II 

Calendar No. 506 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4461 

To provide for a period of continuing appropriations in the event of a 

lapse in appropriations under the normal appropriations process, and 

establish procedures and consequences in the event of a failure to enact 

appropriations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2020 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read the first time 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To provide for a period of continuing appropriations in the 

event of a lapse in appropriations under the normal 

appropriations process, and establish procedures and consequences in the event of a failure to enact appropriations. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Government 

3 Shutdowns Act of 2020’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 31, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘§ 1311. Automatic continuing appropriations 

9 ‘‘(a)(1)(A) On and after the first day of each fiscal 

10 year, if an appropriation Act for such fiscal year with re11 spect to the account for a program, project, or activity 

12 has not been enacted and continuing appropriations are 

13 not in effect with respect to the program, project, or activ14 ity, there are appropriated such sums as may be necessary 

15 to continue, at the rate for operations specified in sub16 paragraph (B), the program, project, or activity if funds 

17 were provided for the program, project, or activity during 

18 the preceding fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), the rate for 

20 operations specified in this subparagraph with respect to 

21 a program, project, or activity is the rate for operations 

22 for the preceding fiscal year for the program, project, or 

23 activity— 

24 ‘‘(I) provided in the corresponding appropria25 tion Act for such preceding fiscal year; 


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1 ‘‘(II) if the corresponding appropriation bill for 

2 such preceding fiscal year was not enacted, provided 

3 in the law providing continuing appropriations for 

4 such preceding fiscal year; or 

5 ‘‘(III) if the corresponding appropriation bill 

6 and a law providing continuing appropriations for 

7 such preceding fiscal year were not enacted, pro8 vided under this section for such preceding fiscal 

9 year. 

10 ‘‘(ii) For entitlements and other mandatory payments 

11 whose budget authority was provided for the previous fis12 cal year in appropriations Acts, under a law other than 

13 this section providing continuing appropriations for such 

14 previous year, or under this section, and for activities 

15 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, appropriations 

16 and funds made available during a fiscal year under this 

17 section shall be at the rate necessary to maintain program 

18 levels under current law, under the authority and condi19 tions provided in the applicable appropriations Act. 

20 ‘‘(2) Appropriations and funds made available, and 

21 authority granted, for any fiscal year pursuant to this sec22 tion for a program, project, or activity shall be available 

23 for the period beginning with the first day of any lapse 

24 in appropriations during such fiscal year and ending with 

25 the date on which the applicable regular appropriation bill 


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1 for such fiscal year is enacted (whether or not such law 

2 provides appropriations for such program, project, or ac3 tivity) or a law making continuing appropriations for the 

4 program, project, or activity is enacted, as the case may 

5 be. 

6 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 251(a)(1) of the Bal7 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

8 (2 U.S.C. 901(a)(1)) and the timetable in section 254(a) 

9 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 904(a)), for any fiscal year for 

10 which appropriations and funds are made available under 

11 this section, the final sequestration report for such fiscal 

12 year pursuant to section 254(f)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

13 904(f)(1)) and any order for such fiscal year pursuant to 

14 section 254(f)(5) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 901(f)(5)) shall 

15 be issued— 

16 ‘‘(A) for the Congressional Budget Office, 10 

17 days after the date on which all regular appropria18 tion Acts for such fiscal year or continuing appro19 priations through the end of such fiscal year have 

20 been enacted; and 

21 ‘‘(B) for the Office of Management and Budget, 

22 15 days after the date on which all regular appro23 priation Acts for such fiscal year or continuing ap24 propriations through the end of such fiscal year have 

25 been enacted. 


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1 ‘‘(b) An appropriation or funds made available, or au2 thority granted, for a program, project, or activity for any 

3 fiscal year pursuant to this section shall be subject to the 

4 terms and conditions imposed with respect to the appro5 priation made or funds made available for the preceding 

6 fiscal year, or authority granted for such program, project, 

7 or activity under current law. 

8 ‘‘(c) Expenditures made for a program, project, or 

9 activity for any fiscal year pursuant to this section shall 

10 be charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or au11 thorization whenever a regular appropriation Act, or a law 

12 making continuing appropriations until the end of such 

13 fiscal year, for such program, project, or activity is en14 acted. 

15 ‘‘(d) This section shall not apply to a program, 

16 project, or activity during a fiscal year if any other provi17 sion of law (other than an authorization of appropria18 tions)— 

19 ‘‘(1) makes an appropriation, makes funds 

20 available, or grants authority for such program, 

21 project, or activity to continue for such period; or 

22 ‘‘(2) specifically provides that no appropriation 

23 shall be made, no funds shall be made available, or 

24 no authority shall be granted for such program, 

25 project, or activity to continue for such period.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for chapter 13 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘1311. Automatic continuing appropriations.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. TIMELY ENACTMENT OF APPROPRIATION ACTS. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘covered officer or employee’’ 

7 means— 

8 (A) an officer or employee of the Office of 

9 Management and Budget; 

10 (B) a Member of Congress; or 

11 (C) an employee of the personal office of a 

12 Member of Congress, a committee of either 

13 House of Congress, or a joint committee of 

14 Congress; 

15 (2) the term ‘‘covered period’’ means any period 

16 on and after the first day of a fiscal year, if all gen17 eral appropriations Acts have not been passed in 

18 identical form by both Houses and transmitted to 

19 Secretary of the Senate or Clerk of the House for 

20 enrollment and presentment to the President for his 

21 signature; 

22 (3) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ has the 

23 meaning given that term in section 2106 of title 5, 

24 United States Code; and 


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1 (4) the term ‘‘National Capital Region’’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 8702 of title 40, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (b) LIMITS ON TRAVEL EXPENDITURES.— 

5 (1) LIMITS ON OFFICIAL TRAVEL.— 

6 (A) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), during a covered period no 

8 amounts may be obligated or expended for offi9 cial travel by a covered officer or employee. 

10 (B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

11 (i) RETURN TO DC.—If a covered offi12 cer or employee is away from the seat of 

13 Government on the date on which a cov14 ered period begins, funds may be obligated 

15 and expended for official travel for a single 

16 return trip to the seat of Government by 

17 the covered officer or employee. 

18 (ii) TRAVEL IN NATIONAL CAPITAL

19 REGION.—During a covered period, 

20 amounts may be obligated and expended 

21 for official travel by a covered officer or 

22 employee from one location in the National 

23 Capital Region to another location in the 

24 National Capital Region. 


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1 (iii) NATIONAL SECURITY EVENTS.— 

2 During a covered period, if a national se3 curity event that triggers a continuity of 

4 operations or continuity of Government 

5 protocol occurs, amounts may be obligated 

6 and expended for official travel by a cov7 ered officer or employee for any official 

8 travel relating to responding to the na9 tional security event or implementing the 

10 continuity of operations or continuity of 

11 Government protocol. 

12 (2) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CAMPAIGN

13 FUNDS.—Section 313 of the Federal Election Cam14 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended— 

15 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘for 

16 ordinary’’ and inserting ‘‘except as provided in 

17 subsection (d), for ordinary’’; and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS

20 FOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL DURING LAPSE IN APPROPRIA21 TIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), during a covered period (as defined in 

24 section 3 of the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act 

25 of 2020), a contribution or donation described in 


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1 subsection (a) may not be obligated or expended for 

2 travel in connection with duties of the individual as 

3 a holder of Federal office. 

4 ‘‘(2) RETURN TO DC.—If the individual is away 

5 from the seat of Government on the date on which 

6 a covered period (as so defined) begins, a contribu7 tion or donation described in subsection (a) may be 

8 obligated and expended for travel by the individual 

9 to return to the seat of Government.’’. 

10 (c) PROCEDURES IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF

11 REPRESENTATIVES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—During a covered period, in 

13 the Senate and the House of Representatives— 

14 (A) it shall not be in order to move to pro15 ceed to any matter except for— 

16 (i) a measure making appropriations 

17 for the fiscal year during which the covered 

18 period begins; 

19 (ii) a motion relating to determining 

20 or obtaining the presence of a quorum; or 

21 (iii) on and after the 30th calendar 

22 day after the first day of a fiscal year— 

23 (I) the nomination of an indi24 vidual— 


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1 (aa) to a position at level I 

2 of the Executive Schedule under 

3 section 5312 of title 5 of the 

4 United States Code; or 

5 (bb) to serve as Chief Jus6 tice of the United States or an 

7 Associate Justice of the Supreme 

8 Court of the United States; or 

9 (II) a measure extending the pe10 riod during which a program, project, 

11 or activity is authorized to be carried 

12 out (without substantive change to the 

13 program, project, or activity or any 

14 other program, project, or activity) 

15 if— 

16 (aa) an appropriation Act 

17 for such fiscal year with respect 

18 to the program, project, or activ19 ity has not been passed in iden20 tical form by both Houses and 

21 transmitted to Secretary of the 

22 Senate or Clerk of the House for 

23 enrollment and presentment to 

24 the President for his signature; 

25 and 


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1 (bb) the program, project, or 

2 activity has expired since the be3 ginning of such fiscal year or will 

4 expire during the 30-day period 

5 beginning on the date of the mo6 tion; 

7 (B) it shall not be in order to move to re8 cess or adjourn for a period of more than 23 

9 hours; and 

10 (C) at noon each day, or immediately fol11 lowing any constructive convening of the Senate 

12 under rule IV, paragraph 2 of the Standing 

13 Rules of the Senate, the Presiding Officer shall 

14 direct the clerk to determine whether a quorum 

15 is present. 

16 (2) WAIVER.— 

17 (A) LIMITATION ON PERIOD.—It shall not 

18 be in order in the Senate or the House of Rep19 resentatives to move to waive any provision of 

20 paragraph (1) for a period that is longer than 

21 7 days. 

22 (B) SUPERMAJORITY VOTE.—A provision 

23 of paragraph (1) may only be waived or sus24 pended upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds 


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1 of the Members of the applicable House of Con2 gress, duly chosen and sworn. 

3 (d) MOTION TO PROCEED TO APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—On and after the 30th cal5 endar day after the first day of each fiscal year, if 

6 an appropriation Act for such fiscal year with re7 spect to a program, project, or activity has not been 

8 passed in identical form by both Houses and trans9 mitted to Secretary of the Senate or Clerk of the 

10 House for enrollment and presentment to the Presi11 dent for his signature, it shall be in order in the 

12 Senate, notwithstanding rule XXII or any pending 

13 executive measure or matter, to move to proceed to 

14 any appropriations bill or joint resolution for the 

15 program, project, or activity that has been sponsored 

16 and cosponsored by not less than 3 Senators who 

17 are members of or caucus with the party in the ma18 jority in the Senate and not less than 3 Senators 

19 who are members of or caucus with the party in the 

20 minority in the Senate. 

21 (2) CONSIDERATION.—For a bill or joint reso22 lution described in paragraph (1)— 

23 (A) the bill or joint resolution may be con24 sidered the same day as it is introduced and 

25 shall not have to lie over 1 day; and 


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1 (B) the motion to proceed to the bill or 

2 joint resolution shall be debatable for not to ex3 ceed 6 hours, equally divided between the pro4 ponents and opponents of the motion, and upon 

5 the use or yielding back of time, the Senate 

6 shall vote on the motion to proceed. 

7 SEC. 4. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

8 (a) CLASSIFICATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.— 

9 The budgetary effects of this Act and the amendments 

10 made by this Act shall be estimated as if this Act and 

11 the amendments made by this Act are discretionary appro12 priations Acts for purposes of section 251 of the Balanced 

13 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

14 U.S.C. 900 et seq.). 

15 (b) BASELINE.—For purposes of calculating the 

16 baseline under section 257 of the Balanced Budget and 

17 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 907), 

18 the provision of budgetary resources under section 1311 

19 of title 31, United States Code, as added by this Act, for 

20 an account shall be considered to be a continuing appro21 priation in effect for such account for less than the entire 

22 current year. 

23 (c) ENFORCEMENT OF DISCRETIONARY SPENDING

24 LIMITS.—For purposes of enforcing the discretionary 

25 spending limits under section 251(a) of the Balanced 


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1 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

2 U.S.C. 901(a)), the budgetary resources made available 

3 under section 1311 of title 31, United States Code, as 

4 added by this Act, shall be considered part-year appropria5 tions for purposes of section 251(a)(4) of the Balanced 

6 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

7 U.S.C. 901(a)(4)). 

8 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

10 take effect on September 30, 2021. 


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Calendar No. 506 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4461 

A BILL 

To provide for a period of continuing appropriaof a failure to enact appropriations. tablish procedures and consequences in the event under the normal appropriations process, and es- tions in the event of a lapse in appropriations 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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