Title: DONATE Act
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance

Summary:
Donations for Our Nation's Advancement, Transformation, and Enhancement Act or the DONATE Act
This bill allows executive departments to accept conditional gifts on behalf of such departments.
Specifically, departments may accept cash donations made by U.S. citizens that come with instructions on how the money should be spent. Current law allows departments to accept donations but not where there are conditions on the money's use.
A department may not accept a conditional gift that is conditioned upon carrying out any act or purpose that will require an expenditure of funds that exceeds the gift amount, unless the expenditure has been approved by Congress. If a department accepts a conditional gift that is insufficient to meet the cost of carrying out a conditional act or purpose of the gift, the acceptance shall not obligate the department to expend funds to carry out such act or purpose.
The bill allows such departments to transfer unspent gift funds to the Department of the Treasury to reduce the deficit.
The Government Accountability Office shall report to Congress on how each department manages such funds and how they are used, including recommendations for enhancing such management and use of funds.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 761 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 761

 To amend title 31, United States Code, to allow the heads of certain 
    Executive departments to accept conditional gifts on behalf of 
             Executive departments, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2019

 Mr. Enzi (for himself and Mr. Carper) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 31, United States Code, to allow the heads of certain 
    Executive departments to accept conditional gifts on behalf of 
             Executive departments, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Donations for Our Nation's 
Advancement, Transformation, and Enhancement Act'' or the ``DONATE 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ACCEPTANCE OF CONDITIONAL GIFTS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter III of chapter 13 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1356. Acceptance of conditional gifts
    ``(a) Definition.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `covered conditional gift' means a 
        conditional gift accepted under subsection (b); and
            ``(2) the term `Executive department' means--
                    ``(A) the Department of Agriculture;
                    ``(B) the Department of Commerce;
                    ``(C) the Department of Education;
                    ``(D) the Department of Energy;
                    ``(E) the Department of Homeland Security;
                    ``(F) the Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development;
                    ``(G) the Department of the Interior;
                    ``(H) the Department of Justice;
                    ``(I) the Department of Labor;
                    ``(J) the Department of the Treasury; or
                    ``(K) the Department of Veterans Affairs.
    ``(b) Acceptance.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, and subject to paragraph (2), the head of each Executive 
        department may, at the discretion of the head of the Executive 
        department, accept a conditional gift on behalf of the 
        Executive department if the conditional gift is made--
                    ``(A) in cash; and
                    ``(B) by an individual who is a citizen of the 
                United States.
            ``(2) Limitation on acceptance.--A conditional gift may not 
        be accepted under paragraph (1) if the conditional gift is 
        conditioned upon carrying out any act or purpose that will 
        require an expenditure of funds in an amount that exceeds the 
        amount of the conditional gift, unless the expenditure has been 
        approved by an Act of Congress.
    ``(c) Limitation on Use.--The principal of and income from any 
covered conditional gift shall be held, invested, reinvested, and used 
in accordance with the conditions of the conditional gift, except that 
the principal of and income from a conditional gift may not be invested 
or reinvested in a manner in which the principal of or income from the 
conditional gift will accrue interest.
    ``(d) Budget Justifications.--In the annual budget justification 
submitted by each Executive department, the head of the Executive 
department shall include, with respect to the year preceding the date 
on which the budget justification is submitted, a statement of--
            ``(1) each covered conditional gift accepted on behalf of 
        the Executive department during the year preceding the date on 
        which the annual budget justification is submitted;
            ``(2) how each covered conditional gift described in 
        paragraph (1) was used by the Executive department; and
            ``(3) as applicable, the account or fund in which the funds 
        from each covered gift described in paragraph (1) are 
        deposited.
    ``(e) Deficit Reduction.--If funds from a covered conditional gift 
remain unexpended after carrying out the conditional act or purpose of 
the covered conditional gift and are not required to carry out any 
other conditional act or purpose of the covered conditional gift--
            ``(1) the head of the Executive department to which the 
        covered conditional gift was made may, at the discretion of the 
        head of the Executive department, transfer the remaining funds 
        to the Secretary of the Treasury; and
            ``(2) the Secretary of the Treasury shall--
                    ``(A) deposit any remaining funds transferred under 
                paragraph (1) in the general fund of the Treasury; and
                    ``(B) dedicate any remaining funds transferred 
                under paragraph (1) for the sole purpose of deficit 
                reduction.
    ``(f) Certain Insufficient Conditional Gifts.--If a head of an 
Executive department accepts a covered conditional gift that is made in 
an amount that is insufficient to meet the cost of carrying out any 
conditional act or purpose of the conditional gift, the acceptance 
shall not obligate the Executive department to expend any funds to 
carry out the conditional act or purpose.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
subchapter III of chapter 13 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``1356. Acceptance of conditional gifts.''.

SEC. 3. GAO REPORT RELATING TO GIFTS ACCEPTED ON BEHALF OF EXECUTIVE 
              DEPARTMENTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``Executive department'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 101 of title 5, United States Code; and
            (2) the term ``gift'' means any conditional or 
        unconditional gift made to an Executive department.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of 
Representatives a report that shall include--
            (1) with respect to the year preceding the date on which 
        the report is submitted, a statement of--
                    (A) the source of each gift made to the Executive 
                department during that period;
                    (B) how each gift described in subparagraph (A) 
                was, is being, or will be used; and
                    (C) the account or fund in which the funds from 
                each gift described in subparagraph (A) are deposited;
            (2) a description of the process that each Executive 
        department uses to--
                    (A) manage any gifts made to the Executive 
                department; and
                    (B) ensure that all gifts made to the Executive 
                department are efficiently used; and
            (3) recommendations for Executive departments relating to 
        enhancing the management and use of any gifts made to Executive 
        departments.
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