[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S442-S443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KYL:
  S. 47. A bill to establish a commission to study the impact on voter 
turnout of making the deadline for filing federal income tax returns 
conform to the date of federal elections; to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration.


             voter turnout enhancement study commission act

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Voter Turnout 
Enhancement Study (VoTES) Commission Act, a bill designed to promote 
fiscal responsibility while helping to motivate more Americans to get 
to the polls on Election Day.
  Mr. President, when we balanced the unified budget last year, we did 
so by taxing and spending at a level of about $1.72 trillion. That is a 
level of spending that is 25 percent higher than when President Clinton 
took office just six years ago. Our government now spends the 
equivalent of $6,700 for every man, woman, and child in the country 
every year. That is the equivalent of nearly $27,000 for the average 
family of four. But all of that spending comes at a tremendous cost to 
hard-working taxpayers.
  The Tax Foundation estimates that the medium income family in America 
saw its combined federal, state, and local tax bill climb to 37.6 
percent of income in 1997--up from 37.3 percent the year before. That 
is more than the average family spends on food, clothing, shelter, and 
transportation combined. Put another way, in too many families, one 
parent is working to put food on the table, while the other is working 
almost full time just to pay the bill for the government bureaucracy.
  In fact, the tax burden imposed on the American people hit a 
peacetime high of 19.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1997 
and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, is continuing to 
rise--to 20.5 percent in 1998 and 20.6 percent in 1999. That will be 
higher than any year since 1945, and it would be only the third and 
fourth years in our nation's entire history that revenues have exceeded 
20 percent of national income. Notably, the first tow times revenues 
broke the 20 percent mark the economy tipped into recession.
  Already, economists are beginning to project slower economic growth 
in coming years. Barring any further shocks from abroad, growth for 
1999 to 2003 is estimated at about two percent. The heavy tax burden 
may not be the only reasons for slow growth, but it is a significant 
factor. Consider that economic growth avenged 3.9 percent annually 
during the period after the Reagan tax cuts and before the 1990 tax 
increase.
  I am convinced that the tax burden is growing, in part, because so 
much of it is obscured from the view of the taxpayers. Withholding, for 
example, reduces the visibility and minimizes the pain of making large 
tax payments. FICA taxes paid by an employer on behalf of an employee 
never show up on a worker's pay stub at all, even though they reduce 
wages dollar for dollar. By the time Election Day could hardly be 
farther away from April 15.
  If the visibility of the tax burden were increased, people might be 
more inclined to get to the polls. Move the deadline for filing income-
tax returns from April to November and we could give people a reason to 
vote by focusing their attention on the role of government--and how 
much it actually costs them--on the single most important day of the 
year. Moving Tax Day to Election Day would probably result in more 
change in Washington than anything else we could do. Moreover, 
maximizing voter turnout is the best way to ensure that government 
officials heed the will of the people and make sound public policy.
  The bill I am introducing today would provide for a thoughtful and 
thorough analysis of a change in the tax-filing deadline from April to 
November, it potential effect on voter turnout, as well as any economic 
impact it might have. The bill explicitly requires that an independent 
commission conduct a cost-benefit analysis--a requirement that Congress 
would be wise to impose routinely on legislative initiatives to 
separate the good ideas from the bad, and save taxpayers a lot of money 
in the process. A number other cost limiting provisions have been 
included to protect taxpayers' interests.
  While just about every day of the year is celebrated by special 
interest groups around the country for the government largesee they 
receive, the taxpayers--the silent majority--have only one day of the 
year to focus on what that largesse means to them--how much it costs 
them--and that is Tax Day. I believe that it ought to coincide with 
Election Day so people can clearly choose between candidates who 
support higher taxes and more government control, and candidates who 
favor lower taxes and the right of people to decide for themselves how 
to spend their own money.
  I invite my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this initiative, 
and I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be reprinted in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 47

       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 ``Voter Turnout Enhancement 
     Study Commission Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that:
       (1) The right of citizens of the United States to vote is a 
     fundamental right.
       (2) It is the duty of federal, state, and local governments 
     to promote the exercise of that right to vote to the greatest 
     extent possible.
       (3) The power to tax is a power that citizens of the United 
     States only guardedly vest in their elected representatives 
     to the federal, state, and local governments.
       (4) The only regular contacts most Americans have with 
     their government are the filing of their personal income tax 
     returns and

[[Page S443]]

     their participation in federal, state, and local elections.
       (5) About 115 million individual income tax returns were 
     filed in 1998, but only about 70 million Americans cast votes 
     in that year's congressional elections.

     SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

       (a) Establishment.--There is established a commission to be 
     known as the Voter Turnout Enhancement Study Commission 
     (hereafter in this Act referred to as the `Commission').
       (b) Membership.--
       (1) Composition.--The Commission shall be composed of nine 
     members of whom--
       (A) 3 shall be appointed by the President;
       (B) 3 shall be appointed by the Majority Leader of the 
     Senate; and
       (C) 3 shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (c) Period of Appointment; Vacancies.--Members shall be 
     appointed no later than 30 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, and serve for the life of the 
     Commission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect 
     its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the 
     original appointment.
       (d) Compensation.--
       (1) Rates of pay.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
     members of the Commission shall serve without pay.
       (2) Travel expenses.--Each member of the Commission shall 
     receive travel expenses, include per diem in lieu of 
     subsistence, in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of 
     title 5, United States Code.
       (e) Initial Meeting.--No later than 30 days after the date 
     on which all members of the Commission have been appointed, 
     the Commission shall hold its first meeting.
       (f) Meetings.--After the initial meeting, the Commission 
     shall meet at the call of the Chairman.
       (g) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Commission 
     shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may 
     hold hearings.
       (h) Chairman and Vice Chairman.--The Commission shall 
     select a Chairman and Vice Chairman from among its members.

     SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

       (a) Study.--
       (1) In general.--The Commission shall conduct a thorough 
     study of all matters relating to the propriety of conforming 
     the annual filing date for federal income tax returns with 
     the date for holding biennial federal elections.
       (2) Matters studied.--The matters studied by the Commission 
     shall include--
       (A) whether establishment of a single date on which 
     individuals can fulfill their obligations of citizenship as 
     both electors and taxpayers would increase participation in 
     federal, state, and local elections; and
       (B) a cost benefit analysis of any change in tax filing 
     deadlines.
       (b) Report.--No later than 12 months after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit a report 
     to the President and the Congress which shall contain a 
     detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the 
     Commission, together with its recommendations for such 
     legislation and administrative actions as it considers 
     appropriate.

     SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

       (a) Hearings.--The Commission may hold such hearings, sit 
     and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and 
     receive such information as the Commission considers 
     advisable to carry out the purposes of this Act.
       (b) Information To Be Gathered.--The Commission shall 
     obtain information from sources as it deems appropriate, 
     including, but not limited to, taxpayers and their 
     representatives, Governors, state and federal election 
     officials, and the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue 
     Service.

     SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.

       The Commission shall terminate upon the submission of the 
     report under section 4.

     SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
     necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
                                 ______