Congressional office spending has been a regular topic of interest to academics, interest groups, newspapers, and constituents for many years. It is a topic frequently mentioned in newspaper articles that address individual Member spending or generally discuss financial accountability among elected officials, and it has been examined by watchdog organizations and interest groups covering congressional spending on internal operations generally. A few scholars have also examined how Members typically spend their office allowances, analyzing spending within broader theories of representation. Individual office spending may be as varied as the districts Members represent. Factors affecting spending include the tenure or interests of the Member, levels of casework, geography, unexpected events, and even the congressional calendar. While Representatives have a high degree of flexibility to operate their offices in a way that supports their congressional duties and responsibilities, they must operate within a number of restrictions and regulations. The Members' Representational Allowance (MRA), the allowance provided to Members of the House of Representatives to operate their DC and district offices, may only support Members in their official and representational duties. It may not be used for personal or campaign purposes. Additional regulations or restrictions regarding reimbursable expenses may be promulgated by the Committee on House Administration, the Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, also known as the Franking Commission, and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and may be found in a wide variety of sources, including statute, House rules, committee resolutions, the Members' Handbook , the Franking Manual, the House Ethics Manual, "Dear Colleague" letters, and formal and informal guidance. This report provides a history of the MRA and overview of recent developments. It also demonstrates actual MRA spending patterns in recent years for all voting Members who served for a defined period. Spending and practices across offices and across time vary, and an examination of additional Congresses would be required for a more complete picture of congressional office spending patterns. The MRA, which was first authorized in 1996, was preceded by multiple allowances for each Member covering different categories of spending—including the former clerk hire allowance, official expenses allowances, and official mail allowance. The establishment of the MRA followed efforts by the House, dating back to the late 1970s, to move to a system of increased flexibility and accountability for Member office operations. In September 1995, the Committee on House Administration authorized the consolidation of these allowances. Subsequently, in November 1995, the FY1996 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act combined the separate appropriations for personal office staff, official office expenses, and mail costs into a single new appropriations heading, "Members' Representational Allowances." According to the House Appropriations Committee report on the FY1996 bill, the consolidation was adopted to simplify Members' accounting practices and allowed Members to more easily show savings achieved when they did not spend all of their allowance. Subsequent legislation in 1996 further defined the MRA and made it subject to regulations and adjustments adopted by the Committee on House Administration. Additional provisions included in the FY2000 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act amended language regarding official mail and repealed obsolete language and terms. Since the MRA's establishment, appropriations acts funding the legislative branch have contained—or continued, in the case of a continuing resolution—a provision requiring unused amounts remaining in the MRA be used for deficit reduction or to reduce the federal debt. This provision was included in legislative branch appropriations bills reported by the House Appropriations Committee in FY1999 and since FY2002. In some years prior to consideration of FY2002 funding, it was added by amendment, including H.Amdt. 458 (403-21, Roll no. 415) to H.R. 1854 , 104 th Congress (Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1996); H.Amdt. 1245 (voice vote) to H.R. 3754 , 104 th Congress (Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1997); H.Amdt. 287 (voice vote) to H.R. 2209 , 105 th Congress (Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1998); H.Amdt. 166 (voice vote) to H.R. 1905 , 106 th Congress (Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2000); and, H.Amdt. 865 (voice vote) to H.R. 4516 , 106 th Congress (Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001). In addition to the appropriations language, numerous bills and resolutions addressing the MRA have been introduced (for examples, see tables in the Appendix ). This legislation has generally fallen into three major categories: Attempts to change the MRA procedure or regulate, prohibit, authorize, disclose, or encourage the use of funds for a particular purpose. Stand-alone legislation that would govern the use of unexpended balances, including language to require these funds to go toward deficit reduction. Bills or resolutions that would limit or change the g rowth of overall MRA or adjustment among Members. MRA-related amendments have also been offered to the legislative branch appropriations bills. These include H.Amdt. 213 , which was offered to H.R. 3219 , the FY2018 legislative branch appropriations bill, increasing funding for the Government Accountability Office, offset by a reduction in the Members' Representational Allowance, which failed by voice vote. H.Amdt. 214 , which was offered to H.R. 3219 , the FY2018 legislative branch appropriations bill, relating to the use of the Members' Representational Allowance for Member security, was agreed to by voice vote. H.Amdt. 642 , which was offered to H.R. 4487 , the FY2015 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, on May 1, 2014. This amendment, which would have prohibited the use of the MRA for leased vehicles, excluding mobile district offices and short-term vehicle rentals, was not agreed to by a recorded vote (Roll no. 188). H.Amdt. 1284 , which was offered to H.R. 5882 , the FY2013 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, on June 8, 2012. This amendment, which would have prohibited paid advertisements on any internet site other than an official site of the Member, leadership office, or committee involved, was not agreed to by a recorded vote (Roll no. 375). H.Amdt. 708 , which was offered to H.R. 2551 , the FY2012 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, on July 21, 2011. The amendment, which prohibited the use of funds to make any payments from any MRA for the leasing of a vehicle in an amount that exceeds $1,000 in any month, was agreed to by voice vote. This language was included in P.L. 112-74 and subsequent legislative branch appropriations acts. H.Amdt. 709 and H.Amdt. 710 , which also proposed restrictions on the MRA, failed by voice vote. Funding is provided on a fiscal year (beginning October 1) basis and a single total amount for all Members is provided under the appropriations heading, "Members' Representational Allowances," within the House account "Salaries and Expenses" contained in the annual legislative branch appropriations bills. Allowance or authorization levels for individual Members of the House are authorized in statute and are regulated and adjusted by the Committee on House Administration pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 4313 et seq. and House Rule X(1)(j). The individual MRAs for the 441 Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner are authorized for periods that correspond closely to the sessions of Congress—from January 3 of each year through January 2 of the following year. In addition to the complexity involved in different time frames and split responsibilities—with the appropriation on a fiscal year determined by the Committee on Appropriations, and the authorization roughly following the calendar year as allocated by the Committee on House Administration—the House has indicated that the total authorized level for all MRAs may be more than the total appropriation due to projections on spend-out rates. The FY1997 report accompanying the legislative branch appropriations bill, for example, stated Many Members do not expend their full allowance. That is why the Committee bill does not fully fund this account. The frugality of those Members is already projected in the bill presented by the Committee. Since these prospective savings are already taken in the bill, they reduce the need for appropriated funds and, therefore, contribute directly to the reduction in federal spending and consequently lower the projected deficit. If the Committee bill were to fully fund the Members' Representational Allowance, the amount appropriated would have to be increased by $27 million. Thus, the account is underfunded by almost 7%. A similar discussion of the use of prior spending patterns in the determination of MRA appropriations levels was included in numerous other House reports, particularly in the first few years of the MRA. It was also discussed during a hearing on the FY2009 legislative branch appropriations requests. Pursuant to law, late-arriving bills may be paid for up to two years following the end of the MRA year. The permissibility of payment for late-arriving bills does not provide flexibility in the timing of the obligation, a point emphasized in the Members' Congressional Handbook , which states: "all expenses incurred will be charged to the allowance available on the date the services were provided or the expenses were incurred" and the "MRA is not transferable between years." The MRA is funded in the House "Salaries and Expenses" account in the annual legislative branch appropriations bills. One single line-item provides funding for all Members' MRAs. The MRA funding level peaked at $660.0 million in FY2010. It was subsequently reduced to $613.1 million in FY2011 (-7.1%), and then to $573.9 million in FY2012 (-6.4%).