119-hres20

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 20 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 20

 Establishing the Select Committee on Electoral Reform.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 7, 2025

Ms. Perez (for herself and Mr. Golden of Maine) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Establishing the Select Committee on Electoral Reform.

Whereas approval of Congress is unacceptably low, and this disapproval is in 
 part caused by the structure of Congress and how it is elected;
Whereas Americans are increasingly turning to electoral reform to improve their 
 experience of politics and elections, including by adopting proportional 
 representation, ranked choice voting, open primaries, and various 
 redistricting reform measures;
Whereas article I, 

section 4 of the Constitution of the United States gives 
 Congress the power to enact laws governing the time, place, and manner 
 of elections for Senators and Members of the House of Representatives;
Whereas the law commonly known as the Uniform Congressional District Act, passed 
 in 1967, requires every State to elect its delegation to the House of 
 Representatives exclusively from single-member districts; and
Whereas the law commonly known as the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 
 established that the House of Representatives would permanently have 435 
 representatives, a departure from the earlier practice of adding members 
 after each census to reflect the Nation's growing population: Now, 
 therefore, be it
 Resolved,

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT.

 There is hereby established the Select Committee on Electoral 
Reform (hereafter referred to as the ``Select Committee'').

SEC. 2. COMPOSITION.

    (a) Appointment of Members.--The Speaker shall appoint 14 Members 
to the Select Committee, 7 of whom shall be appointed after 
consultation with the minority leader.

    (b) Designation of Co-Chairs.--The Speaker shall designate one 
Member to serve as co-chair of the Select Committee. The minority 
leader shall designate one member to serve as co-chair of the Select 
Committee.
            (c) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the Select Committee shall be filled 
in the same manner as the original appointment.

SEC. 3. DUTIES.

    (a) In General.--The duties of the Select Committee are the 
following:

    (1) To examine the current methods by which citizens of the 
 United States elect Members of Congress.

    (2) To examine alternatives to these methods to determine 
 how such alternatives would affect the responsiveness, 
 accountability, and functionality of Congress, including--
        (A) adopting multi-member congressional districts 
 with proportional representation;
        (B) adjusting the number of Members of the House of 
 Representatives;
            (C) adopting alternative methods of voting, such as 
 ranked-choice voting and cumulative voting, as well as 
 changes to ballot design such as fusion voting, in 
 which parties may nominate candidates also nominated by 
 another party;
            (D) holding open and nonpartisan primaries; and
        (E) establishing independent congressional 
 redistricting commissions.

    (3) To conduct hearings to take testimony and receive 
 evidence from witnesses selected for their relevant expertise, 
 including--
        (A) political scientists;
        (B) current and former Members of Congress;
            (C) officials from States and local governments 
 that have previously adopted one or more of the 
 alternative methods to be examined by the Select 
 Committee; and
            (D) officials from countries which currently use 
 one or more of the alternative methods to be examined 
 by the Select Committee.

    (4) To examine Federal barriers to State experimentation 
 with alternative electoral systems, including the Act entitled 
 ``An Act for the relief of Doctor Ricardo Vallejo Samala and to 
 provide for congressional redistricting'', approved December 
 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), commonly known as the Uniform 
 Congressional District Act, and its requirement that States use 
 single-member districts.

    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the first meeting of the 
Select Committee, the Select Committee shall issue a final report to 
Congress and the President, and shall include in the report such 
recommendations as it considers appropriate.

SEC. 4. MEETINGS.

    (a) Meetings.--The Select Committee shall hold its first meeting 
not later than 30 days after all of its members have been appointed, 
and shall meet at the call of the co-chairs or a majority of its 
members.

    (b) Quorum.--Twelve members of the Select Committee shall 
constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings.

SEC. 5. RULES AND PROCEDURES.

    (a) In General.--Except as otherwise provided in this section, the 
Select Committee shall have the authorities and responsibilities of, 
and shall be subject to the same limitations and restrictions as, a 
standing committee of the House, and shall be deemed a committee of the 
House for all purposes of law or rule.

    (b) Applicability of General Rules for Standing Committees.--Rules 
X and XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives shall apply to 
the Select Committee except as follows:

    (1) Service on the Select Committee shall not count against 
 the limitations in clause 5

    (b)

    (2) of rule X.

    (2) Clause 2
            (m) (1)
        (B) of rule XI, clause 2
            (m) (3) of rule 
 XI, and 

section 3

    (r) of House Resolution 5, One Hundred 
 Nineteenth Congress, shall not apply to the Select Committee, 
 but the Select Committee may recommend subpoenas and 
 depositions and submit such recommendations to the relevant 
 standing committee.

    (3) Clause 2
            (d) of rule X shall not apply to the Select 
 Committee.
            (c) No Legislative Jurisdiction.--The Select Committee shall not 
have legislative jurisdiction and shall have no authority to take 
legislative action on any bill or resolution.

SEC. 6. FUNDING.

 To enable the Select Committee to carry out the purposes of this 
resolution--

    (1) the Select Committee may use the services of staff of 
 the House; and

    (2) the Select Committee shall be eligible for interim 
 funding pursuant to clause 7 of rule X of the Rules of the 
 House of Representatives.

SEC. 7. TERMINATION.

 The Select Committee shall terminate 30 days after filing the final 
report under 

section 3.
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