H.Res. 1221: Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to increase openness and transparency in the annual appropriations process as it relates to earmarks.

111th Congress · introduced 2010-03-25 · Congress · Latest: Referred to House Standards of Official Conduct

federal

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Where it came from: introduced 2010-03-25 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Chaffetz, Jason [R-UT-3] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to House Standards of Official Conduct Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to increase openness and transparency in the annual appropriations process as it relates to earmarks.

Plain summary

Amends Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to make it out of order to consider in the House any legislation (or any accompanying report or joint explanatory statement) that contains a congressional earmark for an organization other than a non-profit tax-exempt organization or a governmental entity. (Thus prohibits earmarks to for-profit entities.) Makes it out of order to consider in the House any conference report (not just, as currently, a conference report accompanying a regular general appropriation bill) if it (or the accompanying joint explanatory statement) contains any congressional earmark or limited tax or tariff benefit that was not committed to the conference committee by either chamber, or in a committee report of either chamber, on such measure or on a companion measure. Amends Rule XXIII (Code of Official Conduct) to require a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner (Member) requesting a congressional earmark in any legislation (or an accompanying report) or any conference report (or accompanying joint explanatory statement) to provide, in the required written statement to the chair and ranking minority member of the committee of jurisdiction, the federal nexus or specific power granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact such earmark and the previous authorization by law that supports it (federal nexus). Amends Rule XXI to make it out of order to consider in the House any legislation, amendment, or conference report unless any accompanying report or joint explanatory statement containing any congressional earmark sets forth for each congressional earmark the same federal nexus. Makes it out of order in the House to consider any general appropriation bill or any other measure making or continuing appropriations (or an amendment or conference report) if it includes any congressional earmark requested by any member of the Committee on Appropriations or inserted at the behest of the chair of that committee or of any of its subcommittees. Amends Rule XXIII to require each Member to maintain an official website and include on it a comprehensive, sortable, and searchable database comprising all congressional earmark requests for the current fiscal year and for the budget year, including for each such request: (1) the name and address of any recipient; (2) the purpose of the earmark; and (3) the federal nexus and the amount requested.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to increase openness and transparency in the annual appropriations process as it relates to earmarks.

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Chaffetz, Jason [R-UT-3] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (8)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Fiscal year: The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.
Jurisdiction: The area or the matters a government or court has authority over.
Resolution: A formal statement or decision by a legislative body. Simple resolutions often only express an opinion or set rules for one chamber; they do not become law.
Roll-call vote: A vote where each member's position is recorded by name, so the public can see how every member voted. "Yea" means yes, "Nay" means no, "Present" means the member was there but did not take a side.
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111hres1221.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/hres>

Record fed-us-cong111-hres1221 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111