This bill would add new rules to the ethics chapter of federal law to stop Members of Congress and certain family members from owning or trading many kinds of investments. It defines who is covered (Members, spouses, dependent children, and certain trust beneficiaries) and what counts as a covered investment (most securities, commodities, futures, and similar synthetic interests). The bill lists exceptions, including widely held diversified funds, U.S. Treasury securities, state and municipal bonds, certain small business interests, and some Alaska Native settlement shares.
The bill requires covered individuals to divest covered investments at fair market value. People who hold covered investments when the law starts would have 180 days to divest. People who become covered later would have 90 days. If a covered investment is acquired later by inheritance, marriage, or similar means, the covered individual has 90 days to divest. A supervising ethics office may grant extensions when assets are hard to sell. The bill treats the divestiture process as eligible for certificates of divestiture under the Internal Revenue Code (section 1043) and requires supervising ethics offices to issue such certificates when proof of compliance is shown.
Spouses or dependent children may trade covered investments when trading is part of their primary job. Qualified blind trusts must be divested under the same deadlines. A family trust can get an exemption only if the covered individual did not create the trust, did not put assets into it, and has no authority over the trustee, and the grantor is a family member. The supervising ethics office can require a written certification to allow a family trust exemption.
The bill sets penalties for violations. A covered individual who violates the rules must pay a fee equal to 10 percent of the value of the covered investment and must disgorge any profits from violating transactions. Disgorged amounts must be paid to the U.S. Treasury. Members of the House may not pay penalties using their official representational allowance or using campaign contributions or other donations received for federal office. Supervising ethics offices must publish on a public website each fine, the reason it was assessed, and the result.
The bill also requires supervising ethics offices to issue interpretive guidance for terms not defined in the new subchapter.
No publicly available information on overall budgetary costs or estimated federal spending impacts. The bill does specify that disgorged profits from violations must be paid into the U.S. Treasury. It also bars House Members from paying penalties with their Members' Representational Allowance or with campaign contributions and similar donations. The bill does not include cost estimates for administering the new rules or for supervising ethics offices.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.