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House Bill 5845
115th Congress(2017-2018)
No Couches for Congress Act
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in House on May 16, 2018
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Introduced in House 
May 16, 2018
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Introduced in House(May 16, 2018)
May 16, 2018
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Multiple bills can contain the same text. This could be an identical bill in the opposite chamber or a smaller bill with a section embedded in a larger bill.
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H. R. 5845 (Introduced-in-House)


115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5845


To prohibit Members of the House of Representatives from using their congressional offices for personal overnight accommodations and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction for living expenses incurred by Members of the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 16, 2018

Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself, Ms. Fudge, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Clyburn, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mrs. Beatty, Mrs. Demings, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Adams, Ms. Bass, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Evans, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Payne, Ms. Lee, Mr. Clay, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Mr. Al Green of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, and Ethics, 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 prohibit Members of the House of Representatives from using their congressional offices for personal overnight accommodations and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction for living expenses incurred by Members of the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.

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 “No Couches for Congress Act”.

SEC. 2. Prohibiting Members of the House of Representatives from using offices for personal overnight accommodations; requiring Ethics Committee to respond to complaints filed by Members.

(a) Prohibiting Members from using offices for personal overnight accommodations.—Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended—

(1) by redesignating clause 18 as clause 19; and

(2) by inserting after clause 17 the following new clause:

“18. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not use the Member’s, Delegate’s, or Resident Commissioner’s office for personal overnight accommodations, and may not use official resources of the House, including employees of the House, to support the use of such office for such purpose.”.

(b) Requiring House Ethics Committee To respond to complaints filed by Members.—Clause 3(b)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking the period at the end of the first sentence in the matter following subdivision (C) and inserting the following: “, and, in the case of a complaint from a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner, shall promptly transmit to such Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner a written response containing an explanation for the delay in disposing of the complaint and the results of any investigation of the complaint.”.

(c) Exercise of rulemaking powers.—The provisions of this section are enacted—

(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of Representatives, and as such they shall be considered as part of the rules of the House, and such rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of the House of Representatives to change such rules (so far as relating to the House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of the House.

SEC. 3. Reinstating limited deduction for living expenses incurred by Members of the House of Representatives.

(a) In general.—The second sentence of section 162(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after “for income tax purposes” the following: “in any amount in the case of a Senator or in excess of $3,000 in the case of a Member of the House of Representatives or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress”.

(b) Inflation adjustment.—Section 162 of such Code is amended by redesignating subsection (s) as subsection (t) and by inserting after subsection (r) the following new subsection:

“(s) Inflation adjustment.—In the case of a taxable year beginning after 2018, the $3,000 amount in subsection (a) shall be increased by an amount equal to—

“(1) such dollar amount, multiplied by

“(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable year begins, determined by substituting ‘calendar year 1954’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.

If any amount as adjusted under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $50, such amount shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50.”.

(c) Effective date.—The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2018.