I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 86 

To provide that the salaries of Members of a House of Congress will be 

held in escrow if that House has not agreed to a concurrent resolution 

on the budget for fiscal year 2020 by April 15, 2019, and to withhold 

the salary of the Director of OMB upon failure to submit the President’s 

budget to Congress as required by section 1105 of title 31, United 

States Code. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. BIGGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on the 

Budget, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide that the salaries of Members of a House of 

Congress will be held in escrow if that House has not 

agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal 

year 2020 by April 15, 2019, and to withhold the salary 

of the Director of OMB upon failure to submit the 

President’s budget to Congress as required by section 

1105 of title 31, United States Code. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Budget Process Ac3 countability Act’’. 

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

5 ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO AGREE TO BUDG6 ET RESOLUTION. 

7 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—If by April 15, 2019, a 

9 House of Congress has not agreed to a concurrent 

10 resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2020 pursu11 ant to section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act 

12 of 1974, during the period described in paragraph 

13 (2) the payroll administrator of that House of Con14 gress shall deposit in an escrow account all pay15 ments otherwise required to be made during such 

16 period for the compensation of Members of Congress 

17 who serve in that House of Congress, and shall re18 lease such payments to such Members only upon the 

19 expiration of such period. 

20 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a 

21 House of Congress, the period described in this 

22 paragraph is the period which begins on April 16, 

23 2019, and ends on the earlier of— 

24 (A) the day on which the House of Con25 gress agrees to a concurrent resolution on the 

26 budget for fiscal year 2020 pursuant to section 


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1 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; 

2 or 

3 (B) the last day of the One Hundred Six4 teenth Congress. 

5 (3) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF

6 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 

7 payroll administrator shall provide for the same 

8 withholding and remittance with respect to a pay9 ment deposited in an escrow account under para10 graph (1) that would apply to the payment if the 

11 payment were not subject to paragraph (1). 

12 (4) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE

13 CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is 

14 carried out in a manner that shall not vary the com15 pensation of Senators or Representatives in violation 

16 of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the 

17 Constitution of the United States, the payroll ad18 ministrator of a House of Congress shall release for 

19 payments to Members of that House of Congress 

20 any amounts remaining in any escrow account under 

21 this section on the last day of the One Hundred Six22 teenth Congress. 

23 (5) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— 

24 The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the pay25 roll administrators of the Houses of Congress with 


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1 such assistance as may be necessary to enable the 

2 payroll administrators to carry out this section. 

3 (b) TREATMENT OF DELEGATES AS MEMBERS.—In 

4 this section, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ includes a 

5 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 

6 (c) PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR DEFINED.—In this 

7 section, the term ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of 

8 Congress means— 

9 (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, 

10 the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 

11 Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the 

12 Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by 

13 the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this 

14 section; and 

15 (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of 

16 the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Sec17 retary of the Senate who is designated by the Sec18 retary to carry out this section. 

19 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH STATU20 TORY REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT THE PRESI21 DENT’S BUDGET. 

22 Not later than 3 days after the President’s budget 

23 is due, the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel 

24 Management shall— 


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1 (1) make an annual determination of whether 

2 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg3 et (OMB) and the President are in compliance with 

4 section 1105 of title 31, United States Code; and 

5 (2) provide a written notification of such deter6 mination to the Chairpersons of the Committee on 

7 the Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of 

8 the Senate and the Chairpersons of the Committee 

9 on the Budget and the Committee on Appropriations 

10 of the House of Representatives. 

11 SEC. 4. NO PAY UPON FAILURE TO TIMELY SUBMIT THE 

12 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET TO CONGRESS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of law, no funds may be appropriated or otherwise 

15 be made available from the United States Treasury for 

16 the pay of the Director of OMB, Deputy Director of OMB, 

17 and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB during 

18 any period of noncompliance determined by the Inspector 

19 General of the Office of Personnel Management under sec20 tion 3. 

21 (b) NO RETROACTIVE PAY.—The Director of OMB, 

22 Deputy Director of OMB, and the Deputy Director for 

23 Management of OMB may not receive pay for any period 

24 of noncompliance determined by the Inspector General of 


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1 the Office of Personnel Management under section 3 at 

2 any time after the end of that period. 

3 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 Sections 3 and 4 shall take effect upon the date of 

5 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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