[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3939 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2nd Session
                                S. 3939

 To reform earmarking and increase transparency and accountability for 
 all expenditures authorized by Congress and all executive agencies of 
                        the Federal Government.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 15, 2010

  Mr. Inhofe introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reform earmarking and increase transparency and accountability for 
 all expenditures authorized by Congress and all executive agencies of 
                        the Federal Government.

    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 ``Earmark Reform and Federal Spending 
Transparency and Accountability Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON CONTRIBUTIONS BY EARMARK BENEFICIARIES TO CERTAIN 
              CANDIDATES.

    (a) Limitation.--
            (1) In general.--Section 315(a) of the Federal Election 
        Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended by 
        redesignating paragraphs (4) through (8) as paragraphs (5) 
        through (9), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph (3) 
        the following new paragraph:
    ``(4) Limitation on Contributions by Earmark Beneficiaries.--
            ``(A) In general.--During the period which begins on 
        January 1 of an odd-numbered year and ends on December 31 of 
        the next even-numbered year, no earmark beneficiary shall make 
        contributions aggregating more than $5,000 to any requesting 
        candidate with respect to such earmark beneficiary.
            ``(B) Definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph:
                    ``(i) Earmark beneficiary.--The term `earmark 
                beneficiary' means any person who specifically requests 
                and benefits from a congressionally directed spending 
                item, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff 
                benefit (as such terms are defined in paragraph 5 of 
                rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
                determined by substituting `Senator or Member' for 
                `Senator' in such paragraph) which was enacted into law 
                during the period described in subparagraph (A) or any 
                person who is hired to represent the interests of the 
                person making the request.
                    ``(ii) Requesting candidate; requesting 
                individual.--The terms `requesting candidate' and 
                `requesting individual' mean, with respect to any 
                earmark beneficiary, any Senator or Member who 
                requested the congressionally directed spending item, 
                limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit (as so 
                defined) which benefits the earmark beneficiary.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Paragraph (1) of section 315(a) 
        of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended by striking 
        ``subsection (i) and section 315A'' and inserting ``paragraph 
        (4), subsection (i), and section 315(A)''.
    (b) Inflation Adjustment.--
            (1) In general.--Section 315(c)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
        441a(c)(1)) is amended by inserting ``(a)(4),'' after 
        ``(a)(3)'' each place it appears in subparagraphs (B)(i) and 
        (C).
            (2) Base period.--Section 315(c)(2)(B) of such Act (2 
        U.S.C. 441(c)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end 
        of clause (i), by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) 
        and inserting ``; and'', and by adding at the end the following 
        new clause:
                            ``(iii) for purposes of subsection (a)(4), 
                        calendar year 2010.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to contributions made on and after January 1, 2011.

SEC. 3. LIMITS ON STAFF ATTENDANCE OF MEMBER FUND RAISERS.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), an employee 
of the personal staff of a Member of Congress shall not attend a 
political fund raiser held on behalf of the Member of Congress for whom 
they are employed.
    (b) Exception.--A Member of Congress may designate 1 employee who 
shall not be subject to the provisions of subsection (a).

SEC. 4. EARMARK PUBLIC DATABASE.

    Not later than July 1, 2011, the Secretary of the Senate and the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives shall post on the public website 
of their respective Houses a link to the earmark database maintained by 
the Office of Management and Budget.

SEC. 5. FEDERAL EXPENDITURE PUBLIC DATABASE.

    Not later than July 1, 2011, the head of each department and agency 
of the Federal Government shall post on the public website of that 
department or agency a link to a searchable database that lists each 
contract, grant, cooperative agreement, and other expenditure made by 
the department or agency listing with respect to the expenditure the 
amount, purpose, term, and office making such expenditure.

SEC. 6. VOUCHING FOR EARMARK REQUESTS.

    Paragraph 6(a)(4) of rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate 
is amended by inserting before the semicolon the following: ``and a 
certification that the recipient is qualified to handle the project, if 
applicable''.

SEC. 7. GAO AUDITS.

    Not later than December 31, 2011, and each year thereafter, the 
Comptroller General shall submit a report to Congress that uses the OMB 
database--
            (1) to randomly select a percentage of each of the programs 
        and projects funded through earmarks in the preceding fiscal 
        year;
            (2) to conduct an audit on each selected program or project 
        reporting on the amount, purpose, term, requesting Member, and 
        the present state of completion of the program or project; and
            (3) if the earmark contributes to an already existing 
        program or project, to provide a detailed accounting of how the 
        earmark contributed to each program or project.
                                 <all>