§296c.17 BBA2018 Title IV: Section 30442. Establishment of Joint Select Committee.

Section 30442

DIVISION C—BUDGETARY AND OTHER MATTERS

Title IV—Joint Select Committees

Subtitle B—Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform

Sec. 30442. Establishment of Joint Select Committee.

(a) Establishment of Joint Select Committee.—There is established a joint select committee^[1] of Congress to be known as the “Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform”.

(b) Implementation.—

(1) Goal.—The goal of the joint committee is to reform the budget and appropriations process.^[2]

(2) Duties.—

(A) In general.—The joint committee shall provide recommendations and legislative language that will significantly reform the budget and appropriations process.^[3]

(B) Report, recommendations, and legislative language.—

(i) In general.—Not later than November 30, 2018, the joint committee shall vote on—

(I) a report that contains a detailed statement of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the joint committee; and

(II) proposed legislative language to carry out the recommendations described in subclause (I).

(ii) Approval of report and legislative language.—

(I) In general.—The report of the joint committee and the proposed legislative language described in clause (i) shall only be approved upon receiving the votes of—

(aa) a majority of joint committee members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader of the Senate; and

(bb) a majority of joint committee members appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and the Minority Leader of the Senate.

(II) Availability.—The text of any report and proposed legislative language shall be publicly available in electronic form at least 24 hours prior to its consideration.

(iii) Additional views.—A member of the joint committee who gives notice of an intention to file supplemental, minority, or additional views at the time of the final joint committee vote on the approval of the report and legislative language under clause (ii) shall be entitled to 2 calendar days after the day of such notice in which to file such views in writing with the co-chairs. Such views shall then be included in the joint committee report and printed in the same volume, or part thereof, and their inclusion shall be noted on the cover of the report. In the absence of timely notice, the joint committee report may be printed and transmitted immediately without such views.

(iv) Transmission of report and legislative language.—If the report and legislative language are approved by the joint committee pursuant to clause (ii), the joint committee shall submit the joint committee report and legislative language described in clause (i) to the President, the Vice President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the majority and minority leaders of each House of Congress not later than 15 calendar days after such approval.

(v) Report and legislative language to be made public.—Upon the approval of the joint committee report and legislative language pursuant to clause (ii), the joint committee shall promptly make the full report and legislative language, and a record of any vote, available to the public.

(A) In general.—The joint committee shall be composed of 16 members appointed pursuant to subparagraph (B).

(B) Appointment.—Members of the joint committee shall be appointed as follows:

(i) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint 4 members from among Members of the House of Representatives.^[4]

(ii) The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives shall appoint 4 members from among Members of the House of Representatives.^[5]

(iii) The Majority Leader of the Senate shall appoint 4 members from among Members of the Senate.^[6]

(iv) The Minority Leader of the Senate shall appoint 4 members from among Members of the Senate.^[7]

(C) Co-chairs.—Two of the appointed members of the joint committee will serve as co-chairs. The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader of the Senate shall jointly appoint one co-chair,^[8] and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and the Minority Leader of the Senate shall jointly appoint the second co-chair.^[9] The co-chairs shall be appointed not later than 14 calendar days after the date of enactment of this Act.

(D) Date.—Members of the joint committee shall be appointed not later than 14 calendar days after the date of enactment of this Act.^[10]

(E) Period of appointment.—Members shall be appointed for the life of the joint committee. Any vacancy in the joint committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled not later than 14 calendar days after the date on which the vacancy occurs, in the same manner as the original appointment was made. If a member of the joint committee ceases to be a Member of the House of Representatives or the Senate, as the case may be, the member is no longer a member of the joint committee and a vacancy shall exist.

(4) Administration.—

(A) General authority.—For purposes of enabling the joint committee to exercise its powers, functions, and duties under this subtitle, and consistent with the Standing Rules of the Senate, there is authorized from the date of enactment of this Act through February 28, 2019, $500,000 to be allocated—

(i) in total during the period October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018; and

(ii) any remaining amounts shall be carried forward for the period October 1, 2018 through February 28, 2019.

(B) Expenses.—Expenses of the joint committee shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate upon vouchers approved by the co-chairs, subject to the rules and regulations of the Senate.^[11]

(C) Quorum.—Nine members of the joint committee shall constitute a quorum for purposes of voting and meeting, and 5 members of the joint committee shall constitute a quorum for holding hearings.

(D) Voting.—No proxy voting shall be allowed on behalf of the members of the joint committee.^[12]

(E) Meetings.—

(i) Initial meeting.—Not later than 30 calendar days after the date of enactment of this Act, the joint committee shall hold its first meeting.^[13]

(ii) Agenda.—The co-chairs of the joint committee shall provide an agenda to the joint committee members not less than 48 hours in advance of any meeting.

(F) Hearings.—

(i) In general.—The joint committee may, for the purpose of carrying out this section, hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, require attendance of witnesses and production of books, papers, and documents, take such testimony, receive such evidence, and administer such oaths as the joint committee considers advisable.

(ii) Hearing procedures and responsibilities of co-chairs.—

(I) Announcement.—The co-chairs of the joint committee shall make a public announcement of the date, place, time, and subject matter of any hearing to be conducted, not less than 7 days in advance of such hearing, unless the co-chairs determine that there is good cause to begin such hearing at an earlier date.

(II) Equal representation of witnesses.—Each co-chair shall be entitled to select an equal number of witnesses for each hearing held by the joint committee.

(III) Written statement.—A witness appearing before the joint committee shall file a written statement of proposed testimony at least 2 calendar days before the appearance of the witness, unless the requirement is waived by the co-chairs, following their determination that there is good cause for failure to comply with such requirement.

(G) Minimum number of public meetings and hearings.—The joint committee shall hold—

(i) not less than a total of 5 public meetings or public hearings; and

(ii) not less than 3 public hearings, which may include field hearings.

(H) Technical assistance.—Upon written request of the co-chairs, a Federal agency, including legislative branch agencies, shall provide technical assistance to the joint committee in order for the joint committee to carry out its duties.

(I) Staffing.—

(i) Staff.—Employees of the legislative branch may be detailed to the joint committee on a nonreimbursable basis, consistent with the rules and regulations of the Senate.^[5]

(ii) Staff director.—The co-chairs, acting jointly, may designate one such employee as staff director of the joint committee.

(c) Ethical Standards.—Members on the joint committee who serve in the House of Representatives shall be governed by the ethics rules and requirements of the House. Members of the Senate who serve on the joint committee shall comply with the ethics rules of the Senate.

(d) Termination.—The joint committee shall terminate on December 31, 2018 or 30 days after submission of its report and legislative recommendations pursuant to this section whichever occurs first.

Counsel Notes

Endnotes

[1] A “select committee” is established to consider a particular matter or subject and may or may not have legislative jurisdiction. They are typically created apart from the Standing Rules of the House of Representatives . Section 12 from House Practice on select committees for more information. “Joint committees” consider matters of concern to both Houses, and must be created through a concurrent resolution or by statute. A joint committee can last longer than the duration of a Congress, unless as provided for the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform”, it is specifically set to expire. In this case, the Joint Budget Process Reform Committee “terminates” no later than December 31, 2018.

[2] The explicit goal of the Select Committee is “to reform the budget and appropriations process”, and hence implicates the jurisdiction in the House of two committees: the Budget Committee and the Rules Committee. In subsection (b)(2)(A) the indication is that the bill the committee is to produce will “significantly reform” the process.

[3] The indication that the bill the Committee is to write will “significantly reform to budget and appropriations process” is subjective as to what constitutes significant reform, and the terms about the process are somewhat broad. Nevertheless, “budget process” and the “appropriations process” are not entirely open ended. See Chapter 7. Budget Process and Chapter 4. Appropriations from House Practice for a helpful description of how those terms are used for purposes in the House.

[4] Speaker of the House, Rep. Paul Ryan appointed:

Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), as Co-Chair
Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas
Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA)
Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX)

[5] The House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed:

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), as Co-Chair
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY)
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA)

[6] The Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appointed:

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Sen. David Perdue (R-GA)
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK)
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)

[7] The Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appointed:

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)

[8] The Co-Chair appointed by the Speaker and the Majority Leader of the Senate was Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), House Budget Committee Chairman and Member of the House Appropriations Committee.

[9] The Co-Chair appointed by the Minority Leader of the House and the Minority Leader of the Senate was Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), who also served as Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee.

[10] The date of enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, to which this refers, was February 9, 2018.

[11] This is different from the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Pub. L. 112-25). Section 403 of that Act required funding to be derived in equal parts from accounts of the House and Senate. Not BCR Note #2 from that section of the BCA as it relates to the Senate Contingency Fund.

[12] Proxy voting is allowed under the Rules of the Senate by they are prohibited under the Rules of the House of Representatives.

[13] The date of enactment of the Act was February 9, 2019. The first meeting of the committee was held on March 8, 2018.

[14] The rules of the Senate govern the distribution of funds for staffing purposes, as outlined here. This is likely due to the fact that the funding for the Joint Select Committee is from the Senate Contingency Fund, and none from any identified House source. This is an unusual distribution of responsibilities Joint Committees.