I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5258 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose the alternative 
minimum tax on certain State regulated electric utilities that have not 
fully adopted climate-resilient infrastructure. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 22, 2019 
Mr. HARDER of California (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. AGUILAR, and Mr. 
GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose 
the alternative minimum tax on certain State regulated 
electric utilities that have not fully adopted climate-resil-
ient infrastructure. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Bonuses During 
Blackouts Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX IMPOSED ON CERTAIN 
STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 55(a) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘a corporation 
described in subsection (f) or’’ after ‘‘In the case of’’. 
(b) CERTAIN STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILI-
TIES.—Section 55 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(f) CERTAIN STATE REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILI-
TIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A corporation is described 
in this subsection if it is— 
‘‘(A) a State regulated electric utility (as 
such term is defined in section 3(18) of the 
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978), 
‘‘(B) a debtor in a case commenced under 
title 11 of the United States Code on January 
29, 2019, and 
‘‘(C) a corporation that— 
‘‘(i) makes payments, other than pay-
ments of salary, that are incentive-based 
cash payments to any of the 13 highest- 
compensated employees of such corpora-
tion, or 
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‘‘(ii) owns or leases infrastructure 
other than climate-resilient infrastructure. 
‘‘(2) CLIMATE-RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 
For purposes of this section, the term ‘climate-resil-
ient infrastructure’ means infrastructure with the 
ability to reduce the impact of major weather events 
and natural disasters. 
‘‘(3) 
SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
AFFILIATED 
GROUPS.—If any member of an affiliated group of 
corporations that files a consolidated return is a cor-
poration described in this subsection, all members of 
such group shall be considered corporations de-
scribed in this subsection for purposes of chapter 6 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 38(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘described in 
section 55(f)’’ after ‘‘In the case of a corporation’’. 
(2) Section 53(d)(2) of such Code is amended 
by inserting ‘‘described in section 55(f)’’ after ‘‘in 
the case of a corporation’’. 
(3) Section 55(b)(1) of such Code is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF TENTATIVE TAX.— 
‘‘(A) NONCORPORATE TAXPAYERS.— 
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‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 
taxpayer other than a corporation, the ten-
tative minimum tax for the taxable year is 
the sum of— 
‘‘(I) 26 percent of so much of the 
taxable excess as does not exceed 
$175,000, plus— 
‘‘(II) 28 percent of so much of 
the 
taxable 
excess 
as 
exceeds 
$175,000. 
The amount determined under the pre-
ceding sentence shall be reduced by the al-
ternative minimum tax foreign tax credit 
for the taxable year. 
‘‘(ii) TAXABLE
EXCESS.—For pur-
poses of this subsection, the term ‘taxable 
excess’ means so much of the alternative 
minimum taxable income for the taxable 
year as exceeds the exemption amount. 
‘‘(iii) MARRIED
INDIVIDUAL
FILING 
SEPARATE RETURN.—In the case of a mar-
ried individual filing a separate return, 
clause (i) shall be applied by substituting 
50 percent of the dollar amount otherwise 
applicable under subclause (I) and sub-
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clause (II) thereof. For purposes of the 
preceding sentence, marital status shall be 
determined under section 7703. 
‘‘(B) CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a 
corporation described in subsection (f), the ten-
tative minimum tax for the taxable year is— 
‘‘(i) 20 percent of so much of the al-
ternative minimum taxable income for the 
taxable year as exceeds the exemption 
amount, reduced by 
‘‘(ii) the alternative minimum tax for-
eign tax credit for the taxable year.’’. 
(4) Section 55(b)(3) of such Code is amended 
by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graph (1)(A)(i)’’. 
(5) Section 59(a) of such Code is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘sec-
tion 55(b)(1) in lieu of the highest rate of tax 
specified in section 1’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara-
graph (A)(i) or (B)(i) of section 55(b)(1) 
(whichever applies) in lieu of the highest rate of 
tax specified in section 1 or 11 (whichever ap-
plies)’’; and 
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(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘means’’ 
and all that follows and inserting the following: 
‘‘means— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a taxpayer other than 
a corporation, the amount determined under the 
first sentence of section 55(b)(1)(A)(i), or 
‘‘(B) in the case of a corporation described 
in section 55(f), the amount determined under 
section 55(b)(1)(B)(i).’’. 
(6) Section 897(a)(2)(A) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘section 55(b)(1)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘section 55(b)(1)(A)’’. 
(7) Section 911(f) of such Code is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘section 55(b)(1)(B)’’ each 
place 
it 
appears 
and 
inserting 
‘‘section 
55(b)(1)(A)(ii)’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘sec-
tion 
55(b)(1)(A)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘section 
55(b)(1)(A)(i)’’. 
(8) Section 55(c)(1) of such Code is amended 
by inserting before the first period the following: ‘‘, 
the section 936 credit allowable under section 27(b), 
and the Puerto Rico economic activity credit under 
section 30A’’. 
(9) Section 55(d) of such Code is amended— 
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(A) redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) 
as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively, and in-
serting after paragraph (1) the following: 
‘‘(2) CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a corpora-
tion, the term ‘exemption amount’ means $40,000.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), 
by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph 
(B), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘, 
and’’ at the end of subparagraph (C), and by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) $150,000 in the case of a taxpayer 
described in paragraph (2).’’; 
(C) in paragraph (4) (as so redesig-
nated)— 
(i) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking 
‘‘(b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)(1)(A)(i)’’; 
and 
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik-
ing ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graph (3)’’. 
(10) Section 55 of such Code is amended by re-
storing subsection (e) as though it had not been 
struck by Public Law 115–97. 
(11) Section 56(b)(2) of such Code is amended 
by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph 
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(D) and by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR PERSONAL HOLD-
ING COMPANIES.—In the case of circulation ex-
penditures described in section 173, the adjust-
ments provided in this paragraph shall apply 
also to a personal holding company (as defined 
in section 542).’’. 
(12) Section 56 of such Code is amended by re-
storing subsections (c) and (g) as though they had 
not been struck by Public Law 115–97. 
(13) Section 847(9) of such Code is amended 
by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Nothing in the 
preceding sentence shall be construed to affect the 
application of section 56(g) (relating to adjustments 
based on adjusted current earnings).’’ 
(14) Section 848 of such Code is amended by 
restoring subsection (i) as though it had not been 
struck by Public Law 115–97. 
(15) Section 58(a) of such Code is amended by 
redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4) and 
by inserting the following after paragraph (2): 
‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO PERSONAL SERVICE COR-
PORATIONS.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a per-
sonal service corporation (within the meaning of sec-
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tion 469(j)(2)) shall be treated as a taxpayer other 
than a corporation.’’. 
(16) Section 59 of such Code is amended by re-
storing subsections (b) and (f) as though they had 
not been struck by Public Law 115–97. 
(17) Section 11(d) of such Code is amended by 
striking ‘‘the tax imposed by subsection (a)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the taxes imposed by subsection (a) and 
section 55’’. 
(18) Section 12 of such Code is amended by re-
storing paragraph (7) as though it had not been 
struck by Public Law 115–97. 
(19) Section 168(k) of such Code is amended 
by restoring paragraph (4) as though it had not 
been struck by Public Law 115–97. 
(20) Section 882(a)(1) of such Code is amended 
by inserting ‘‘, 55,’’ after ‘‘section 11’’. 
(21) Section 962(a)(1) of such Code is amended 
by inserting ‘‘and 55’’ after ‘‘section 11’’. 
(22) Section 1561(a) of such Code is amend-
ed— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (1), by striking the period at the end of 
paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by in-
serting after paragraph (2) the following: 
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