I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 857 

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

House of Congress does not pass regular appropriation bills on a timely 

basis during a Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2019 

Mr. WITTMAN 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 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 ‘‘Inaction Has Con5 sequences Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. 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 the first 

5 day of a fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 2020), a 

6 House of Congress has not passed each of the regular ap7 propriation bills for such fiscal year, during the period de8 scribed in subsection (b) the payroll administrator of that 

9 House of Congress shall deposit in an escrow account all 

10 payments otherwise required to be made during such pe11 riod for the compensation of Members of Congress who 

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

13 payments to such Members only upon the expiration of 

14 such period. 

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

16 of Congress and a fiscal year, the period described in this 

17 paragraph is the period which begins on the first day of 

18 the fiscal 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 such fiscal year; or 

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

23 that fiscal year begins. 

24 (c) REGULAR APPROPRIATION BILL DEFINED.—The 

25 term ‘‘regular appropriation bill’’ means any annual ap26 propriation bill which, with respect to the Congress inVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H857.IH H857

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1 volved, is under the jurisdiction of a single subcommittee 

2 of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep3 resentatives (pursuant to the Rules of the House of Rep4 resentatives for that Congress) and a single subcommittee 

5 of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate (pursu6 ant to the Standing Rules of the Senate). 

7 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF ESCROW. 

8 (a) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF AMOUNTS

9 FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The payroll admin10 istrator shall provide for the same withholding and remit11 tance with respect to a payment deposited in an escrow 

12 account under section 2 that would apply to the payment 

13 if the payment were not subject to such section. 

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

15 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll admin16 istrators of the Houses of Congress with such assistance 

17 as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrators 

18 to carry out this Act. 

19 SEC. 4. RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF A CONGRESS. 

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

21 manner consistent with the twenty-seventh article of 

22 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the 

23 payroll administrator of a House of Congress shall release 

24 for payments to Members of that House of Congress any 

25 amounts remaining in any escrow account under section 


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1 2 on the last day of the Congress during which the 

2 amounts were deposited in such account. 

3 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act— 

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

6 Resident Commissioner to the Congress; and 

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

8 Congress means— 

9 (A) in the case of the House of Represent10 atives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

11 House of Representatives, or an employee of 

12 the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 

13 who is designated by the Chief Administrative 

14 Officer to carry out this Act; and 

15 (B) in the case of the Senate, the Sec16 retary of the Senate, or an employee of the Of17 fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des18 ignated by the Secretary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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