Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2014

Bill: 113-hr-2792
Sponsor: Rep. Alexander, Rodney [R-LA-5]
Introduced: 2013-07-23 in the House
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Appropriations
Architect of the Capitol
Budget deficits and national debt
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Congressional agencies
Congressional officers and employees
Congressional oversight
District of Columbia
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Government Publishing Office (GPO)
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Government trust funds
House of Representatives
International exchange and broadcasting
International organizations and cooperation
Law enforcement officers
Libraries and archives
Library of Congress
Licensing and registrations
Members of Congress
Poverty and welfare assistance
Public contracts and procurement
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Travel and tourism
U.S. Capitol
Unemployment
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2013-07-23
text: 
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2014 - Makes appropriations to the House of Representatives for FY2014 for: (1) salaries and/or expenses of the House leadership offices, committees (including the Committee on Appropriations), and officers and employees; and (2) Members' representational allowances. 
 
Requires deposit in the Treasury of any amounts of a Member's representational allowance remaining after all payments are made, to be used for federal deficit reduction, or, if there is no deficit, federal debt reduction. 
 
Makes appropriations for salaries and/or expenses of: (1) the Joint Economic Committee; (2) the Joint Committee on Taxation; (3) the Office of the Attending Physician; (4) the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services; (5) the Capitol Police; (6) the Office of Compliance; (7) the Congressional Budget Office (CBO); and (8) the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), including for the care and operation of Capitol buildings and grounds, House office buildings, the Capitol power plant, the Library of Congress buildings and grounds, the Capitol Police buildings, grounds, and security, the Botanic Garden, and the Capitol Visitor Center. 
 
Appropriates funds for: (1) the Library of Congress for salaries and expenses, the Copyright Office, Congressional Research Service (CRS), and Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; (2) the Government Printing Office (GPO) for congressional printing and binding (including transfer of funds); (3) GPO for the Office of Superintendent of Documents (including transfer of funds); (4) the Government Printing Office Revolving Fund; (5) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for salaries and expenses; and (6) a payment to the Open World Leadership Center Trust Fund.
 
 

action_date: 2013-07-23
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

 
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2014 - 
Title I: Legislative Branch Appropriations
 - Makes appropriations to the House of Representatives for FY2014 for: (1) salaries and/or expenses of the House leadership offices, committees (including the Committee on Appropriations), and officers and employees; and (2) Members' representational allowances.
 
(Sec. 101) Requires deposit in the Treasury of any amounts of a Member's representational allowance remaining after all payments are made, to be used for federal deficit reduction, or, if there is no deficit, federal debt reduction.
 
(Sec. 102) Amends the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1998 to require reimbursement to the Secretary of Labor for unemployment compensation payments to former House employees out of the House account for making payments to the Employees' Compensation Fund.
 
(Sec. 103) Amends the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1993, with respect to authorized transfer of amounts appropriated for any fiscal year among specified headings, to add &quot;Joint Items&quot; (to the extent that amounts appropriated to a joint committee are disbursed by the House Chief Administrative Officer) and &quot;Office of the Attending Physician&quot; to the current list consisting of &quot;House Leadership Offices,&quot; &quot;Members' Representational Allowances,&quot; &quot;Committee Employees,&quot; &quot;Salaries, Officers, and Employees,&quot; and &quot;Allowances and Expenses.&quot; 
Makes appropriations for salaries and/or expenses of: (1) the Joint Economic Committee; (2) the Joint Committee on Taxation; (3) the Office of the Attending Physician; (4) the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services; (5) the Capitol Police; (6) the Office of Compliance; (7) the Congressional Budget Office (CBO); and (8) the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), including for the care and operation of Capitol buildings and grounds, House office buildings, the Capitol power plant, the Library of Congress buildings and grounds, the Capitol Police buildings, grounds, and security, the Botanic Garden, and the Capitol Visitor Center.
 
(Sec. 1002) Makes balances of expired U.S. Capitol Police appropriations available to the Capitol Police for deposit to the credit of the mandatory Employees' Compensation Fund.
 
Amends the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2003 to eliminate the separate Capitol Police account for making worker's compensation payments to Capitol Police employees.
 
(Sec. 1101) Amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to make appropriations (currently appropriations are only authorized) to the account of federal Offices (except the Government Accountability Office [GAO], the Government Printing Office [GPO], or the Library of Congress) in the Treasury for the payment of awards and settlements under the Act.
 
(Sec. 1102) Requires the Executive Director of the Office of Compliance to report semiannually to specified congressional committees on disbursements for Office operations.
 
(Sec. 1201) Authorizes CBO to accept voluntary student services, except that: (1) any student who provides such voluntary service shall be considered a CBO employee for purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (relating to the level of confidentiality of budget data), and (2) the authority granted to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) over such services shall be exercised by the Director of CBO.
 
(Sec. 1301) Requires the AOC to report semiannually to specified congressional committees on disbursements for the operations of the AOC Office.
 
(Sec. 1302) Authorizes the House Office Building Commission to enter into agreements for the use of a certain building located at 501 First Street, SE, Washington, D.C., by the House of Representatives to provide office and accommodations for itself, or for use of the building by other appropriate persons.
 
Appropriates funds for: (1) the Library of Congress for salaries and expenses, the Copyright Office, Congressional Research Service (CRS), and Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; (2) the Government Printing Office (GPO) for congressional printing and binding (including transfer of funds); (3) GPO for the Office of Superintendent of Documents (including transfer of funds); (4) the Government Printing Office Revolving Fund; (5) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for salaries and expenses; and (6) a payment to the Open World Leadership Center Trust Fund.
 
(Sec. 1401) Establishes an upper limit of $178.958 million for the FY2014 obligational authority of the Library of Congress with regard to certain reimbursable and revolving fund activities.
 
(Sec. 1402) Authorizes the transfer of FY2014 Library of Congress appropriations between any &quot;Library of Congress&quot; categories of appropriations provided under law, up to 10% per category, upon the approval of the congressional appropriations committees.
 
(Sec. 1501) Revises the authority of the Comptroller General to prescribe procedures for the electronic filing and dissemination of documents and information relating to the expeditious decision of protests against specified federal actions in connection with procurement bid solicitations or requests and contract awards.
 
Requires the Comptroller General to operate an electronic filing and document dissemination system under which: (1) a person may file a protest electronically, and (2) all documents and information required for the protest may be disseminated and made available to appropriate parties electronically .
 
Authorizes the Comptroller General to require each person filing a protest to pay a fee to support the establishment and operation of the electronic system, without regard to whether or not the person uses it.
 
Requires the Comptroller General to: 
 
 establish (and from time to time update) a schedule setting forth the amount of the required fee,
 
 maintain a separate account for the system among GAO accounts, and
 
 deposit all fees received into the account. 
 
 
Makes amounts in the account available to the Comptroller General, without fiscal year limitation, solely to establish and operate the system.
 

 Title II: General Provisions
 - Specifies authorized and prohibited uses of funds appropriated by this Act identical or similar to corresponding provisions of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2013.
 
(Sec. 206) Authorizes the AOC to maintain and improve the landscape features, excluding streets, in specified grassy areas of Washington, DC, SW.
 
(Sec. 208) Prohibits the use of funds made available to the AOC in this Act to eliminate or restrict guided tours of the U.S. Capitol led by congressional employees and interns.
 
Allows temporary suspension or restriction of such tours for security or related reasons to the same extent as guided tours of the U.S. Capitol led by the AOC.
 
(Sec. 209) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act to deliver a printed copy of a bill, joint resolution, or resolution to the office of a Member of the House of Representatives unless the Member requests a copy.
 
(Sec. 210) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act to deliver a printed copy of any version of the Congressional Record to the office of a Member. 
(Sec. 211) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House to make any payments from any Members' Representational Allowance for the leasing of a vehicle (except mobile district offices) in an aggregate amount that exceeds $1,000 for the vehicle in any month. 
(Sec. 212) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act to provide an aggregate number of more than 50 printed copies of any edition of the U.S. Code to all House offices. 
(Sec. 213) Authorizes the Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police to: (1) issue a permit authorizing a person to engage in commercial activity in Union Square if such activity is similar to the types of commercial activity permitted in Union Square before its transfer of jurisdiction and control to the AOC under the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2012; and (2) require such individual, under the terms and conditions of such a permit, to pay a fee to cover any AOC costs resulting from its issuance, if the fees are similar to those collected by the Director of the National Park Service (NPS) for such commercial activity. 
Establishes a Capitol Trust Account in the Treasury consisting of all such fees, to be made available, without fiscal year limitations, for appropriate maintenance, improvements, and projects for Union Square, subject to approval of congressional appropriations committees. 
(Sec. 214) Expresses the sense of Congress that it should not pass any legislation that authorizes spending cuts that would increase U.S. poverty. 
(Sec. 215) Establishes a spending reduction account consisting of the amount by which each applicable allocation of new budget authority made by the Committee on Appropriations of the House, excluding Senate items, exceeds the amount of proposed new budget authority. Makes such amount $0.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-23
text: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 126.
action_date: 2013-07-23
text: The House Committee on Appropriations reported an original measure, H. Rept. 113-173, by Mr. Alexander.
action_date: 2013-07-23
text: The House Committee on Appropriations reported an original measure, H. Rept. 113-173, by Mr. Alexander.
action_date: 2013-07-23
text: Introduced in House