I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 150
To establish the People-Centered Assistance Reform Effort Commission, to
improve the social safety net and increase social mobility by increasing
access to resources which address the underlying causes of poverty.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY3, 2025
Mr. D
AVIDSONintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Edu-
cation and Workforce, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, Financial
Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, the Judiciary, and
Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish the People-Centered Assistance Reform Effort
Commission, to improve the social safety net and in-
crease social mobility by increasing access to resources
which address the underlying causes of poverty.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘People-Centered As-4
sistance Reform Effort Act’’ or the ‘‘People CARE Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1
The purpose of this Act is to structure means-tested 2
welfare programs so that— 3
(1) welfare programs work in an integrated 4
manner and provide social workers with the tools to 5
assist people holistically; 6
(2) welfare programs work together in a 7
streamlined and comprehensible manner, and, over 8
time, individuals on such programs will earn enough 9
income on their own to transition off of means-test-10
ed welfare programs; and 11
(3) means-tested welfare programs increase em-12
ployment, encourage healthy families and further 13
educational attainment so that households maintain 14
an income above the poverty level without services 15
and benefits from the Federal Government. 16
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF MEANS-TESTED WELFARE PRO-17
GRAM. 18
(a) M
EANS-TESTEDWELFAREPROGRAM.—In this 19
Act, the term ‘‘means-tested welfare program’’— 20
(1) means any Federal program that is de-21
signed to specifically provide assistance or benefits 22
exclusively to low-income Americans; 23
(2) does not include such a program if the pro-24
gram— 25
(A) is based on earned eligibility; 26
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(B) is not need-based; 1
(C) provides to an individual benefits 2
under title 38, United States Code, or other 3
provisions of law administered by the Secretary 4
of Veterans Affairs; or 5
(D) offers universal or near universal eligi-6
bility to the working population and their de-7
pendents; and 8
(3) includes community and economic develop-9
ment programs targeted to low-income communities 10
or populations. 11
(b) P
ROGRAMSINCLUDED.—For purposes of sub-12
section (a), the following Federal programs shall be con-13
sidered means-tested welfare programs: 14
(1) C
ASH AND GENERAL ASSISTANCE .— 15
(A) The Supplemental Security Income 16
program under title XVI of the Social Security 17
Act. 18
(B) The earned income tax credit deter-19
mined under section 32 of the Internal Revenue 20
Code of 1986. 21
(C) The refundable portion of the child tax 22
credit determined under section 24 of the Inter-23
nal Revenue Code of 1986. 24
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(D) The program of block grants to States 1
for temporary assistance for needy families 2
under part A of title IV of the Social Security 3
Act. 4
(E) The foster care and adoption assist-5
ance program under part E of title IV of the 6
Social Security Act. 7
(F) General Assistance to Indians. 8
(G) The programs operated under the As-9
sets for Independence Act. 10
(2) M
EDICAL.— 11
(A) The Medicaid program under title XIX 12
of the Social Security Act. 13
(B) The State Children’s Health Insurance 14
Program under title XXI of the Social Security 15
Act. 16
(C) Health programs operated by the In-17
dian Health Service, Indian tribes, tribal orga-18
nizations, and Urban Indian organizations (as 19
those terms are defined in section 4 of the In-20
dian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 21
1603)). 22
(D) The health center programs under sec-23
tion 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 24
U.S.C. 254b). 25
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(E) The Maternal and Child Health Serv-1
ices Block Grant program under title V of the 2
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 701 et seq.). 3
(F) The Healthy Start Initiative under 4
section 330H of the Public Health Service Act 5
(42 U.S.C. 254c–8). 6
(G) Premium tax credits and cost sharing 7
reductions available pursuant to the Patient 8
Protection and Affordable Health Care Act 9
(PPACA) and the amendments made by such 10
Act. 11
(3) F
OOD.— 12
(A) The supplemental nutrition assistance 13
program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 14
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 15
(B) The school lunch program under the 16
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 17
(42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 18
(C) The special supplemental nutrition 19
program for women, infants, and children under 20
section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act (42 21
U.S.C. 1786). 22
(D) The school breakfast program under 23
section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 24
(42 U.S.C. 1773). 25
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(E) The child and adult care food program 1
under section 17 of the Richard B. Russell Na-2
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766). 3
(F) The nutrition services programs under 4
the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 5
3001 et seq.). 6
(G) The summer food service program for 7
children under section 13 of the Richard B. 8
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 9
1761). 10
(H) The commodity supplemental food 11
program under section 4 of the Agriculture and 12
Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 13
612c note). 14
(I) Commodity distribution programs 15
under the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 16
1983 (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.). 17
(J) The seniors farmers’ market nutrition 18
program under section 3007 of Public Law 19
107–171 (7 U.S.C. 3007). 20
(K) The special milk program established 21
under section 3 of the Child Nutrition Act of 22
1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772). 23
(4) H
OUSING.— 24
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(A) The rental assistance program under 1
section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 2
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 3
(B) The public housing program under 4
title I of the United States Housing Act of 5
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.). 6
(C) The Home Investment Partnerships 7
Program under title II of the Cranston-Gon-8
zalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 9
U.S.C. 12721 et seq.). 10
(D) The programs for homeless assistance 11
under title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 12
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.). 13
(E) The rural housing programs under 14
title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 15
1471 et seq.). 16
(F) The program for supportive housing 17
for elderly persons under section 202 of the 18
Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). 19
(G) The program for Native American 20
housing block grants under the Native Amer-21
ican Housing Assistance and Self-Determina-22
tion Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.). 23
(H) The program for supportive housing 24
for persons with disabilities under section 811 25
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of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 1
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013). 2
(5) E
NERGY AND UTILITIES.— 3
(A) Low-income home energy assistance 4
under the Low-Income Home Energy Assist-5
ance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.). 6
(B) The Lifeline Assistance Program of 7
the Federal Communications Commission and 8
the Tribal Link Up assistance program defined 9
in section 54.413 of title 47, Code of Federal 10
Regulations. 11
(C) Weatherization assistance for low-in-12
come persons under part A of title IV of the 13
Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 14
U.S.C. 6861 et seq.). 15
(6) E
DUCATION.— 16
(A) Federal Pell Grants under subpart 1 17
of part IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 18
(20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.). 19
(B) Grants for improving basic programs 20
operated by local educational agencies under 21
part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec-22
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 23
et seq.). 24
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(C) Federal TRIO programs under chapter 1
1 of subpart 2 of title IV of the Higher Edu-2
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–11 et 3
seq.). 4
(D) Federal supplemental educational op-5
portunity grants under subpart 3 of part A of 6
title IV the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7
U.S.C. 1070b et seq.). 8
(E) Programs for the education of migra-9
tory children under part C of title 1 of the Ele-10
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 11
(20 U.S.C. 6391 et seq.). 12
(F) Gaining early awareness and readiness 13
for undergraduate programs under chapter 2 of 14
subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher 15
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–21 et 16
seq.). 17
(G) The education for homeless children 18
and youth program under subtitle B of title VII 19
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 20
Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.). 21
(H) The leveraging educational assistance 22
partnership program of subpart 4 of part A of 23
title IV the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 24
U.S.C. 1070c et seq.). 25
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(7) TRAINING.— 1
(A) Job Corps under subtitle C of title I 2
of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 3
Act (29 U.S.C. 3191 et seq.). 4
(B) Adult employment and training activi-5
ties under title I of the Workforce Innovation 6
and Opportunity Act (20 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.). 7
(C) Senior community service employment 8
programs under title V of the Older Americans 9
Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3056 et seq.). 10
(D) Employment and training programs 11
under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 12
U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 13
(E) Migrant and seasonal farmworker pro-14
grams under section 167 of the Workforce In-15
novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 16
3222). 17
(F) The YouthBuild Program under sec-18
tion 171 of the Workforce Innovation and Op-19
portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3226). 20
(G) Native American Programs under sec-21
tion 166 of the Workforce Innovation and Op-22
portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3221). 23
(8) S
ERVICES.— 24
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(A) The Social Services Block Grant pro-1
gram under title XX of the Social Security Act. 2
(B) Programs under the Community Serv-3
ices Block Grant Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9901 4
et seq.). 5
(C) Services for aliens admitted to the 6
United States as refugees or granted asylum in 7
the United States, and other special populations 8
of aliens. 9
(D) State and community programs on 10
aging that receive Federal funds. 11
(E) Legal Services Corporation. 12
(F) Family planning services under title X 13
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 14
300 et seq.). 15
(G) The Emergency Food and Shelter Pro-16
gram for homeless persons under title III of the 17
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 18
U.S.C. 11331 et seq.). 19
(H) The AmeriCorps VISTA program 20
under subtitle C of title I of the National and 21
Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 22
12571 et seq.). 23
(9) C
HILD CARE AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT .— 24
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(A) Head Start programs and Early Head 1
Start programs under the Head Start Act (42 2
U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). 3
(B) Programs under the Child Care and 4
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 5
U.S.C. 9858 et seq.). 6
(10) C
OMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT .— 7
(A) The Community Development Block 8
Grant Program under title I of the Housing 9
and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 10
U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 11
(B) Programs administered by the Eco-12
nomic Development Administration under the 13
Public Works and Economic Development Act 14
of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.). 15
(C) Programs administered by the Appa-16
lachian Regional Commission under subtitle IV 17
of title 40, United States Code. 18
(D) Empowerment zones and enterprise 19
communities under subchapter U, and renewal 20
communities under subchapter X, of the Inter-21
nal Revenue Code of 1986. 22
(c) P
ROGRAMSEXCLUDED.—For purposes of sub-23
section (a), the following Federal programs shall not be 24
considered means-tested welfare programs: 25
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(1) The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability In-1
surance Benefit program under title II of the Social 2
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.). 3
(2) The Medicare program under title XVIII of 4
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.). 5
(3) A program designed exclusively or primarily 6
to provide to an individual benefits under title 38, 7
United States Code, or other provisions of law ad-8
ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 9
(4) A program that provides for the receipt of 10
‘‘regular compensation’’, ‘‘extended compensation’’, 11
or ‘‘additional compensation’’ (as such terms are de-12
fined by section 205 of the Federal-State Extended 13
Unemployment Compensation Act (26 U.S.C. 3304 14
note)). 15
(5) The program that provides for trade adjust-16
ment assistance under title II of the Trade Act of 17
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et seq.). 18
(6) Programs designed specifically to provide 19
benefits to workers to compensate for job-related in-20
juries or illnesses. 21
(d) S
PECIALRULES.— 22
(1)(A) For purposes of subsection (a), only the 23
refundable portion of the following tax credits shall 24
be considered means-tested welfare programs: 25
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(i) The earned income tax credit under sec-1
tion 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 2
(ii) The child tax credit under section 3
24(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 4
(B) For purposes of subsection (a), only the re-5
fundable portion of the premium and out-of-pocket 6
health care subsidies to be paid under the Patient 7
Protection and Affordable Health Care Act shall be 8
considered a means-tested welfare program. 9
(C) For purposes of this subparagraph, the 10
term ‘‘refundable portion’’ means the portion of the 11
credit which is paid to an individual in excess of the 12
amount of Federal income tax owed by the indi-13
vidual. 14
(2) For purposes of subsection (a), only the 15
costs of the free and reduced price segments of the 16
school lunch and school breakfast programs shall be 17
considered means-tested welfare programs. 18
(e) E
XCLUSION OFCERTAINSTATE ANDLOCALEX-19
PENDITURES.—For purposes of subsection (a), expendi-20
tures by State and local governments of funds that are— 21
(1) obtained by the State and local government 22
from taxes, fees, or other sources of revenue estab-23
lished by the State or local government; and 24
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(2) not received as any form of grant from the 1
Federal Government, 2
shall not be considered means-tested welfare programs, 3
without regard to whether the State and local expenditures 4
take the form of contributions to a Federal program de-5
scribed in subsection (a) or listed in subsection (b). 6
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PEOPLE-CENTERED ASSIST-7
ANCE REFORM EFFORT COMMISSION. 8
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 9
legislative branch a commission to be known as the ‘‘Peo-10
ple-Centered Assistance Reform Effort Commission’’ or 11
the ‘‘CARE Commission’’ (in this Act referred to as the 12
‘‘Commission’’). 13
(b) D
UTIES.— 14
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Commission— 15
(A) shall review all means-tested welfare 16
programs within the Federal Government to— 17
(i) identify changes in law (which may 18
include ways to streamline functions and 19
increase efficiency within agencies or pro-20
grams) that will achieve the purposes set 21
forth in section 2; 22
(ii) evaluate whether each means-test-23
ed welfare program could be consolidated 24
with another means-tested welfare pro-25
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gram, or a program subject to the avail-1
ability of discretionary appropriations with 2
similar goals, and make recommendations 3
for consolidating the programs that are 4
identified; 5
(iii) evaluate the potential benefits of 6
consolidating or repurposing any means- 7
tested welfare program that does not have 8
proven beneficial outcomes that assist in 9
achieving purposes set forth in section 2 10
and make recommendations regarding con-11
solidating or repurposing means-tested wel-12
fare programs that are identified; 13
(iv) identify opportunities and make 14
recommendations regarding ways for the 15
Federal Government to reduce the cost or 16
increase the efficiency of means-tested wel-17
fare program by contracting with private 18
entities, or delegating authority to States, 19
to perform activities relating to the pro-20
gram; 21
(v) identify means-tested welfare pro-22
grams and entitlement authorities that 23
should be modified to be carried out sub-24
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ject to the availability of discretionary ap-1
propriations; 2
(vi) identify changes to the law that 3
would allow caseworkers to have a 4
wholistic view of the person and all pro-5
grams for which the individual or family 6
would be eligible, and identify other tools 7
that caseworkers should have access to in 8
order to achieve the goals set forth in sec-9
tion 2; 10
(vii) identify and eliminate benefit 11
cliffs by designing on/off ramps such as 12
gradual benefit reductions as individuals’ 13
wages increase, such that the gradual re-14
duction in government benefits does not 15
exceed the increase in wages; and 16
(viii) identify other ways to achieve 17
the purposes set forth in section 2 as de-18
termined by the Commission; 19
(B) in carrying out subparagraph (A), es-20
tablish a system for evaluating the effectiveness 21
of welfare programs, which includes income and 22
employment outcomes for individuals and fami-23
lies in their respective programs, and engage in 24
such other activities as the Commission deems 25
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appropriate to evaluate the effectiveness of the 1
programs; 2
(C) may review the offsetting receipts and 3
discretionary appropriations of the Federal 4
Government, as determined appropriate by the 5
Commission; and 6
(D) may develop the criteria for achieving 7
the purposes set forth in section 2. 8
(2) C
ONSULTATION AND WORKING GROUPS .— 9
(A) I
N GENERAL.—In carrying out the re-10
view under paragraph (1)(A), the Commission 11
shall— 12
(i) consult with experts in company 13
restructuring, reorganizing, and cost cut-14
ting; and 15
(ii) establish working groups for 16
means-tested welfare programs, as deter-17
mined appropriate by the Commission, to 18
provide recommendations to the Commis-19
sion. 20
(B) M
EMBERS OF WORKING GROUPS .—The 21
individuals serving on a working group estab-22
lished under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be em-23
ployees or contractors of the Commission with 24
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expertise in a program reviewed by the working 1
group. 2
(3) R
EPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 3
the date on which all members of the Commission 4
are appointed, and upon an affirmative vote of a 5
majority of the members of the Commission, the 6
Commission shall submit to Congress and make pub-7
licly available a report containing— 8
(A) a detailed statement of the findings, 9
conclusions, and recommendations of the Com-10
mission; and 11
(B) the assumptions, scenarios, and alter-12
natives considered in reaching such findings, 13
conclusions, and recommendations. 14
(4) L
EGISLATION TO CARRY OUT CHANGES IN 15
LAW TO ACHIEVE PURPOSES .—The Commission 16
shall— 17
(A) identify changes in law that will result 18
in the consolidation and realignment in pro-19
grams and outlays that will achieve the pur-20
poses set forth in section 2; 21
(B) include in the report submitted under 22
paragraph (3) a bill consisting of proposed leg-23
islative language to carry out the changes in 24
law identified under subparagraph (A) (in this 25
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Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission bill’’), ex-1
cept that the bill may not include provisions 2
creating a new program or agency, unless such 3
program or agency is the result of a consolida-4
tion or realignment of existing programs and 5
agencies which will have the predicted outcome 6
of achieving the purposes of section 2; and 7
(C) include in such report an estimate of 8
the savings in outlays that will be achieved by 9
the enactment of the Commission bill, as devel-10
oped in conjunction with the Director of the 11
Congressional Budget Office and the Director 12
of the Office of Management and Budget. 13
(5) I
NFORMATION TO MEMBERS OF CON -14
GRESS.—After submission of the Commission bill 15
under paragraph (4), the Commission shall promptly 16
provide, upon request, to any Member of Congress 17
information used by the Commission in making its 18
recommendations. 19
(c) M
EMBERSHIP.— 20
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 21
composed of 8 members, appointed as follows: 22
(A) The majority leader of the Senate shall 23
appoint 2 members. 24
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(B) The minority leader of the Senate shall 1
appoint 2 members. 2
(C) The Speaker of the House of Rep-3
resentatives shall appoint 2 members. 4
(D) The minority leader of the House of 5
Representatives shall appoint 2 members. 6
(2) D
ISQUALIFICATIONS.—An individual may 7
not be appointed as a member of the Commission if 8
the individual was registered as a lobbyist under the 9
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 10
seq.) at any time during the 5-year period ending on 11
the date of the appointment. 12
(3) C
HAIRPERSON.—The members of the Com-13
mission shall select a Chairperson from among the 14
members of the Commission. 15
(4) D
ATE.—Not later than 1 month after the 16
date of enactment of this Act, all members of the 17
Commission shall be appointed. 18
(5) P
ERIOD OF DESIGNATION .—Members shall 19
be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any va-20
cancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, 21
but shall be filled not later than 14 days after the 22
date on which the vacancy occurs in the same man-23
ner as the original appointment. 24
(6) C
OMPENSATION.— 25
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(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 1
Commission shall be compensated at a rate 2
equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate 3
of basic pay prescribed for a position at level IV 4
of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 5
of title 5, United States Code, for each day (in-6
cluding travel time) during which such member 7
is engaged in the performance of the duties of 8
the Commission. 9
(B) T
RAVEL EXPENSES.—Members may be 10
allowed travel expenses, including per diem in 11
lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sections 12
5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code, 13
while away from their homes or regular places 14
of business in performance of services for the 15
Commission. 16
(d) P
OWERS OF THECOMMISSION.— 17
(1) H
EARINGS.—The Commission may, for the 18
purpose of carrying out this Act— 19
(A) hold such hearings, sit and act at such 20
times and places, take such testimony, receive 21
such evidence, and administer such oaths as the 22
Commission considers advisable to carry out its 23
duties; and 24
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(B) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the 1
attendance and testimony of such witnesses and 2
the production of such books, records, cor-3
respondence, memoranda, papers, documents, 4
tapes, and materials as the Commission con-5
siders advisable to carry out its duties. 6
(2) I
NFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES .— 7
The Commission may request directly, or require, by 8
subpoena or otherwise, from any Federal agency 9
such information as the Commission considers nec-10
essary to carry out its duties. Upon a request of the 11
Chairperson of the Commission, the head of a Fed-12
eral agency shall furnish such information to the 13
Commission. 14
(3) I
SSUANCE AND ENFORCEMENT OF SUB -15
POENAS.— 16
(A) I
SSUANCE.—Subpoenas issued under 17
paragraph (1) or (2) shall bear the signature of 18
the Chairperson of the Commission and shall be 19
served by any person or class of persons des-20
ignated by the Chairperson for that purpose. 21
(B) E
NFORCEMENT.—In the case of contu-22
macy or failure to obey a subpoena issued 23
under paragraph (1) or (2), the United States 24
district court for the judicial district in which 25
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the subpoenaed person resides, is served, or 1
may be found may issue an order requiring 2
such person to appear at any designated place 3
to testify or to produce documentary or other 4
evidence. Any failure to obey the order of the 5
court may be punished by the court as a con-6
tempt of that court. 7
(4) W
ITNESS ALLOWANCES AND FEES .—Section 8
1821 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to 9
witnesses requested or subpoenaed to appear at any 10
hearing of the Commission. The per diem and mile-11
age allowances for witnesses shall be paid from 12
funds available to pay the expenses of the Commis-13
sion. 14
(5) I
NFORMATION FROM THE CONGRESSIONAL 15
BUDGET OFFICE AND OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND 16
BUDGET.—The Commission may secure directly 17
from the Congressional Budget Office and Office of 18
Management and Budget such information, includ-19
ing estimates and analysis, as the Commission con-20
siders advisable to carry out its duties. Upon request 21
of the Chairperson of the Commission, the Director 22
of the Congressional Budget Office or Office of 23
Management and Budget shall furnish such informa-24
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tion, including estimates and analysis, to the Com-1
mission. 2
(6) I
NFORMATION FROM THE LIBRARY OF CON -3
GRESS.—Upon the request of the Commission, the 4
Librarian of Congress shall provide to the Commis-5
sion, on a reimbursable basis, administrative support 6
services, research services, and research staff nec-7
essary for the Commission to carry out its respon-8
sibilities under this Act. 9
(e) S
TAFF OF THECOMMISSION.— 10
(1) A
PPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION OF 11
STAFF.—The Chairperson may appoint and fix the 12
compensation of a staff director and such other em-13
ployees as may be necessary to enable the Commis-14
sion to carry out its functions, without regard to the 15
provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing 16
appointments in the competitive service, but at rates 17
not to exceed the annual rate of basic pay prescribed 18
for a position at level V of the Executive Schedule 19
under section 5316 of title 5 of the United States 20
Code. 21
(2) A
GENCY ASSISTANCE.—Upon the request of 22
the Chairperson, the head of any agency may detail 23
an employee of the agency to the Commission with-24
out reimbursement, and such detail shall be without 25
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interruption or loss of civil service status or privi-1
lege. 2
(f) C
ONSULTANT, TEMPORARY, ANDINTERMITTENT 3
S
ERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Commission is au-4
thorized to procure the services of experts and consultants 5
and temporary and intermittent services in accordance 6
with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at 7
rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a person occupying 8
a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under sec-9
tion 5316 of title 5, United States Code, for each day dur-10
ing which such consultant or expert is engaged in the per-11
formance of the duties of the Commission. 12
(g) C
ONSIDERATION OF SUGGESTIONSFROM THE 13
P
UBLICTHROUGHWEBSITE.—In carrying out its duties 14
under this Act, the Commission shall— 15
(1) establish a website for the purpose of allow-16
ing any member of the public to submit suggestions 17
to the Commission for its consideration; and 18
(2) consider each such suggestion submitted 19
through the website. 20
(h) F
EDERALADVISORYCOMMITTEEACT.—Chapter 21
10 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the 22
Commission. 23
(i) T
ERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 24
on the day after the earlier of— 25
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(1) the date on which the Commission bill is en-1
acted into law; or 2
(2) the last day of the Congress during which 3
the Commission bill is introduced in the Senate or 4
the House under section 5(a). 5
SEC. 5. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES. 6
(a) I
NTRODUCTION OF COMMISSIONBILL.—The 7
Commission bill— 8
(1) shall be introduced in the Senate (by re-9
quest), with any technical changes necessary to 10
carry out the intent of the bill, by the majority lead-11
er of the Senate or by a Member of the Senate des-12
ignated by the majority leader of the Senate not 13
later than 5 legislative days after the date on which 14
the bill is submitted to Congress under section 15
4(b)(4); and 16
(2) shall be introduced in the House of Rep-17
resentatives (by request), with any technical changes 18
necessary to carry out the intent of the bill, by the 19
Speaker of the House of Representatives or by a 20
Member of the House of Representatives designated 21
by the Speaker of the House of Representatives not 22
later than 5 legislative days after the date on which 23
the bill is submitted to Congress under section 24
4(b)(4). 25
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(b) EXPEDITEDCONSIDERATION INHOUSE OFREP-1
RESENTATIVES.— 2
(1) P
LACEMENT ON CALENDAR .—Upon intro-3
duction in the House of Representatives, the Com-4
mission bill shall be placed immediately on the ap-5
propriate calendar. 6
(2) P
ROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION .— 7
(A) I
N GENERAL.—It shall be in order, not 8
later than 90 legislative days after the date the 9
Commission bill is introduced in the House of 10
Representatives, to move to proceed to consider 11
the Commission bill in the House of Represent-12
atives. 13
(B) P
ROCEDURE.—For a motion to pro-14
ceed to consider the Commission bill— 15
(i) all points of order against the mo-16
tion are waived; 17
(ii) such a motion shall not be in 18
order after the House of Representatives 19
has disposed of a motion to proceed on the 20
Commission bill; 21
(iii) the previous question shall be 22
considered as ordered on the motion to its 23
adoption without intervening motion; 24
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(iv) the motion shall not be debatable; 1
and 2
(v) a motion to reconsider the vote by 3
which the motion is disposed of shall not 4
be in order. 5
(3) C
ONSIDERATION.—When the House of Rep-6
resentatives proceeds to consideration of the Com-7
mission bill— 8
(A) the Commission bill shall be considered 9
as read; 10
(B) all points of order against the Com-11
mission bill and against its consideration are 12
waived; 13
(C) the previous question shall be consid-14
ered as ordered on the Commission bill to its 15
passage without intervening motion except 10 16
hours of debate equally divided and controlled 17
by the proponent and an opponent; 18
(D) an amendment to the Commission bill 19
shall not be in order; and 20
(E) a motion to reconsider the vote on pas-21
sage of the Commission bill shall not be in 22
order. 23
(4) V
OTE ON PASSAGE.—In the House of Rep-24
resentatives, the Commission bill shall be agreed to 25
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upon a vote of a majority of the Members present 1
and voting, a quorum being present. 2
(c) E
XPEDITEDCONSIDERATION INSENATE.— 3
(1) P
LACEMENT ON CALENDAR .—Upon intro-4
duction in the Senate, the Commission bill shall be 5
placed immediately on the calendar. 6
(2) P
ROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION .— 7
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding rule 8
XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is 9
in order, not later than 90 legislative days after 10
the date the Commission bill is introduced in 11
the Senate (even though a previous motion to 12
the same effect has been disagreed to) to move 13
to proceed to the consideration of the Commis-14
sion bill. 15
(B) P
ROCEDURE.—For a motion to pro-16
ceed to the consideration of the Commission 17
bill— 18
(i) all points of order against the mo-19
tion are waived; 20
(ii) the motion is not debatable; 21
(iii) the motion is not subject to a mo-22
tion to postpone; 23
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(iv) a motion to reconsider the vote by 1
which the motion is agreed to or disagreed 2
to shall not be in order; and 3
(v) if the motion is agreed to, the 4
Commission bill shall remain the unfin-5
ished business until disposed of. 6
(3) F
LOOR CONSIDERATION.— 7
(A) I
N GENERAL.—If the Senate proceeds 8
to consideration of the Commission bill— 9
(i) all points of order against the 10
Commission bill (and against consideration 11
of the Commission bill) are waived; 12
(ii) consideration of the Commission 13
bill, and all debatable motions and appeals 14
in connection therewith, shall be limited to 15
not more than 30 hours, which shall be di-16
vided equally between the majority and mi-17
nority leaders or their designees; 18
(iii) a motion further to limit debate 19
is in order and not debatable; 20
(iv) an amendment to, a motion to 21
postpone, or a motion to commit the Com-22
mission bill is not in order; and 23
(v) a motion to proceed to the consid-24
eration of other business is not in order. 25
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(B) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—In the Senate— 1
(i) the vote on passage shall occur im-2
mediately following the conclusion of the 3
consideration of the Commission bill, and a 4
single quorum call at the conclusion of the 5
debate if requested in accordance with the 6
rules of the Senate; and 7
(ii) the Commission bill shall be 8
agreed to upon a vote of a majority of the 9
Members present and voting, a quorum 10
being present. 11
(C) R
ULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE -12
DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 13
relating to the application of this subsection or 14
the rules of the Senate, as the case may be, to 15
the procedure relating to the Commission bill 16
shall be decided without debate. 17
(d) R
ULESRELATING TOSENATE ANDHOUSE OF 18
R
EPRESENTATIVES.— 19
(1) C
OORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER 20
HOUSE.—If, before the passage by one House of the 21
Commission bill of that House, that House receives 22
from the other House the Commission bill— 23
(A) the Commission bill of the other House 24
shall not be referred to a committee; and 25
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(B) with respect to the Commission bill of 1
the House receiving the resolution— 2
(i) the procedure in that House shall 3
be the same as if no Commission bill had 4
been received from the other House; and 5
(ii) the vote on passage shall be on 6
the Commission bill of the other House. 7
(2) T
REATMENT OF COMMISSION BILL OF 8
OTHER HOUSE.—If one House fails to introduce or 9
consider the Commission bill under this section, the 10
Commission bill of the other House shall be entitled 11
to expedited floor procedures under this section. 12
(3) T
REATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES .— 13
If, following passage of the Commission bill in the 14
Senate, the Senate receives the companion measure 15
from the House of Representatives, the companion 16
measure shall not be debatable. 17
(4) V
ETOES.—If the President vetoes the Com-18
mission bill, consideration of a veto message in the 19
Senate under this section shall be not more than 10 20
hours equally divided between the majority and mi-21
nority leaders or their designees. 22
(e) R
ULES OFHOUSE OFREPRESENTATIVES AND 23
S
ENATE.—This section is enacted by Congress— 24
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(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 1
the Senate and House of Representatives, respec-2
tively, and as such is deemed a part of the rules of 3
each House, respectively, but applicable only with re-4
spect to the procedure to be followed in that House 5
in the case of the Commission bill, and supersede 6
other rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent 7
with such rules; and 8
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 9
right of either House to change the rules (so far as 10
relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 11
in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 12
the case of any other rule of that House. 13
Æ
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