I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 129 

To provide that Members of Congress may not receive pay after October 

1 of any fiscal year in which Congress has not approved a concurrent 

resolution on the budget and passed the regular appropriations bills. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. COOPER (for himself, Mrs. MURPHY, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. LOEBSACK, 

Mr. COSTA, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 

Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. BUCHANAN, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 

Administration 

A BILL 

To provide that Members of Congress may not receive pay 

after October 1 of any fiscal year in which Congress 

has not approved a concurrent resolution on the budget 

and passed the regular appropriations bills. 

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 Budget, No Pay 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION. 

7 In this section, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’— 


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1 (1) has the meaning given under section 2106 

2 of title 5, United States Code; and 

3 (2) does not include the Vice President. 

4 SEC. 3. TIMELY APPROVAL OF CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

5 ON THE BUDGET AND THE APPROPRIATIONS 

6 BILLS. 

7 If both Houses of Congress have not approved a con8 current resolution on the budget as described under sec9 tion 301 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 

10 Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632) for a fiscal year before 

11 October 1 of that fiscal year and have not passed all the 

12 regular appropriations bills for the next fiscal year before 

13 October 1 of that fiscal year, the pay of each Member of 

14 Congress may not be paid for each day following that Oc15 tober 1 until the date on which both Houses of Congress 

16 approve a concurrent resolution on the budget for that fis17 cal year and all the regular appropriations bills. 

18 SEC. 4. NO PAY WITHOUT CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON 

19 THE BUDGET AND THE APPROPRIATIONS 

20 BILLS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, no funds may be appropriated or otherwise 

23 be made available from the United States Treasury for 

24 the pay of any Member of Congress during any period de25 termined by the Chairpersons of the Committee on the 


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1 Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen2 ate or the Chairpersons of the Committee on the Budget 

3 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

4 Representatives under section 5. 

5 (b) NO RETROACTIVE PAY.—A Member of Congress 

6 may not receive pay for any period determined by the 

7 Chairpersons of the Committee on the Budget and the 

8 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate or the Chair9 persons of the Committee on the Budget and the Com10 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

11 under section 5, at any time after the end of that period. 

12 SEC. 5. DETERMINATIONS. 

13 (a) SENATE.— 

14 (1) REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATIONS.—On Octo15 ber 1 of each year, the Secretary of the Senate shall 

16 submit a request to the Chairpersons of the Com17 mittee on the Budget and the Committee on Appro18 priations of the Senate for certification of deter19 minations made under paragraph (2) (A) and (B). 

20 (2) DETERMINATIONS.—The Chairpersons of 

21 the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on 

22 Appropriations of the Senate shall— 

23 (A) on October 1 of each year, make a de24 termination of whether Congress is in compliVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H129.IH H129

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1 ance with section 3 and whether Senators may 

2 not be paid under that section; 

3 (B) determine the period of days following 

4 each October 1 that Senators may not be paid 

5 under section 3; and 

6 (C) provide timely certification of the de7 terminations under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

8 upon the request of the Secretary of the Senate. 

9 (b) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

10 (1) REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATIONS.—On Octo11 ber 1 of each year, the Chief Administrative Officer 

12 of the House of Representatives shall submit a re13 quest to the Chairpersons of the Committee on the 

14 Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

15 House of Representatives for certification of deter16 minations made under paragraph (2) (A) and (B). 

17 (2) DETERMINATIONS.—The Chairpersons of 

18 the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on 

19 Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

20 shall— 

21 (A) on October 1 of each year, make a de22 termination of whether Congress is in compli23 ance with section 3 and whether Members of 

24 the House of Representatives may not be paid 

25 under that section; 


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1 (B) determine the period of days following 

2 each October 1 that Members of the House of 

3 Representatives may not be paid under section 

4 3; and 

5 (C) provide timely certification of the de6 terminations under subparagraph (A) and (B) 

7 upon the request of the Chief Administrative 

8 Officer of the House of Representatives. 

9 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 This section shall take effect on February 1, 2021. 

Æ 


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