Roadmap to Congressional Reform Act
Latest action · Mar 5, 2021 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 25, 2021
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Roadmap to Congressional Reform Act
This bill makes several modifications to congressional benefits and legislative procedures.
For example, the bill withholds the salaries of Members of a chamber that has not agreed to a budget resolution, and establishes a point of order in the House of Representatives against considering legislation that contains a congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit.
The bill prohibits a recess or adjournment if Congress has not adopted a concurrent resolution on the budget or passed the regular appropriations bills for the next fiscal year by specified dates. A Member may not use any amount for official travel while this prohibition applies.
The bill also allows future Members of the House of Representatives to opt out of the Federal Employees Retirement System, and it permits Members of Congress who opt out to continue to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan.
Additionally, the bill requires a measure introduced in either chamber to cite the specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the measure. Further, a measure must include the text of the current law being amended and show the modifications to that law.
The bill withholds one day's pay from a Representative's compensation for each day the Representative uses a designated proxy to cast a vote or record their presence.
Lastly, the bill imposes a permanent ban on lobbying contacts by a former Member of Congress or a former elected officer of the House or Senate.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 5
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Committee on House Administration | Referred Jan 25, 2021 |
| House | Rules Committee | Referred Jan 25, 2021 |
| House | Budget Committee | Referred Jan 25, 2021 |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Jan 25, 2021 |
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Jan 25, 2021 |
| Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee | Referred Mar 5, 2021 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 5, 2021Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
- Jan 25, 2021Introduced in House
- Jan 25, 2021Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, the Budget, Oversight and Reform, and the Judiciary, 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.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 167, no. 14, January 25, 2021, page H233.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97-1011 | Salaries of Members of Congress: Recent Actions and Historical Tables | Report | May 6, 2026 |
Related bills 7
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 103 | Read the Bills Act | Related bill | Jan 28, 2021 |
| HR 178 | No Budget, No Pay Act | Related bill | Jan 4, 2021 |
| S 471 | Members of Congress Pension Opt Out Clarification Act | Related bill | Nov 17, 2022 |
| S 546 | BLAST Act | Related bill | Mar 2, 2021 |
| HR 1086 | Earmark Elimination Act of 2021 | Related bill | Feb 18, 2021 |
| HR 1359 | Members of Congress Pension Opt Out Clarification Act | Related bill | Feb 25, 2021 |
| HR 1412 | BLAST Act | Related bill | Apr 28, 2021 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To withhold the salaries of Members of Congress upon failure to agree to a budget resolution, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Roadmap to Congressional Reform Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Congress.
- Appropriations
- Budget process
- Civil actions and liability
- Congress
- Congressional officers and employees
- Congressional operations and organization
- Congressional oversight
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
- Government information and archives
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Government liability
- House of Representatives
- Income tax credits
- Income tax deductions
- Income tax exclusion
- Income tax rates
- Legislative rules and procedure
- Members of Congress
- Public participation and lobbying
- Senate
- Tariffs
- Transportation costs
- Wages and earnings
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 25, 2021Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
