Agency Accountability Act of 2016

To require the appropriation of funds to use a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement received by a Federal agency, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Agency Accountability Act of 2016 2. Appropriation of funds required (a) Definition In this section, the term agency (1) has the meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code; and (2) does not include the United States Postal Service or the United States Patent and Trademark Office. (b) Requirement Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each agency that receives a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement shall deposit such amount in the general fund of the Treasury. (c) Use of amounts (1) Subject to appropriation Consistent with paragraph (2), any amounts deposited pursuant to subsection (b) shall only be available to the extent, and in such amounts, as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts. (2) Obligation limitation; deficit reduction Of the amounts deposited pursuant to subsection (b) during the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted, those amounts— (A) may not be available for obligation during the fiscal year; and (B) shall be used for purposes of deficit reduction. (d) USPTO report to congress required Not later than March 1 of each year, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office shall submit to Congress a report that describes any fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement collected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the previous fiscal year. 3. Offsetting receipts and collections as revenue (a) In general The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 621 et seq. (1) in section 3(2)(A)(iv) ( 2 U.S.C. 622(2)(A)(iv) except as provided in section 316, offsetting receipts (2) by inserting after section 315 ( 2 U.S.C. 645a 316. Treatment of offsetting receipts and collections Notwithstanding any other provision of law, offsetting receipts and collections shall be treated as revenue for purposes of carrying out this or any other Act. The preceding sentence shall not apply to the United States Postal Service or the United States Patent and Trademark Office. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 315 the following: Sec. 316. Treatment of offsetting receipts and collections. . (c) Application The amendments made by this section shall apply during budget years (as that term is defined in section 250(c)(12) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 900(c)(12)

Summary: Agency Accountability Act of 2016 This bill requires any agency that receives a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement to deposit the amount in the general fund of the Treasury. The funds may not be used unless the funding is provided in advance in an appropriations bill. Any amounts deposited during the fiscal year in which this bill is enacted may not be obligated during the fiscal year and must be used for deficit reduction. The bill amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require offsetting receipts and collections to be treated as revenue. (Offsetting receipts and collections are funds collected by agencies from other government accounts or from the public in businesslike or market-oriented transactions. Under current law, the collections are treated as negative budget authority and outlays rather than revenue and may be used to offset spending for budget enforcement purposes.) The requirements of the bill do not apply to the U.S. Postal Service or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the USPTO must submit annually to Congress a report describing any fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement collected by the USPTO during the previous year.