No Hires for the Delinquent Congress Act

Bill: 114-hr-5005
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3]
Introduced: 2016-04-20
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Congressional officers and employees

Debt collection

Employee hiring

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
Latest action: action_date: 2016-04-20
text: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.

Summaries:
action_date: 2016-04-20
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>No Hires for the Delinquent Congress Act </strong></p> <p>This bill prohibits any legislative branch office from extending an offer of employment to any individual until the applicable certifying official (the Speaker of the House and/or the President pro tempore of the Senate) submits to Congress either: (1) a written certification that the office does not employ any individual who has a seriously delinquent tax debt, or (2) a report detailing why the certification cannot be made. </p> <p>The certifying official's report when such a certification is not made must:</p> <ul> <li>state that the certification cannot be made,</li> <li>explain why the certification is not possible,</li> <li>outline remedial actions required for the certifying official to be in a position to so certify, and</li> <li>indicate the time required for those actions to be completed. </li> </ul>  <p>A seriously delinquent tax debt is an outstanding tax debt for which the Internal Revenue Service has filed a notice of lien in public records, excluding a tax debt: (1) that is being paid in a timely manner under an approved installment payment agreement or an offer-in-compromise, (2) for which a collection due process hearing has been requested or is pending, (3) for which a tax levy has been issued, or (4) with respect to which relief has been granted due to economic hardship.</p>

tv_txt: I 114th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5005 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 20, 2016 Mr. Blumenauer (for himself and Mr. Hanna ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To prohibit the hiring of additional employees of any office of the legislative branch until the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President pro tempore of the Senate certifies that no employee of the office has a seriously delinquent tax debt.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the No Hires for the Delinquent Congress Act . 2. Prohibition on hiring of new employees by legislative branch offices until certification that no employee of the office has a seriously delinquent tax debt (a) Prohibition on hiring No office of the legislative branch may extend an offer of employment to any individual until after the applicable certifying official has submitted to Congress either the certification described in subsection (b) or the report described in subsection (c). (b) Certification With respect to an office of the legislative branch, the certification referred to in subsection (a) is a written certification that the office does not employ any individual who has a seriously delinquent tax debt (as defined in section 2(b)(2)). (c) Report With respect to an office of the legislative branch, the report referred to in subsection (a) is a report that— (1) states that the certification described in subsection (b) cannot be made; (2) provides an explanation of why such certification is not possible; (3) outlines the remedial actions that would be required for the applicable certifying official to be in a position to so certify; and (4) provides an indication of the time that would be required for those actions to be completed. (d) Applicable certifying official defined In this section, the applicable certifying official with respect to an office of the legislative branch means— (1) in the case of an office of the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House of Representatives; (2) in the case of an office of the Senate, the President pro tempore of the Senate; and (3) in the case of any other office, the Speaker and the President pro tempore acting jointly. (e) Seriously delinquent tax debt defined In this section, the term seriously delinquent tax debt means an outstanding debt under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for which a notice of lien has been filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 of such Code, except that such term does not include— (1) a debt that is being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement under section 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; (2) a debt with respect to which a collection due process hearing under section 6330 of such Code, or relief under subsection (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of such Code, is requested or pending; (3) a debt with respect to which a levy has been made under section 6331 of such Code (or a debt with respect to which the individual agrees to be subject to a levy made under such section); and (4) a debt with respect to which relief under section 6343(a)(1)(D) of such Code is granted.