I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2116

To establish a national advisory referendum on a flat income tax rate, and

requiring a national vote to raise taxes at the general election of 1996.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 26, 1995

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

Committee on House Oversight

A BILL

To establish a national advisory referendum on a flat income

tax rate, and requiring a national vote to raise taxes

at the general election of 1996.

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 ‘‘National Voter Oppor5 tunity To Inform Congress Effectively on a Flat Tax and

6 a Cap on Tax Increases Act of 1995 (National VOICE

7 on a Flat Tax and Cap on Tax Increases Act of 1995)’’.

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

9 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the right of citizens of the United States to

2 vote is a fundamental right;

3 (2) the right of citizens of the United States to

4 have an effective voice in the decisionmaking proc5 esses of the Congress is grounded in the right to pe6 tition and is a fundamental part of American democ7 racy, and Congress should provide an opportunity

8 for citizens to express their views on important pub9 lic issues; and

10 (3) there is an increasing public sentiment and

11 demand for less taxation and a simplified tax code.

12 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

13 (1) to give the citizens of every State the oppor14 tunity to have a voice on whether or not Congress

15 should adopt a flat income tax system and amend

16 the Constitution to require a majority vote of the

17 American people to raise taxes; and

18 (2) to conduct a national nonbinding referen19 dum on a flat tax on income and requiring a na20 tional vote on tax increases at the 1996 general elec21 tion, thereby having an opportunity to study the fea22 sibility of conducting national nonbinding referenda

23 on other important issues in the future.

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

25 As used in this Act—
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1 (1) the term ‘‘nonbinding referendum’’ means

2 the placing on the general election ballot in every

3 congressional district and delegate or resident com4 missioner district in 1996 the advisory questions de5 fined below, the results of which shall be properly

6 tabulated and certified as described herein, but

7 which results shall not be legally binding on any per8 son or institution;

9 (2) the term ‘‘advisory questions’’ means the

10 National Advisory Referendum on a flat tax on in11 come and requiring a national vote on tax increases,

12 the language of which is contained in section 4(b) of

13 this Act;

14 (3) the term ‘‘general election’’ means the elec15 tion at which Federal officers are elected in 1996;

16 and

17 (4) the term ‘‘State election agency’’ means the

18 official agency of each State and territory charged

19 with the legal responsibility for conducting general

20 elections within that jurisdiction.
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1 SEC. 4. PROCEDURES FOR NATIONAL VOTER OPPORTUNITY

2 TO INFORM CONGRESS EFFECTIVELY ON A

3 FLAT TAX AND REQUIRING A NATIONAL VOTE

4 ON TAX INCREASES NONBINDING REFEREN5 DUM.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall have the effect of

7 placing on the 1996 general election ballot in every con8 gressional district, and delegate and/or resident commis9 sioner district, in the United States, the District of Colum10 bia and the territories of the United States, the advisory

11 questions under subsection (b).

12 (b) ADVISORY QUESTIONS; BALLOT TITLE AND LAN13 GUAGE.—Not later than June 30, 1996, the Clerk of the

14 United States House of Representatives and the Secretary

15 of the United States Senate shall jointly certify to the ap16 propriate State election agencies for inclusion on the 1996

17 general election ballot in each congressional district, the

18 following ballot title and questions:

‘‘NATIONAL ADVISORY REFERENDUM ON A FLAT TAX ON

INCOME AND REQUIRING A NATIONAL VOTE ON TAX

INCREASES

‘‘Question #1: Should Congress adopt a simple flat

tax rate on income?

‘‘Yes No.
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‘‘Question #2: Should Congress approve a constitutional amendment to require a majority vote of the American people to raise taxes?

‘‘Yes No’’.

1 (c) PREPARATION OF BALLOTS.—

2 (1) PROCEDURES.—The procedures for printing

3 and preparation of the ballots containing the advi4 sory questions shall be the same as provided in each

5 State and territory for conducting the elections of

6 the Members of the United States House of Rep7 resentatives and Senators, and Delegates or Resi8 dent Commissioners.

9 (2) ADVISORY QUESTIONS.—In each congres10 sional and delegate district, every general election

11 ballot shall include the advisory questions contained

12 in subsection (b). Should there be no general elec13 tion scheduled to be held in any particular congres14 sional or delegate district, a ballot shall nonetheless

15 be prepared for the voters of said district to be able

16 to participate in the nonbinding referendum in the

17 same manner as all other districts where a general

18 election is being held. States shall be reimbursed at

19 4 cents per voter, or an estimated $5,000,000 for

20 the costs incurred in placing the questions in sub21 section (b) on the ballots in November 1996. There-
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1 fore, this bill authorizes $5,000,000 for these pur2 poses. All reimbursements to State election agencies

3 for the costs of conducting the nonbinding referen4 dum shall be made from the franking accounts of

5 the Congress, with equal amounts drawn from the

6 franking accounts of the House of Representatives

7 and the Senate in proportion to the total funds ap8 propriated to each House for franking, to reimburse

9 the States for such expenses. The Clerk of the

10 United States House of Representatives and the

11 Secretary of the United States Senate shall be re12 sponsible for ensuring the proper application for and

13 reimbursement of said expenses.

14 (d) TABULATION AND CERTIFICATION OF VOTING

15 RESULTS.—The State election agencies shall tabulate the

16 results of the voting on the advisory questions in the same

17 manner as is customary for tabulating the results of elec18 tions of the Members of the United States House of Rep19 resentatives and Senators. Said results shall be officially

20 certified pursuant to the customary laws and procedures

21 of each jurisdiction.

22 (e) TRANSMISSION OF CERTIFIED RESULTS TO THE

23 CONGRESS, ALL MEMBERS, AND COMMITTEES ON THE

24 JUDICIARY.—The official, certified election results of each

25 jurisdiction’s nonbinding referenda on the advisory ques-
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1 tions shall be certified by the State election agency to the

2 Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and

3 the Secretary of the United States Senate in the same

4 manner and at the same time of the certification of elec5 tion of Members of the House of Representatives and Sen6 ate at the 1996 general election, said results to be certified

7 by county, congressional district and statewide totals. The

8 Clerk and the Secretary shall be responsible for transmit9 ting to each Member of the respective House of Congress

10 the results of the nonbinding referenda from all jurisdic11 tions. The results shall also be taken under advisement

12 by the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of

13 Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the

14 Senate, with recommendations for response reported back

15 to the full House and Senate within 6 months of the gen16 eral election.

17 (f) COMMENTS REGARDING PROCEDURES FOR FU18 TURE NONBINDING REFERENDA.—Within 90 days of the

19 date of the general election, the State election agencies

20 shall forward to the Clerk of the United States House of

21 Representatives and the Secretary of the United States

22 Senate their comments or suggestions regarding changes

23 or improvements in procedures for conducting national

24 nonbinding referenda in future general elections. All such

25 comments shall be referred to the respective committees
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1 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and

2 Senate.

3 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 This Act shall take effect on the date of the enact5 ment of this Act.

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