[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5151 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5151

   To limit the amount which may be made available for the Members' 
Representational Allowance for fiscal year 2011, to prohibit the use of 
such Allowance for expenses of official mail of any material other than 
  a document transmitted under the official letterhead of the Member 
involved, and to require the quarterly statement of costs incurred for 
 official mail by offices of the House of Representatives to provide a 
   separate breakdown of the costs incurred for each method of mass 
                communication covered by the statement.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2010

  Mr. Flake introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To limit the amount which may be made available for the Members' 
Representational Allowance for fiscal year 2011, to prohibit the use of 
such Allowance for expenses of official mail of any material other than 
  a document transmitted under the official letterhead of the Member 
involved, and to require the quarterly statement of costs incurred for 
 official mail by offices of the House of Representatives to provide a 
   separate breakdown of the costs incurred for each method of mass 
                communication covered by the statement.

    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 ``Congressional Oversight and Spending 
Transparency (COST) Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. LIMIT ON AMOUNT AVAILABLE FOR MEMBERS' REPRESENTATIONAL 
              ALLOWANCE.

    The amount authorized to be appropriated for the Members' 
Representational Allowance under section 101 of the House of 
Representatives Administrative Reform Technical Corrections Act (2 
U.S.C. 57b) for fiscal year 2011 may not exceed the amount appropriated 
for such Allowance for fiscal year 2009.

SEC. 3. RESTRICTING USE OF FRANK BY MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF 
              REPRESENTATIVES.

    (a) Restricting Use of Frank to Materials Transmitted Under 
Letterhead.--Section 311(e) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations 
Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 59e(e)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
    ``(3) Funds of the House of Representatives may not be used for 
official mail of a Member of the House of Representatives for any 
material other than a document transmitted under the official 
letterhead used for the Member's stationery.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to official mail disseminated on or after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF INFORMATION INCLUDED IN QUARTERLY REPORTS OF 
              EXPENDITURES FOR OFFICIAL MAIL OF HOUSE OF 
              REPRESENTATIVES.

    (a) Separation of Information Among Types of Communications.--
Section 311(a)(3) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1991 (2 
U.S.C. 59e(a)(3)) is amended by striking the period at the end and 
inserting the following: ``, and shall include in the statement a 
breakdown of the costs incurred for each category of mass mailings and 
communications covered by the statement.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to reports filed by the Chief Administrative Officer 
of the House of Representatives under section 311(a)(3) of the 
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 59e(a)(3)) on or 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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