GovTrack Insider
Tracking Congress. Engaging Democracy.
Hate paying high airlines fees?
The airline industry achieved its most profitable year in decades last year. Part of that was due to factors such as low gas prices. But it…The “Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act” would end that. ¶ The airline industry achieved its most profitable year in decades last year. Part of that was due to factors such as low gas prices. But it also didn’t hurt that airlines collected almost $11 billion in fees during 2015, up more than 24 percent from the year before. Fees from baggage, booking, and other similar charges made up less than three percent of airlines’ revenue a decade ago — now it’s eight percent and…
GovTrack.usMar 30
Terrorists have used burner phones to plot their acts. Should Congress regulate them?
With the Apple-vs.-FBI encryption fight consuming so much attention over the past month, often lost by the wayside is an issue no less…important: burner phones. The cheap disposable devices, also called “pre-paid phones,” are often bought anonymously and without registration. It was burner phones, not encryption, that were primarily used to plot the coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris last November which killed 130 people. ¶ H.R. 4886, the “Closing the Pre-Paid Mobile Device Security Gap Act,” would ban anonymous pre-paid phones in the United States Introduced last week by Rep.GovTrack.usMar 30
Congress wouldn’t get paid if it fails to pass a budget under the “No Budget, No Pay” act
Congress wouldn’t get paid if it fails to pass a budget under the “No Budget, No Pay” act
Getting Democrats and Republicans to agree on budgets was difficult even during the most harmonious of times. But it has proven…particularly challenging since 2011, when Congress and the White House have been controlled by opposing parties. At times it seems that nothing can get the two sides to come together to resolve their spending differences, with vicious disagreements on funding for everything from the military to Planned Parenthood. ¶ No Budget, No Pay ¶ The “No Budget, No Pay Act” would change that by hitting Members of Congress where it hurts: their own personal wallets.GovTrack.usMar 30
Supreme Court Ethics Act would extend recusal, gift bans, and other ethics rules to the high court
Supreme Court Ethics Act would extend recusal, gift bans, and other ethics rules to the high court
Federal judges are required to abide by a Code of Conduct. Among other rules, judges are not allowed to receive gifts over a certain…monetary value (for fear of bribery), donate to or publicly endorse a political candidate or party (to keep the judiciary apolitical), or hear and decide a case in which they have a conflict of interest. Every judge is covered by the Code of Conduct — that is, except the justices of the Supreme Court. ¶ This discrepancy, which for years had primarily been of interest to legal scholars, has gained increased public attention since the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia at a Texas resort.GovTrack.usMar 16
After 15 straight years of deficits, this resolution would require a balanced budget
After 15 straight years of deficits, this resolution would require a balanced budget
The last year the federal government had a surplus, meaning it spent less money than it took in, was 2001. Although the yearly budget…deficit has declined every year since 2009, in January it was announced that the deficit would likely increase again in 2016. ¶ S.J.Res. 6 would add an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced federal budget every year. Introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), it’s already attained 53 co-sponsors — more than half the Senate. It would literally be impossible for the proposal to be more polarizing: every single Senate Republican has signed on as a cosponsor, while not a single Senate…GovTrack.usMar 16
ENCRYPT Act would prevent states from banning digital encryption
ENCRYPT Act would prevent states from banning digital encryption
Encryption — a process of encoding digital messages so third parties cannot access or read it — has become one of the biggest topics in the…news over the past few years. This month, Apple is refusing a court order to bypass encryption on the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone. More people are using encryption tools in their digital communications, more tech companies are adopting it as a standard, and more journalists are utilizing it for their reporting. ¶ New York and California have introduced bills to ban sales of encrypted smartphones.GovTrack.usMar 8
Paint by numbers — but what if that number is $40,000?
Paint by numbers — but what if that number is $40,000?
Bills are often cleverly titled so as to become acronyms — for example, the PATRIOT Act and S. 310: the EGO Act, or the Eliminating…Government-funded Oil-painting Act. ¶ The EGO Act was introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to make permanent a law that prohibits taxpayer funds from being used for “an official portrait of a officer or employee of the federal government,” according to the Congressional Research Service. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the average portrait cost for governmental figures at $25,000, with a 2013 portrait of the head of the Environmental Protection Agency costing $40,000.GovTrack.usMar 11