I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2153 

To hold the salaries of Members of a House of Congress in escrow if the 

House of Congress does not agree to a budget resolution or pass regular 

appropriation bills on a timely basis during a Congress, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2017 

Mr. ROTHFUS (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. COOPER, and Mr. LOEBSACK) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

House Administration 

A BILL 

To hold the salaries of Members of a House of Congress 

in escrow if the House of Congress does not agree to 

a budget resolution or pass regular appropriation bills 

on a timely basis during a Congress, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Congressional Pay for 

5 Performance Act of 2017’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 

2 ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO AGREE TO BUDG3 ET RESOLUTION. 

4 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If by May 15 

5 of any calendar year (beginning with 2017), a House of 

6 Congress has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the 

7 budget pursuant to section 301 of the Congressional 

8 Budget Act of 1974 for the fiscal year which begins on 

9 October 1 of that calendar year, during the period de10 scribed in subsection (b) the payroll administrator of that 

11 House of Congress shall deposit in an escrow account all 

12 payments otherwise required to be made during such pe13 riod for the compensation of Members of Congress who 

14 serve in that House of Congress, and shall release such 

15 payments to such Members only upon the expiration of 

16 such period. 

17 (b) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a House 

18 of Congress and a calendar year, the period described in 

19 this paragraph is the period which begins on May 16 of 

20 the calendar year and ends on the earlier of— 

21 (1) the day on which the House of Congress 

22 agrees to a concurrent resolution on the budget for 

23 the fiscal year which begins on October 1 of that 

24 calendar year; or 

25 (2) the last day of the Congress during which 

26 that calendar year occurs. 

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1 SEC. 3. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 

2 ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO PASS REGULAR 

3 APPROPRIATION BILLS. 

4 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If by July 31 

5 of any calendar year (beginning with 2017), a House of 

6 Congress has not passed each of the regular appropriation 

7 bills for the fiscal year which begins on October 1 of that 

8 calendar year, during the period described in subsection 

9 (b) the payroll administrator of that House of Congress 

10 shall deposit in an escrow account all payments otherwise 

11 required to be made during such period for the compensa12 tion of Members of Congress who serve in that House of 

13 Congress, and shall release such payments to such Mem14 bers only upon the expiration of such period. 

15 (b) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a House 

16 of Congress and a calendar year, the period described in 

17 this paragraph is the period which begins on August 1 

18 of the calendar year and ends on the earlier of— 

19 (1) the first day by which the House of Con20 gress has passed each of the regular appropriation 

21 bills for the fiscal year which begins on October 1 

22 of that calendar year; or 

23 (2) the last day of the Congress during which 

24 that calendar year occurs. 

25 (c) REGULAR APPROPRIATION BILL DEFINED.—The 

26 term ‘‘regular appropriation bill’’ means any annual apmstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

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1 propriation bill which, with respect to the Congress in2 volved, is under the jurisdiction of a single subcommittee 

3 of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep4 resentatives (pursuant to the Rules of the House of Rep5 resentatives for that Congress) and a single subcommittee 

6 of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate (pursu7 ant to the Standing Rules of the Senate). 

8 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF ESCROW. 

9 (a) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF AMOUNTS

10 FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The payroll admin11 istrator shall provide for the same withholding and remit12 tance with respect to a payment deposited in an escrow 

13 account under section 2 or section 3 that would apply to 

14 the payment if the payment were not subject to such sec15 tion. 

16 (b) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The 

17 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll admin18 istrators of the Houses of Congress with such assistance 

19 as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrators 

20 to carry out this Act. 

21 SEC. 5. RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF A CONGRESS. 

22 In order to ensure that this Act is carried out in a 

23 manner consistent with the twenty-seventh article of 

24 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the 

25 payroll administrator of a House of Congress shall release 

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1 for payments to Members of that House of Congress any 

2 amounts remaining in any escrow account under this Act 

3 on the last day of the Congress during which the amounts 

4 were deposited in such account. 

5 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘Member’’ includes a Delegate or 

8 Resident Commissioner to the Congress; and 

9 (2) the ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of 

10 Congress means— 

11 (A) in the case of the House of Represent12 atives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

13 House of Representatives, or an employee of 

14 the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 

15 who is designated by the Chief Administrative 

16 Officer to carry out this Act; and 

17 (B) in the case of the Senate, the Sec18 retary of the Senate, or an employee of the Of19 fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des20 ignated by the Secretary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 

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