Legislative Reorganization Act of 1994

Summary

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Reform of the Senate Title II: Reform of the House of Representatives Title III: Reform of the Congress Subtitle A: Budget Process Subtitle B: Staffing; Administration; and Support Agencies Subtitle C: Abolishing the Joint Committees Subtitle D: Legislative and Executive Relations Title IV: Effective Date Legislative Reorganization Act of 1994 - Title I: Reform of the Senate - Amends rule XXIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate to require appointments to standing and all other committees to be made by the majority and minority leader for each member of their respective parties, subject to any rules adopted by the respective party caucuses. (Sec. 102) Amends rule XXV to revise the structure of the standing, special, and select committees of the Senate (leaving their assignment undesignated). Lists the committees as: (1) Appropriations; (2) Armed Services; (3) Finance; (4) Foreign Relations; (5) Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; (6) Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; (7) Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (8) Energy and Natural Resources; (9) Environment and Public Works; (10) Governmental Affairs; (11) Judiciary; (12) Labor and Human Resources; (13) Aging; (14) Budget; (15) Indian Affairs; (16) Rules and Administration; (17) Small Business; (18) Veterans' Affairs; (19) Ethics; and (20) Intelligence. Modifies the number of: (1) committees and subcommittees on which a Senator may serve as a member or as the chairperson; and (2) subcommittees a committee may establish. Waives these limitations upon the adoption by an affirmative yea and nay vote of a privileged resolution (without an amendment) offered by the majority leader with the minority leader's approval that designates the Senator or Senators receiving the waiver. Limits the debate on the resolution to one hour equally divided. Requires: (1) the majority and minority leaders to notify the chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration within 30 days after the convening of a Congress if the number of majority and minority members of a Senate committee for such Congress each fall below 50 percent of the number of such members serving on the committee at the end of the 102d Congress; (2) the Committee to report a resolution to the Senate abolishing such committee after receiving the notice; and (3) the majority and minority leaders to adjust the membership of other committees to provide for members of the abolished committee. (Sec. 103) Amends rule XXVI to designate Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday for committee and subcommittee meetings and hearings. Prohibits a subcommittee from meeting at the time its committee is meeting. Requires the consent of the majority and minority leaders before the committee or its subcommittee can conduct business on a day other than the day designated by this Act. (Sec. 104) Prohibits a proxy vote from being cast by a member of any committee if it effects the result of the vote. (Sec. 105) Requires each Senate committee chairman to publish semi-annually in the Congressional Record the committee attendance and voting records of each member of the committee. (Sec. 106) Amends rule XXII to require an affirmative three-fifths vote for post-cloture appeals from the decision of the Presiding Officer, except on a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which case a necessary affirmative vote shall be two-thirds of the Senators present and voting. Amends rule VIII to limit debate to two hours on a motion to proceed to the consideration of a measure made by the majority leader or his designee after the first two hours of a new legislative day. Makes a motion to proceed to any motion, resolution, or proposal to change any of the Standing Rules of the Senate debatable without this limitation. Amends rule XXII to charge the time consumed by a quorum call to the Senator who requested it under cloture. Amends rule XXVIII to dispense with the reading of a conference report (if such report is printed and available one day prior to the motion to consider) before determining a question of proceeding to its consideration. Amends rule XV to prohibit (on a point of order made by any Senator) an amendment expressing the sense of the Senate or the sense of the Congress, or an amendment thereto, from being received unless the amendment is signed by at least ten Senators. (Sec. 107) Directs the Secretary of the Senate: (1) by January 1, 1995, and each year thereafter through 1998, to certify and publish in the Congressional Record a list identifying each Senator who has used less than the amount allocated to his or her personal office during the preceding fiscal year and the amount of such unused allocation; and (2) by January 1, 1999, and each year thereafter, to notify each Senator of the difference between the total obligations incurred by his or her personal office and the allocations for administrative expenses, legislative assistants, and clerk hire available to the Member for the preceding fiscal year. Authorizes the Member to direct the Secretary to submit a rescission request for such amount from unobligated balances for that fiscal year. Requires the Senate committees to include a plan to reduce the disparity between appropriations and allocations to Members when they conduct the performance review required by this Act. Title II: Reform of the House of Representatives - (Bill text to be supplied at a later date.) Title III: Reform of the Congress - Subtitle A: Budget Process - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes certain deadlines to conform to the biennial scheme. Devotes each second session to authorization activity, subject to specified deadlines. Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework. Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to conform to the biennial framework. Prohibits the House or Senate from considering any legislation that authorizes appropriations for a period of less than two fiscal years, unless the activity for which the funds are to be spent is of less than two years duration. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to make quarterly budget reports to the House and Senate Committees on the Budget. Provides for permanently extending the rule on extraneous matter in reconciliation legislation and applies such rule to conference reports. Directs the Comptroller General to give priority to congressional requests for audits and evaluations of Government programs and activities during the second session of each Congress. Subtitle B: Staffing; Administration; and Support Agencies - Requires the Senate Committees on Rules and Administration and Appropriations and the appropriate House committees or task force to submit to the leadership of their respective Houses a performance review together with any necessary implementing legislation to achieve efficiencies, economies, and reductions in the total number of full time equivalent (FTE) positions in the legislative branch comparable to those proposed and implemented for the executive branch in the President's National Performance Review. Requires the reductions to be made from a base of the total number of FTEs in the legislative branch on the date of introduction of S.Con. Res. 57 (102d Congress, 1st Session), establishing the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. (Sec. 332) Requires the following entities to be authorized by the enactment every eighth year of an Act to authorize appropriations for that office for the next eight fiscal years: (1) the General Accounting Office (GAO) beginning with FY 1997; (2) the Library of Congress (LOC) beginning with FY 1999; (3) the Government Printing Office (GPO) beginning with FY 2001; and (4) the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) beginning with FY 2003. Vests jurisdiction over the required authorizations in the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the appropriate House committee. Requires each instrumentality of the Congress providing support to the Congress to prepare an annual report by December 31 detailing the cost to the instrumentality of providing support to each Senate committee and Senator. Requires the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the appropriate House committee to study and report to their respective Houses concerning the feasibility of establishing a voucher allocation system for committees using the services of such instrumentalities. Repeals provisions authorizing appropriations for GAO, CBO, LOC, GPO, and OTA. (Sec. 333) Requires the cost of the service on detail to a congressional committee or the personal office of a Member of Congress of a person who is regularly employed by an instrumentality of the Congress (GAO, CBO, LOC, GPO, or OTA) or an executive agency to be fully reimbursed to the instrumentality or agency by the committee or personal office that receives the service. Subtitle C: Abolishing the Joint Committees - Part I: Joint Economic Committee - Abolishes the Joint Economic Committee and transfers its responsibility to the Senate Budget Committee and the appropriate House committee to review the President's Economic Report. Part II: Joint Committee on Taxation - Abolishes the Joint Committee on Taxation. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to: (1) require CBO to provide technical guidance to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Ways and Means with respect to taxation and tax legislation; and (2) perform the responsibilities formerly assigned to the abolished Joint Committee. Requires the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the appropriate House committee to report to the Congress a plan for the transfer of the Joint Committee's responsibilities and staff. Part III: Joint Committee on the Library of Congress - Abolishes the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress. Transfers the responsibilities of the Joint Committee to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the appropriate House committee. Part IV: Joint Committee on Printing - Repeals provisions of Federal law establishing the Joint Committee on Printing. Transfers all duties, authorities, responsibilities, and functions of the Joint Committee to the Public Printer except that the Committee's legislative oversight shall be performed by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the Committee on House Administration. (Sec. 372) Revises provisions of Federal law to abolish the position of Deputy Public Printer. Requires the President to nominate and, by and with the consent of the Senate, appoint a Legislative Deputy Public Printer (who shall also serve as the Superintendent of Documents for no additional compensation), an Executive Deputy Public Printer, and a Judicial Deputy Public Printer. Requires all GPO duties relating to the legislative, executive, and judicial branch to be performed by the appropriate Deputy Public Printer. (Sec. 373) Requires the Public Printer to include in the annual business-type budget program for the operations under the GPO revolving fund a report on: (1) the printing costs of each branch of the Government; (2) a cost comparison of specified Government publications; and (3) the cost of all authorized individual printing orders. (Sec. 375) Authorizes an executive department or agency to order individual printing orders if the cost is not more than $1,500 and the work is printed by any executive department or agency or the work is printed under a contract by a non-Federal commercial source. Requires any Federal officer who orders or contracts for an individual printing order to require the printing to deliver a sufficient number of any document printed under such order or contract to the Superintendent of Documents for inclusion in the depository program. (Sec. 376) Requires each Federal department and agency to submit by November 1 of each year to the Public Printer a report of its cost of publishing Government publications in the preceding fiscal year. Exempts GPO and publications published under contract with a non-Federal commercial source. Subtitle D: Legislative and Executive Relations - Makes it the responsibility of each standing congressional committee: (1) by March 1 in the first session of each Congress to submit Committee Review Agendas that list the discretionary programs, entitlement programs, and tax expenditures under the committee's jurisdiction which it intends to review during that Congress and three Congresses thereafter; (2) coordinate with other congressional committees having jurisdiction over related programs; (3) prepare a separate section in its oversight agenda that summarizes what actions and recommendations occurred with respect to implementing the agenda for that Congress; (4) transmit its oversight agenda to the Committee on House Administration and the Committee on Rules and Administration for consideration during the committee funding process; and (5) adopt legislative procedures to assure that any recommendation proposed by the appropriate standing committee is considered by the full Senate or House of Representatives. Requires each congressional committee to hold hearings during each Congress to review appropriate reports relating to executive agency activities over which the Committee has oversight responsibility, including reports of the Inspector General, the GAO, and agency audits. (Sec. 382) Provides that any law requiring an executive agency to report to the Congress shall be effective for not longer than five years. Title IV: Effective Date - Makes this Act effective January 1, 1995, and applicable to bienniums beginning after FY 1995.

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Documents

6 official files

• Reported to Senate (text)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 1 July 1994

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• Reported to Senate (PDF)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 1 July 1994

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• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 1 July 1994

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• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 3 February 1994

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• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 3 February 1994

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 3 February 1994

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