Bills Subject to a Rule (1 bill)

H.R. 9
Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006

Floor Situation

The House is scheduled to consider H.R. 9, pursuant to a rule, the week of Monday, July 10, 2006. 

On Wednesday, July 12, 2006, the Rules Committee granted a structured rule that: 

• Provides 90 minutes of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or their designees.
• Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
• Provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary now printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment and shall be considered as read.
• Makes in order only those amendments printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying the resolution.
• Provides that the amendments made in order may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.
• Waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the report.
• Provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

Summary

The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 renews the expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for another 25 years. The provisions include the requirement that covered jurisdictions “preclear” their voting rule changes with a federal district court or the Department of Justice (to ensure they are not discriminatory) before they can go into effect, and provisions that allow federal observers to monitor elections.

H.R. 9 also clarifies the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA)in two ways. First, it makes clear that a voting rule change that is the result of purposeful and intentional discrimination cannot be precleared. Second, it makes clear that no voting rule change can be precleared if it diminishes the ability of the minority community to elect their candidates of choice (whomever they may be). The bill renews the provisions that allow for jurisdictions that are covered under the temporary provisions of the Voting Rights Act to become uncovered, and jurisdictions that are not covered to become covered, when necessary.

The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 also contains provisions that allow successful plaintiffs to have their expert witness fees paid for by the losing side, and provisions that require that the latest Census Bureau data be used to determine which jurisdictions are required to provide language assistance to citizens who can’t speak English. H.R. 9 also includes a provision, adopted at the Judiciary Committee markup, that requires the GAO to study the implementation, effectiveness, and efficiency of the current language assistance provisions and alternatives to the current implementation.

H.R. 9 also updates the Voting Rights Act by eliminating a category of federal official, called “federal examiners,” that have not been utilized for over 20 years.

Section 7 of H.R. 9 extends Sections 203 and 4(f) of the VRA, which require that election materials (such as notices, forms, instructions, ballots) be provided in select other languages (American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, and those of Spanish heritage) in certain covered jurisdictions, for a period of 25 years.

Section 8 of H.R. 9 updates Section 203 of the VRA to reflect the fact that the long form census, which had been used in Section 203 coverage determinations, will no longer be used by the Census Bureau after 2010. The American Community Survey (ACS) has replaced the long form and will be administered by the Census Bureau annually. H.R. 9 simply provides that determinations for coverage under Section 203 will be made by the Director of the Census based upon information compiled by the ACS on a rolling five-year average.

Amendments to be Made in Order on Thursday, July 13, 2006

Rep. Norwood (GA) may offer an amendment (#8) on Thursday, July 13, 2006; it is debatable for 40 minutes. The amendment updates the formula in section 4 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) that determines which states and jurisdictions will be covered under Section 5 of the VRA.  This updated formula would be a rolling test based off of the last three presidential elections.  Any state would be subject to Section 5 if it currently has a discriminatory test in place or voter turnout of less than 50% in any of the three most recent presidential elections. Contact: 5-4101

Rep. Gohmert (TX) may offer an amendment (#4) on Thursday, July 13, 2006; it is debatable for 40 minutes. The amendment makes the reauthorization period 10 years, rather than the 25 years proposed in H.R. 9. Contact: 5-3035

Reps. King (IA)/Istook (OK)/Miller (MI)/Brown-Waite (FL)/Bachus (AL) may offer an amendment (#7) may offer an amendment on Thursday, July 13, 2006; it is debatable for 40 minutes. The amendment strikes sections 7 and 8 of the bill. These sections relate to multilingual ballots and use of American Community Survey census data, and they would automatically expire in 2007. Contact: 5-4426 (King)

Rep. Westmoreland (GA) may offer an amendment (#4) on Thursday, July 13, 2006; it is debatable for 40 minutes. The amendment provides for an expedited, proactive procedure to bail out from coverage under the preclearance portions of the Voting Rights Act, by requiring the Department of Justice to assemble a list of all jurisdictions eligible for bailout and to notify the jurisdictions. The Department of Justice is then required to consent to the entry of a declaratory judgment allowing bailout if a jurisdiction appears on the list. Adds a three-year initial time period (and annually thereafter) for assembly of the bailout list by the Department of Justice. Contact: 5-5901

CBO Cost Estimate

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 9 would cost $1 million in fiscal year 2007 and $15 million over the 2007-2011 period, subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

Legislative History

H.R. 9 was introduced by Rep. Sensenbrenner (WI) on April 2, 2006. The bill was ordered to be reported from the Judiciary Committee, by a recorded vote of 33-1, on April 10, 2006. House Report 109-478 was filed on April 22, 2006.

For additional information or questions, please contact the Judiciary Committee at 5-3951.