[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1733 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1733

 To prohibit the inclusion of earmarks in conference reports that were 
               not in the House- or Senate-passed bills.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2007

 Mr. Bilbray introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                           Committee on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the inclusion of earmarks in conference reports that were 
               not in the House- or Senate-passed bills.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Appropriations Transparency Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. OUT OF SCOPE EARMARKS OR TAX EARMARKS IN CONFERENCE REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--In the House of Representatives or the Senate, a 
point of order may be made by any Member against consideration of a 
conference report that includes any earmark or tax earmark not 
committed to conference by either House. The point of order shall be 
made and voted on separately for each item in violation of this 
section.
    (b) Disposition.--If the point of order against a conference report 
under subsection (a) is sustained, then--
            (1) the earmark or tax earmark in such conference report 
        shall be deemed to have been struck;
            (2) when all other points of order under this section have 
        been disposed of--
                    (A) the House or Senate, as applicable, shall 
                proceed to consider the question of whether the House 
                or Senate should recede from its amendment to the 
                Senate bill or House bill, or its disagreement to the 
                amendment of the Senate or the House, and concur with a 
                further amendment, which further amendment shall 
                consist of only that portion of the conference report 
                not deemed to have been struck;
                    (B) the question shall be debatable; and
                    (C) no further amendment shall be in order; and
            (3) if the House or the Senate, as applicable, agrees to 
        the amendment, then the bill and the House amendment thereto, 
        or the bill and the Senate amendment thereto, shall be returned 
        to the Senate or the House for its concurrence in the amendment 
        of the House or the Senate.
    (c) Waiver and Appeal.--This section may be waived or suspended in 
the House of Representatives or the Senate only by an affirmative vote 
of a majority of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. In the Senate, an 
affirmative vote of a majority of its Members, duly chosen and sworn, 
shall be required to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a 
point of order raised under this section.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``earmark'' means a provision in a bill or 
        conference report--
                    (A) with respect to an appropriation bill or 
                conference report thereon providing or recommending an 
                amount of budget authority for a contract, loan, loan 
                guarantee, grant, or other expenditure with or to a 
                non-Federal entity, if--
                            (i) such entity is specifically identified 
                        in the bill; or
                            (ii) if the discretionary budget authority 
                        is allocated outside of the statutory or 
                        administrative formula-driven or competitive 
                        bidding process and is targeted or directed to 
                        an identifiable entity, specific State, or 
                        Congressional district; or
                    (B) with respect to a measure other than that 
                specified in subparagraph (A) or conference report 
                thereon providing authority, including budget 
                authority, or recommending the exercise of authority, 
                including budget authority, for a contract, loan, loan 
                guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure 
                with or to a non-Federal entity, if--
                            (i) such entity is specifically identified 
                        in the bill;
                            (ii) if the authorization for, or provision 
                        of, budget authority, contract authority loan 
                        authority or other expenditure is allocated 
                        outside of the statutory or administrative 
                        formula-driven or competitive bidding process 
                        and is targeted or directed to an identifiable 
                        entity, specific State, or Congressional 
                        district; or
                            (iii) if such authorization for, or 
                        provision of, budget authority, contract 
                        authority, loan authority or other expenditure 
                        preempts statutory or administrative State 
                        allocation authority.
            (2)(A) The term ``tax earmark'' means any revenue-losing 
        provision that provides a Federal tax deduction, credit, 
        exclusion, or preference to only one beneficiary (determined 
        with respect to either present law or any provision of which 
        the provision is a part) under the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 in any year for which the provision is in effect;
            (B) for purposes of subparagraph (A)--
                    (i) all businesses and associations that are 
                members of the same controlled group of corporations 
                (as defined in section 1563(a) of the Internal Revenue 
                Code of 1986) shall be treated as a single beneficiary;
                    (ii) all shareholders, partners, members, or 
                beneficiaries of a corporation, partnership, 
                association, or trust or estate, respectively, shall be 
                treated as a single beneficiary;
                    (iii) all employees of an employer shall be treated 
                as a single beneficiary;
                    (iv) all qualified plans of an employer shall be 
                treated as a single beneficiary;
                    (v) all beneficiaries of a qualified plan shall be 
                treated as a single beneficiary;
                    (vi) all contributors to a charitable organization 
                shall be treated as a single beneficiary;
                    (vii) all holders of the same bond issue shall be 
                treated as a single beneficiary; and
                    (viii) if a corporation, partnership, association, 
                trust or estate is the beneficiary of a provision, the 
                shareholders of the corporation, the partners of the 
                partnership, the members of the association, or the 
                beneficiaries of the trust or estate shall not also be 
                treated as beneficiaries of such provision.
            (3) The term ``revenue-losing provision'' means any 
        provision that is estimated to result in a reduction in Federal 
        tax revenues (determined with respect to either present law or 
        any provision of which the provision is a part) for any one of 
        the two following periods--
                    (A) the first fiscal year for which the provision 
                is effective; or
                    (B) the period of the 5 fiscal years beginning with 
                the first fiscal year for which the provision is 
                effective; and
            (4) The terms used in paragraphs (2) and (3) shall have the 
        same meaning as those terms have generally in the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986, unless otherwise expressly provided.
    (b) Clarification.--For purposes of this Act--
            (1) government-sponsored enterprises, Federal facilities, 
        and Federal lands shall be considered Federal entities;
            (2) to the extent that the non-Federal entity is a State, 
        unit of local government, territory, an Indian tribe, a foreign 
        government or an intergovernmental international organization, 
        the provision shall not be considered an earmark unless the 
        provision also specifies the specific purpose for which the 
        designated budget authority is to be expended;
            (3) the term ``budget authority'' shall have the same 
        meaning as such term is defined in section 3 of the 
        Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622); and
            (4) an obligation limitation shall be treated as budget 
        authority.
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