period the following: ‘‘, 

22 the section 936 credit allowable under section 27(b), 

23 and the Puerto Rico economic activity credit under 

24 section 30A’’. 

25 (9) Section 55(d) of such Code is amended— 


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1 (A) redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) 

2 as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively, and in3 serting after paragraph (1) the following: 

4 ‘‘(2) CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a corpora5 tion, the term ‘exemption amount’ means $40,000.’’; 

6 (B) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), 

7 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph 

8 (B), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘, 

9 and’’ at the end of subparagraph (C), and by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(D) $150,000 in the case of a taxpayer 

12 described in paragraph (2).’’; 

13 (C) in paragraph (4) (as so redesig14 nated)— 

15 (i) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking 

16 ‘‘(b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)(1)(A)(i)’’; 

17 and 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik19 ing ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘para20 graph (3)’’. 

21 (10) Section 55 of such Code is amended by re22 storing subsection (e) as though it had not been 

23 struck by Public Law 115–97. 

24 (11) Section 56(b)(2) of such Code is amended 

25 by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph 


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1 (D) and by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR PERSONAL HOLD4 ING COMPANIES.—In the case of circulation ex5 penditures described in section 173, the adjust6 ments provided in this paragraph shall apply 

7 also to a personal holding company (as defined 

8 in section 542).’’. 

9 (12) Section 56 of such Code is amended by re10 storing subsections (c) and (g) as though they had 

11 not been struck by Public Law 115–97. 

12 (13) Section 847(9) of such Code is amended 

13 by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Nothing in the 

14 preceding sentence shall be construed to affect the 

15 application of section 56(g) (relating to adjustments 

16 based on adjusted current earnings).’’ 

17 (14) Section 848 of such Code is amended by 

18 restoring subsection (i) as though it had not been 

19 struck by Public Law 115–97. 

20 (15) Section 58(a) of such Code is amended by 

21 redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4) and 

22 by inserting the following after paragraph (2): 

23 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO PERSONAL SERVICE COR24 PORATIONS.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a per25 sonal service corporation (within the meaning of secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258

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1 tion 469(j)(2)) shall be treated as a taxpayer other 

2 than a corporation.’’. 

3 (16) Section 59 of such Code is amended by re4 storing subsections (b) and (f) as though they had 

5 not been struck by Public Law 115–97. 

6 (17) Section 11(d) of such Code is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘the tax imposed by subsection (a)’’ and in8 serting ‘‘the taxes imposed by subsection (a) and 

9 section 55’’. 

10 (18) Section 12 of such Code is amended by re11 storing paragraph (7) as though it had not been 

12 struck by Public Law 115–97. 

13 (19) Section 168(k) of such Code is amended 

14 by restoring paragraph (4) as though it had not 

15 been struck by Public Law 115–97. 

16 (20) Section 882(a)(1) of such Code is amended 

17 by inserting ‘‘, 55,’’ after ‘‘section 11’’. 

18 (21) Section 962(a)(1) of such Code is amended 

19 by inserting ‘‘and 55’’ after ‘‘section 11’’. 

20 (22) Section 1561(a) of such Code is amend21 ed— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para23 graph (1), by striking the period at the end of 

24 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by in25 serting after paragraph (2) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) one $40,000 exemption amount for pur2 poses of computing the amount of the minimum 

3 tax.’’; and 

4 (B) by restoring the last sentence as 

5 though it had not been struck by Public Law 

6 115–97. 

7 (23) Section 6425(c)(1)(A) of such Code is 

8 amended to read as it read before the passage of 

9 Public Law 115–97. 

10 (24) Section 6655(e)(2) of such Code is amend11 ed by inserting ‘‘and alternative minimum taxable 

12 income’’ each place it appeared before the passage of 

13 Public Law 115–97. 

14 (25) Section 6655(g)(1)(A) of such Code is 

15 amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of clause (i), 

16 by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii), and by in17 serting after clause (i) the following: 

18 ‘‘(ii) the tax imposed by section 55, 

19 plus’’. 

20 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

22 December 31, 2019. 

Æ 


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