H.R. 209 — Inaction Has Consequences Act

This section establishes a requirement, beginning with FY2026, for the payroll administrator of a House of Congress to deposit into escrow all salary payments for Members of that House if it has not passed each regular appropriation bill for the fiscal year by October 1. The escrow period begins on the first day of the fiscal year and ends on the earlier of (1) the first day that House passes all such bills or (2) the last day of the Congress in which the fiscal year begins, at which point payments are released. Regular appropriation bills are annual bills under the jurisdiction of a single Appropriations subcommittee in the House and a single Appropriations subcommittee in the Senate.

This section requires payroll administrators of the Houses of Congress to apply the same withholding and remittance procedures (i.e., taxes and similar deductions) to payments deposited in escrow accounts under section 2 as would apply if the payments were not held in escrow. The section also directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide necessary assistance to those payroll administrators in implementing the Act.

This section requires the payroll administrator of a House of Congress to release for payment to Members of that House any amounts remaining in an escrow account under section 2 on the last day of the Congress during which the amounts were deposited.

This section defines, for purposes of the Act, (1) the term "Member" to include a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Congress; and (2) the term "payroll administrator" of a House of Congress to mean, in the House of Representatives, the Chief Administrative Officer (or a designated employee of that office) and, in the Senate, the Secretary of the Senate (or a designated employee of that office).