I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1994 

To terminate the Election Assistance Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2013 

Mr. HARPER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To terminate the Election Assistance Commission. 

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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Election Assistance Commission Termination Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 

8 (HAVA) authorized annual appropriations of not 

9 more than $10,000,000 for the Election Assistance 

10 Commission (EAC) for fiscal years 2003, 2004, and 

11 2005. Funding for additional years has not been auVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:39 May 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1994.IH H1994

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1 thorized, and in fiscal year 2011 the EAC’s budget 

2 grew to nearly $18,000,000. 

3 (2) Between 2007 and 2011, the number of 

4 staff at the EAC grew from 26 to 48 without an in5 crease in statutory responsibility. 

6 (3) 55 percent of the EAC’s fiscal year 2014 

7 budget request is devoted to management costs, the 

8 third consecutive year for which management costs 

9 have exceeded one-half of the EAC’s budget. 

10 (4) The EAC has distributed more than $3.2 

11 billion in election reform grants to the States. The 

12 most recent year for which appropriations for these 

13 grants were enacted or were requested in the Presi14 dent’s annual budget was fiscal year 2010. 

15 (5) The EAC last issued voluntary voting sys16 tem guidelines in 2005. A total of 11 voting systems 

17 currently hold a certification from the EAC. 

18 (6) The research division of the EAC has sub19 stantially completed the reports required by HAVA. 

20 (7) The National Association of Secretaries of 

21 State adopted resolutions calling for the dissolution 

22 of the EAC in 2005 and 2010. 

23 (8) The EAC has not had a quorum of commis24 sioners since December 2010, and has not had any 

25 commissioners since December 2011. The EAC has 


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1 not had an Executive Director since December 2011, 

2 and has not had a General Counsel since May 2012. 

3 (9) The existence of the EAC is not necessary 

4 to the conduct of Federal elections and is an unnec5 essary expenditure of taxpayer funds. Any functions 

6 of the EAC worth continuing can be performed by 

7 other government entities, consortia of government 

8 entities, or private associations. 

9 SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS10 SION. 

11 (a) TERMINATION.—The Help America Vote Act of 

12 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15301 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

13 the end the following new title: 

14 ‘‘TITLE X—TERMINATION OF 

15 COMMISSION 

16 ‘‘SEC. 1001. TERMINATION. 

17 ‘‘Effective on the Commission termination date, the 

18 Commission (including the Election Assistance Commis19 sion Standards Board and the Election Assistance Com20 mission Board of Advisors under part 2 of subtitle A of 

21 title II) is terminated and may not carry out any programs 

22 or activities. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1002. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET TO 

2 PERFORM TRANSITION FUNCTIONS. 

3 ‘‘Except as provided in section 1004, the Director of 

4 the Office of Management and Budget shall, effective 

5 upon the Commission termination date— 

6 ‘‘(1) perform the functions of the Commission 

7 with respect to contracts and agreements described 

8 in subsection 1003(a) until the expiration of such 

9 contracts and agreements, but shall not renew any 

10 such contract or agreement; and 

11 ‘‘(2) take the necessary steps to wind up the af12 fairs of the Commission. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1003. SAVINGS PROVISIONS. 

14 ‘‘(a) PRIOR CONTRACTS.—The termination of the 

15 Commission under this title shall not affect any contract 

16 that has been entered into by the Commission before the 

17 Commission termination date. All such contracts shall 

18 continue in effect until modified, superseded, terminated, 

19 set aside, or revoked in accordance with law by an author20 ized Federal official, a court of competent jurisdiction, or 

21 operation of law. 

22 ‘‘(b) OBLIGATIONS OF RECIPIENTS OF PAYMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The termination of the 

24 Commission under this title shall not affect the au25 thority of any recipient of a payment made by the 

26 Commission under this Act prior to the Commission 


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1 termination date to use any portion of the payment 

2 that remains unobligated as of the Commission ter3 mination date, and the terms and conditions that 

4 applied to the use of the payment at the time the 

5 payment was made shall continue to apply. 

6 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES RECEIVING

7 REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS.—In the case of a re8 quirements payment made to a State under part 1 

9 of subtitle D of title II, the terms and conditions ap10 plicable to the use of the payment for purposes of 

11 the State’s obligations under this subsection (as well 

12 as any obligations in effect prior to the termination 

13 of the Commission under this subtitle), and for pur14 poses of any applicable requirements imposed by 

15 regulations promulgated by the Director of the Of16 fice of Management and Budget, shall be the general 

17 terms and conditions applicable under Federal law, 

18 rules, and regulations to payments made by the Fed19 eral Government to a State, except that to the ex20 tent that such general terms and conditions are in21 consistent with the terms and conditions that are 

22 specified under part 1 of subtitle D of title II or sec23 tion 902, the terms and conditions specified under 

24 such part and such section shall apply. 

25 ‘‘(c) PENDING PROCEEDINGS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) NO EFFECT ON PENDING PROCEEDINGS.— 

2 The termination of the Commission under this title 

3 shall not affect any proceeding to which the Com4 mission is a party that is pending on the Commis5 sion termination date, including any suit to which 

6 the Commission is a party that is commenced prior 

7 to such date, and the Director of the Office of Man8 agement and Budget shall be substituted or added 

9 as a party to the proceeding. 

10 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF ORDERS.—In the case of 

11 a proceeding described in paragraph (1), an order 

12 may be issued, an appeal may be taken, judgments 

13 may be rendered, and payments may be made as if 

14 the Commission had not been terminated. Any such 

15 order shall continue in effect until modified, termi16 nated, superseded, or revoked by an authorized Fed17 eral official, a court of competent jurisdiction, or op18 eration of law. 

19 ‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO DIS20 CONTINUANCE OR MODIFICATION.—Nothing in this 

21 subsection shall be deemed to prohibit the dis22 continuance or modification of any proceeding de23 scribed in paragraph (1) under the same terms and 

24 conditions and to the same extent that such proVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:39 May 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1994.IH H1994

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1 ceeding could have been discontinued or modified if 

2 the Commission had not been terminated. 

3 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS FOR TRANSFER OF PRO4 CEEDINGS.—The Director of the Office of Manage5 ment and Budget may issue regulations providing 

6 for the orderly transfer of proceedings described in 

7 paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(d) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Orders and actions of the 

9 Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the 

10 exercise of functions of the Commission under section 

11 1002 shall be subject to judicial review to the same extent 

12 and in the same manner as if such orders and actions had 

13 been issued or taken by the Commission. Any require14 ments relating to notice, hearings, action upon the record, 

15 or administrative review that apply to any function of the 

16 Commission shall apply to the exercise of such function 

17 by the Director. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 1004. RETURN TO FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

19 OF AUTHORITY TO CARRY OUT CERTAIN 

20 FUNCTIONS UNDER NATIONAL VOTER REG21 ISTRATION ACT OF 1993. 

22 ‘‘Effective on the Commission termination date, there 

23 are transferred to the Federal Election Commission any 

24 functions transferred to the Election Assistance Commis25 sion under section 802 (relating to functions described in 


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1 section 9(a) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

2 1993). 

3 ‘‘SEC. 1005. COMMISSION TERMINATION DATE. 

4 ‘‘The ‘Commission termination date’ is the first date 

5 following the expiration of the 60-day period that begins 

6 on the date of the enactment of this title.’’. 

7 (b) TERMINATION OF TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DE8 VELOPMENT COMMITTEE.—Section 221 of such Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 15361) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(g) TERMINATION.—Effective on the Commission 

12 termination date described in section 1005, the Develop13 ment Committee is terminated.’’. 

14 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

15 of such Act is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘TITLE X—TERMINATION OF COMMISSION 

‘‘Sec. 1001. Termination. 

‘‘Sec. 1002. Office of Management and Budget to perform transition functions. 

‘‘Sec. 1003. Savings provisions. 

‘‘Sec. 1004. Return to Federal Election Commission of authority to carry out 

certain functions under National Voter Registration Act of 

1993. 

‘‘Sec. 1005. Commission termination date.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO RETURN 

17 OF CERTAIN AUTHORITY TO FEDERAL ELEC18 TION COMMISSION. 

19 (a) FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.— 

20 Section 311(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

21 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

2 (8); 

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (9) and inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(10) carry out the duties described in section 

8 9(a) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

9 1993.’’. 

10 (b) NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF

11 1993.—Section 9(a) of the National Voter Registration 

12 Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–7(a)) is amended by strik13 ing ‘‘Election Assistance Commission’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘Federal Election Commission’’. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall take effect on the Commission termi17 nation date described in section 1005 of the Help America 

18 Vote Act of 2002 (as added by section 2(a)). 

Æ 


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