June Update: Legislative Branch FY2020 Appropriations Items Due Dates

Late last year, Congress passed the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill for FY 2020, starting the clock on dozens of Leg. Branch projects and reports across several legislative agencies. 

In January, our team reviewed requests from the Leg. Branch approps bill, broke them down by entity, and organized each of the deadlines. All requests are organized in a comprehensive spreadsheet that can be accessed here.

At the beginning of every month, our team provides updates of what items are due from the Leg. Branch appropriations bill, broken down by entity. Our previous installments include due dates for March and April (May had zero items to report). Each article also includes which items were due during the previous month at the end of the post. 

Expected This Month

Below are the three items that are expected in June 2020:

Architect of the Capitol (AOC)

Accessibility of Capitol Tours Study

House Report, p. 20

Deadline: June 17, 2020

The committee encourages the AOC to work with the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services (OCAS) to research and evaluate access technologies for those who are blind or have low vision which enable access to visual information and enhance independent navigation. 

Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)

Congressional Staff Tuition Assistance Program

House Report, p. 12

Deadline: June 17, 2020

The Committee directed the CAO to report on which possible staff tuition assistance programs could be implemented and the associated costs.

Study on Accessibility Services

House Report, p. 12

Deadline: June 20, 2020

The Committee directed the CAO to create a report that reviews disability services in the House and offers recommendations. The report should look at (1) how easy it is to access disability information and services, and (2) whether disability services and accommodations are being coordinated effectively. Relatedly, the AOC was also ordered to conduct an assessment of the accessibility of Capitol Tours.

Congressional Research Service 

Senate Oral History Project

Senate Report, p. 49

Deadline: June 17, 2020 

The committee tasks the CRS, in coordination with the Senate Oral History Project, with providing a report detailing the feasibility of enhancing existing Senate Oral History Project to include more outgoing staff in the voluntary program and sharing that information with CRS with the express purpose of increasing retention of anonymized institutional knowledge. 

Legislative Branch Financial Managers Council (LBFMC)

Exploration of Standardizing Congressional Budget Justifications

Joint Report, p. 1

Deadline: June 17, 2020

Congressional Budget Justifications are plain text explanations of how a federal agency plans to spend money for an upcoming year, submitted to Congress as a part of the appropriations process. These reports are historically difficult to locate, plus content, formatting, and terminology vary across agencies. For these reasons, appropriators have directed the LBFMC to explore refining and standardizing Congressional Budget Justifications and to present findings to the relevant Committees.

Register of Copyrights

Satellite Subsidy Expiration 

Senate Report, p. 48

Deadline: June 17, 2020

The Committee is concerned that the distant signal provision of current law (Public Law 200-113) may provide a below-market incentive for a mature satellite industry to restrict local news transmission. The Register of Copyright shall report to the committee on the satellite industry’s increased carriage of local broadcast signals in the marketplace similar to their cable and online distribution competitors. 

Sergeant at Arms

House Annunciator Project

Joint Statement, p. 4

Deadline: June 17, 2020

The committee tasks the Sergeant at Arms to provide a status update regarding the House Annunciator Project. 

Due in May and April

There were no items that were due in May 2020. Below are the items that were due in April 2020: 

Architect of the Capitol (AOC)

Report on Possible Locations of Indian and Pueblo Flag

House Report, p. 20

Deadline: April 18, 2020

The AOC will provide an assessment to the committee describing possible locations to display Indian Nation and Pueblo flags in the Capitol complex. 

Report Describing the Display Methods of Flags of Federally Recognized Indian Tribes

Senate Report, p. 37 and Joint Report, p. 12

Deadline: April 18, 2020

The AOC will provide a report to the committee on the feasibility of the display of the official flags of federally recognized Indian Tribes in visible spaces on the Capitol campus.

Did we miss any items? Have any questions? Let us know by emailing [email protected].

— Written by Taylor J. Swift