Title: Judicial Travel Accountability Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Judicial Travel Accountability Act
This bill requires a judicial officer to annually disclose (1) the source, description, and value of certain gifts; (2) a detailed description of meetings and events attended, including the names of other known attendees; and (3) total expenses for transportation, lodging, and meals.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2632 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2632

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require more detailed 
    travel disclosure filings from judicial officers, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 17, 2019

  Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
   Brown, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Booker) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require more detailed 
    travel disclosure filings from judicial officers, 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 ``Judicial Travel Accountability 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TRAVEL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 102(a)(2) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 
App.) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by striking ``(A) The identity'' and inserting 
                ``(A)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), the 
                identity''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(ii) In the case of a judicial officer, the identity of 
        the source, a brief description, and the value of all gifts 
        aggregating more than the minimal value as established by 
        section 7342(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, or $250, 
        whichever is greater, received from any source, other than a 
        relative, during the preceding calendar year, except that any 
        gift with a fair market value of $100 or less, as adjusted at 
        the same time and by the same percentage as the minimal value 
        is adjusted, need not be aggregated for purposes of this 
        subparagraph.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(D)(i) In the case of a judicial officer required to file 
        an annual financial disclosure statement containing information 
        described in subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B), not later than 15 
        days after the date on which a trip required to be disclosed in 
        the statement ends, the judicial officer shall file--
                    ``(I) a detailed description of the meetings and 
                events attended by the judicial officer, including the 
                names of the other known attendees of the meeting or 
                event;
                    ``(II) the total transportation expenses, in 
                dollars, for the judicial officer;
                    ``(III) the total transportation expenses, in 
                dollars, for any family member who accompanied the 
                judicial officer;
                    ``(IV) the total lodging expenses, in dollars, for 
                the judicial officer;
                    ``(V) the total lodging expenses, in dollars, for 
                any family member who accompanied the judicial officer;
                    ``(VI) the total meal expenses, in dollars, for the 
                judicial officer; and
                    ``(VII) the total meal expenses, in dollars, for 
                any family member who accompanied the judicial officer.
            ``(ii) As soon as practicable after any information 
        required to be filed by a judicial officer under clause (i) is 
        filed, the information shall be made available on a public 
        website.''.
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