Responsible Use of Taxpayer Dollars for Portraits Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-323
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2015-01-29
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Art, artists, authorship

Congressional agencies

Executive agency funding and structure

Federal officials

Members of Congress

Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
Latest action: action_date: 2015-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-01-29
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Responsible Use of Taxpayer Dollars for Portraits Act of 2015</b></p> <p> Prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for production of a portrait of: (1) a Member of Congress, (2) the head of an executive agency, or (3) the head of an agency or office of the legislative branch.</p> <p>Authorizes up to $20,000 in federal funds to pay for production of a portrait of an individual in line of succession to the presidency.</p> <p>Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the use of:</p> <ul> <li>federal funds to publicly display a portrait of: (1) a Member of Congress, (2) the head of an executive agency, or (3) the head of an agency or office of the legislative branch; or</li> <li>nonfederal funds to produce a portrait of such individual, including, in the case of a portrait of an individual in line of succession to the presidency, the use of nonfederal funds to pay the entire cost of producing it or the portion of the cost that exceeds $20,000, if any.</li> </ul>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 323 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 29, 2015 Mrs. Shaheen introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To prohibit the use of Federal funds for the costs of official portraits of Members of Congress, heads of executive agencies, and heads of agencies and offices of the legislative branch.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Responsible Use of Taxpayer Dollars for Portraits Act of 2015 . 2. Prohibition on use of funds for official portraits (a) Definitions In this section— (1) the term executive agency has the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United States Code; (2) the term Member of Congress includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Congress; and (3) the term portrait means a painting. (b) Prohibition (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), no Federal funds may be used to pay for the production of a portrait of— (A) a Member of Congress; (B) the head of an executive agency; or (C) the head of an agency or office of the legislative branch. (2) Individuals in line of succession to presidency Not more than $20,000 in Federal funds may be used to pay for the production of a portrait of an individual who is in the line of succession to the presidency under subsection (a), (b), or (d) of section 19 of title 3, United States Code. (c) Rules of construction Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit— (1) the use of Federal funds to publicly display a portrait of an individual described in subsection (b)(1); or (2) the use of funds other than Federal funds to produce a portrait of an individual described in subsection (b)(1), including, in the case of a portrait of an individual described in subsection (b)(2), the use of funds other than Federal funds to pay the entire cost of producing the portrait or the portion of the cost that exceeds $20,000, if any.