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. 
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 ‘‘Appropriations Trans-
parency Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. OUT OF SCOPE EARMARKS OR TAX EARMARKS IN 
CONFERENCE REPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In the House of Representatives 
or the Senate, a point of order may be made by any Mem-
ber against consideration of a conference report that in-
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cludes any earmark or tax earmark not committed to con-
ference by either House. The point of order shall be made 
and voted on separately for each item in violation of this 
section. 
(b) DISPOSITION.—If the point of order against a 
conference report under subsection (a) is sustained, 
then— 
(1) the earmark or tax earmark in such con-
ference report shall be deemed to have been struck; 
(2) when all other points of order under this 
section have been disposed of— 
(A) the House or Senate, as applicable, 
shall proceed to consider the question of wheth-
er the House or Senate should recede from its 
amendment to the Senate bill or House bill, or 
its disagreement to the amendment of the Sen-
ate or the House, and concur with a further 
amendment, which further amendment shall 
consist of only that portion of the conference 
report not deemed to have been struck; 
(B) the question shall be debatable; and 
(C) no further amendment shall be in 
order; and 
(3) if the House or the Senate, as applicable, 
agrees to the amendment, then the bill and the 
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House amendment thereto, or the bill and the Sen-
ate amendment thereto, shall be returned to the 
Senate or the House for its concurrence in the 
amendment of the House or the Senate. 
(c) WAIVER
AND APPEAL.—This section may be 
waived or suspended in the House of Representatives or 
the Senate only by an affirmative vote of a majority of 
the Members, duly chosen and sworn. In the Senate, an 
affirmative vote of a majority of its Members, duly chosen 
and sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of the 
ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under this 
section. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘earmark’’ means a provision in 
a bill or conference report— 
(A) with respect to an appropriation bill or 
conference report thereon providing or recom-
mending an amount of budget authority for a 
contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, or other 
expenditure with or to a non-Federal entity, 
if— 
(i) such entity is specifically identified 
in the bill; or 
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(ii) if the discretionary budget author-
ity is allocated outside of the statutory or 
administrative formula-driven or competi-
tive bidding process and is targeted or di-
rected to an identifiable entity, specific 
State, or Congressional district; or 
(B) with respect to a measure other than 
that specified in subparagraph (A) or con-
ference report thereon providing authority, in-
cluding budget authority, or recommending the 
exercise of authority, including budget author-
ity, for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, 
loan authority, or other expenditure with or to 
a non-Federal entity, if— 
(i) such entity is specifically identified 
in the bill; 
(ii) if the authorization for, or provi-
sion of, budget authority, contract author-
ity loan authority or other expenditure is 
allocated outside of the statutory or admin-
istrative formula-driven or competitive bid-
ding process and is targeted or directed to 
an identifiable entity, specific State, or 
Congressional district; or 
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(iii) if such authorization for, or pro-
vision of, budget authority, contract au-
thority, loan authority or other expenditure 
preempts statutory or administrative State 
allocation authority. 
(2)(A) The term ‘‘tax earmark’’ means any rev-
enue-losing provision that provides a Federal tax de-
duction, credit, exclusion, or preference to only one 
beneficiary (determined with respect to either 
present law or any provision of which the provision 
is a part) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
in any year for which the provision is in effect; 
(B) for purposes of subparagraph (A)— 
(i) all businesses and associations that are 
members of the same controlled group of cor-
porations (as defined in section 1563(a) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986) shall be treat-
ed as a single beneficiary; 
(ii) all shareholders, partners, members, or 
beneficiaries of a corporation, partnership, asso-
ciation, or trust or estate, respectively, shall be 
treated as a single beneficiary; 
(iii) all employees of an employer shall be 
treated as a single beneficiary; 
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(iv) all qualified plans of an employer shall 
be treated as a single beneficiary; 
(v) all beneficiaries of a qualified plan shall 
be treated as a single beneficiary; 
(vi) all contributors to a charitable organi-
zation shall be treated as a single beneficiary; 
(vii) all holders of the same bond issue 
shall be treated as a single beneficiary; and 
(viii) if a corporation, partnership, associa-
tion, trust or estate is the beneficiary of a pro-
vision, the shareholders of the corporation, the 
partners of the partnership, the members of the 
association, or the beneficiaries of the trust or 
estate shall not also be treated as beneficiaries 
of such provision. 
(3) The term ‘‘revenue-losing provision’’ means 
any provision that is estimated to result in a reduc-
tion in Federal tax revenues (determined with re-
spect to either present law or any provision of which 
the provision is a part) for any one of the two fol-
lowing periods— 
(A) the first fiscal year for which the pro-
vision is effective; or 
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