II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 686

To establish a commission to examine the costs and benefits, and the impact

on voter turnout, of changing the deadline for filing Federal income

tax returns to the date on which Federal elections are held.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 6 (legislative day, APRIL 5), 1995

Mr. KYL (for himself and Mr. MCCAIN) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To establish a commission to examine the costs and benefits,

and the impact on voter turnout, of changing the deadline for filing Federal income tax returns to the date

on which Federal elections are held.

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 ‘‘Voter Turnout En5 hancement Study Commission Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 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) Federal, State, and local governments have

4 a duty to promote the exercise of the right to vote

5 to the greatest extent possible;

6 (3) the power to tax is only guardedly granted

7 to Federal, State, and local governments by the citi8 zens of the United States;

9 (4) the only regular contact that most Ameri10 cans have with their government consists of filing

11 personal income tax returns and voting in Federal,

12 State, and local elections;

13 (5) in 1992, almost 115,000,000 Federal in14 come tax returns were filed by individuals and cou15 ples, but only approximately 104,000,000 votes were

16 cast in the year’s presidential election;

17 (6) an estimated 116 million Federal income

18 tax returns will be filed by individuals and couples

19 for 1994, but only about half that number of votes

20 were cast in that year’s congressional elections; and

21 (7) more closely tying the rights of individuals

22 as voters to their obligations as taxpayers will pro23 vide additional incentives for individuals to both par24 ticipate in the electoral process and scrutinize the

25 costs and benefits of government policies.
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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.

2 There is established a commission to be known as the

3 Voter Turnout Enhancement Study Commission (in this

4 Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

5 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP.

6 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission

7 shall be composed of 9 members appointed as follows:

8 (1) 3 members appointed by the President.

9 (2) 3 members appointed by the President pro

10 tempore of the Senate, upon the joint recommenda11 tion of the majority leader and the minority leader

12 of the Senate.

13 (3) 3 members appointed by the Speaker of the

14 House of Representatives, upon the joint rec15 ommendation of the Speaker and the minority leader

16 of the House of Representatives.

17 (b) POLITICAL AFFILIATION.—Not more than 2 of

18 the 3 members of the Commission appointed under any

19 1 paragraph of subsection (a) may be of the same political

20 party.

21 (c) TIME OF APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Com22 mission shall be appointed not later than 30 days after

23 the date of the enactment of this Act.

24 (d) TERMS.—Members of the Commission shall be

25 appointed to serve for the life of the Commission.
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1 (e) VACANCIES.— Any vacancy in the Commission

2 shall be filled in the same manner as the original appoint3 ment.

4 (f) COMPENSATION.—

5 (1) RATE OF PAY.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), members of the Commission shall serve

7 without pay.

8 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the

9 Commission shall be entitled to receive travel ex10 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as

11 authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States

12 Code, for persons employed intermittently in the

13 Government service.

14 (g) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the

15 Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser num16 ber of members may hold a hearing.

17 (h) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The

18 Commission shall select a Chairperson and Vice Chair19 person from among its members.

20 (i) MEETINGS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall meet

22 at the call of the Chairperson or a majority of its

23 members.

24 (2) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall

25 hold its initial meeting not later than 30 days after
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1 the date on which all members of the Commission

2 have been appointed.

3 SEC. 5. DUTIES.

4 (a) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a com5 prehensive study of all matters relating to the possibility

6 of changing the filing date for Federal income tax returns

7 to the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November.

8 The study shall include an analysis of—

9 (1) the costs and benefits of the change in filing

10 date; and

11 (2) the likelihood that establishment of a single

12 date on which individuals can fulfill obligations of

13 citizenship as both electors and taxpayers will in14 crease participation in Federal, State, and local elec15 tions.

16 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall consult

17 with Governors, Federal and State election officials, the

18 Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and any other person,

19 agency, or entity that the Commission determines to be

20 appropriate.

21 SEC. 6. POWERS.

22 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold the hear23 ings, sit and act at the times and places, take the testi24 mony, and receive the information that the Commission

25 considers advisable to carry out the purposes of this Act.
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1 (b) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United

2 States mails in the same manner and under the same con3 ditions as any other Federal department or agency.

4 (c) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem5 ber or agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the

6 Commission, take any action that the Commission is au7 thorized to take under this section.

8 (d) REQUESTS FOR OFFICIAL INFORMATION.—The

9 Commission may request from a Federal department or

10 agency information necessary to enable the Commission

11 to carry out this Act. The head of the department or agen12 cy shall provide the information to the Commission unless

13 release of the information to the public by the agency is

14 prohibited by law.

15 SEC. 7. STAFF ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.

16 Upon the request of the Commission or the Chair17 person of the Commission, the head of any Federal depart18 ment or agency may detail any of the personnel of the

19 department or agency to the Commission to assist the

20 Commission to carry out this Act.

21 SEC. 8. REPORT.

22 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment

23 of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President

24 and the Congress a report that contains—
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1 (1) a detailed statement of the findings and

2 conclusions of the study required by section 5; and

3 (2) recommendations of the Commission re4 garding any legislation or administrative action the

5 Commission considers appropriate.

6 SEC. 9. TERMINATION.

7 The Commission shall terminate upon the submission

8 of the report required by section 8.

9 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

11 as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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