H.Res. 440: Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen the public disclosure of all earmark requests.

111th Congress · introduced 2009-05-14 · Congress · Latest: Referred to House Standards of Official Conduct

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2009-05-14 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA-6] · 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 strengthen the public disclosure of all earmark requests.

Plain summary

Amends Rule XXIII (Code of Official Conduct) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner (Member), within 24 hours after requesting a congressional earmark or a limited tax or tariff benefit, to: (1) post on his or her website for the remainder of a Congress the name and address of the intended recipient, the requested congressional earmarks amount, and an explanation of the request, including the purpose, and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds; (2) submit electronically to the committee of subject-matter jurisdiction the webpage address where such information is posted; (3) identify each request as having been submitted to the committee of subject-matter jurisdiction; and (4) display on the homepage of such website a hypertext link that contains the words "Earmarks," "Appropriations Requests," "Limited Tax Benefits," or "Limited Tariff Benefits." Requires the Member to maintain the link for at least 30 calendar days after the last request is made during a Congress. Amends Rule XI (Procedures of Committees and Unfinished Business) to require any committee that accepts a Member's request for a congressional earmark or a limited tax or tariff benefit to maintain a public website with an earmark disclosure webpage that contains for each request certain identifying information in a downloadable, searchable, and sortable format. Requires: (1) a committee to post on its earmark disclosure webpage all requesting Members' written statements and other related information; and (2) such webpage to list the Members and link directly to their webpage addresses. Amends Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) to make it out of order to consider any legislation that carries a congressional earmark or limited tax or tariff benefit requested by a Member who does not comply with clause 18 of Rule XXIII.

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

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

A Yea supports adopting this resolution.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen the public disclosure of all earmark requests.

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA-6] · 25 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Mike Quigley (D-IL), James A. Himes (D-CT), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Robert J. Wittman (R-VA), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Tom McClintock (R-CA)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA-6] reported raising $6.7 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

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 (6)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
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).
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-111hres440.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/hres>

Record fed-us-cong111-hres440 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111