I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1733 

To prohibit the inclusion of earmarks in conference reports that were not 

in the House- or Senate-passed bills. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2007 

Mr. BILBRAY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Rules 

A BILL 

To prohibit the inclusion of earmarks in conference reports 

that were not in the House- or Senate-passed 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 ‘‘Appropriations Trans5 parency Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OUT OF SCOPE EARMARKS OR TAX EARMARKS IN 

7 CONFERENCE REPORTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the House of Representatives 

9 or the Senate, a point of order may be made by any Mem10 ber against consideration of a conference report that inmmaher on PROD1PC60 with BILLS

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1 cludes any earmark or tax earmark not committed to con2 ference by either House. The point of order shall be made 

3 and voted on separately for each item in violation of this 

4 section. 

5 (b) DISPOSITION.—If the point of order against a 

6 conference report under subsection (a) is sustained, 

7 then— 

8 (1) the earmark or tax earmark in such con9 ference report shall be deemed to have been struck; 

10 (2) when all other points of order under this 

11 section have been disposed of— 

12 (A) the House or Senate, as applicable, 

13 shall proceed to consider the question of wheth14 er the House or Senate should recede from its 

15 amendment to the Senate bill or House bill, or 

16 its disagreement to the amendment of the Sen17 ate or the House, and concur with a further 

18 amendment, which further amendment shall 

19 consist of only that portion of the conference 

20 report not deemed to have been struck; 

21 (B) the question shall be debatable; and 

22 (C) no further amendment shall be in 

23 order; and 

24 (3) if the House or the Senate, as applicable, 

25 agrees to the amendment, then the bill and the 

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1 House amendment thereto, or the bill and the Sen2 ate amendment thereto, shall be returned to the 

3 Senate or the House for its concurrence in the 

4 amendment of the House or the Senate. 

5 (c) WAIVER AND APPEAL.—This section may be 

6 waived or suspended in the House of Representatives or 

7 the Senate only by an affirmative vote of a majority of 

8 the Members, duly chosen and sworn. In the Senate, an 

9 affirmative vote of a majority of its Members, duly chosen 

10 and sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of the 

11 ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under this 

12 section. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act: 

15 (1) The term ‘‘earmark’’ means a provision in 

16 a bill or conference report— 

17 (A) with respect to an appropriation bill or 

18 conference report thereon providing or recom19 mending an amount of budget authority for a 

20 contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, or other 

21 expenditure with or to a non-Federal entity, 

22 if— 

23 (i) such entity is specifically identified 

24 in the bill; or 

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1 (ii) if the discretionary budget author2 ity is allocated outside of the statutory or 

3 administrative formula-driven or competi4 tive bidding process and is targeted or di5 rected to an identifiable entity, specific 

6 State, or Congressional district; or 

7 (B) with respect to a measure other than 

8 that specified in subparagraph (A) or con9 ference report thereon providing authority, in10 cluding budget authority, or recommending the 

11 exercise of authority, including budget author12 ity, for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, 

13 loan authority, or other expenditure with or to 

14 a non-Federal entity, if— 

15 (i) such entity is specifically identified 

16 in the bill; 

17 (ii) if the authorization for, or provi18 sion of, budget authority, contract author19 ity loan authority or other expenditure is 

20 allocated outside of the statutory or admin21 istrative formula-driven or competitive bid22 ding process and is targeted or directed to 

23 an identifiable entity, specific State, or 

24 Congressional district; or 

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1 (iii) if such authorization for, or pro2 vision of, budget authority, contract au3 thority, loan authority or other expenditure 

4 preempts statutory or administrative State 

5 allocation authority. 

6 (2)(A) The term ‘‘tax earmark’’ means any rev7 enue-losing provision that provides a Federal tax de8 duction, credit, exclusion, or preference to only one 

9 beneficiary (determined with respect to either 

10 present law or any provision of which the provision 

11 is a part) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

12 in any year for which the provision is in effect; 

13 (B) for purposes of subparagraph (A)— 

14 (i) all businesses and associations that are 

15 members of the same controlled group of cor16 porations (as defined in section 1563(a) of the 

17 Internal Revenue Code of 1986) shall be treat18 ed as a single beneficiary; 

19 (ii) all shareholders, partners, members, or 

20 beneficiaries of a corporation, partnership, asso21 ciation, or trust or estate, respectively, shall be 

22 treated as a single beneficiary; 

23 (iii) all employees of an employer shall be 

24 treated as a single beneficiary; 

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1 (iv) all qualified plans of an employer shall 

2 be treated as a single beneficiary; 

3 (v) all beneficiaries of a qualified plan shall 

4 be treated as a single beneficiary; 

5 (vi) all contributors to a charitable organi6 zation shall be treated as a single beneficiary; 

7 (vii) all holders of the same bond issue 

8 shall be treated as a single beneficiary; and 

9 (viii) if a corporation, partnership, associa10 tion, trust or estate is the beneficiary of a pro11 vision, the shareholders of the corporation, the 

12 partners of the partnership, the members of the 

13 association, or the beneficiaries of the trust or 

14 estate shall not also be treated as beneficiaries 

15 of such provision. 

16 (3) The term ‘‘revenue-losing provision’’ means 

17 any provision that is estimated to result in a reduc18 tion in Federal tax revenues (determined with re19 spect to either present law or any provision of which 

20 the provision is a part) for any one of the two fol21 lowing periods— 

22 (A) the first fiscal year for which the pro23 vision is effective; or 

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1 (B) the period of the 5 fiscal years begin2 ning with the first fiscal year for which the pro3 vision is effective; and 

4 (4) The terms used in paragraphs (2) and (3) 

5 shall have the same meaning as those terms have 

6 generally in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, un7 less otherwise expressly provided. 

8 (b) CLARIFICATION.—For purposes of this Act— 

9 (1) government-sponsored enterprises, Federal 

10 facilities, and Federal lands shall be considered Fed11 eral entities; 

12 (2) to the extent that the non-Federal entity is 

13 a State, unit of local government, territory, an In14 dian tribe, a foreign government or an intergovern15 mental international organization, the provision shall 

16 not be considered an earmark unless the provision 

17 also specifies the specific purpose for which the des18 ignated budget authority is to be expended; 

19 (3) the term ‘‘budget authority’’ shall have the 

20 same meaning as such term is defined in section 3 

21 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 

22 622); and 

23 (4) an obligation limitation shall be treated as 

24 budget authority. 

Æ 

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