Chairman’s Mark / Staff Draft / Committee Print (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms

Chairman’s Mark / Staff Draft / Committee Print

Subcommittee Reported Version / Committee Print: Many measures considered by a full committee have already received subcommittee action. If a subcommittee reports its version of a text to the full committee, the product is often printed and referred to as a committee print. The committee print can then be used as the markup vehicle.

An alternative is for a committee or subcommittee chair to offer the subcommittee-reported version as an amendment in the nature of a substitute for the measure initially used as the markup vehicle. A third approach is for the subcommittee chair to introduce a new measure reflecting the subcommittee’s changes to the earlier measure. This new measure could then be referred to the committee and used as the markup vehicle.

Recommendation by committee (or subcommittee) chair of the measure to be considered in a markup, usually drafted as a bill. This option allows the committee to use as a vehicle a text that incorporates both changes made in subcommittee markup and additional changes negotiated afterward, yet before full committee markup. The product of these negotiations is incorporated into a committee print, often referred to as a staff draft or chairman’s mark.

Many measures considered by a full committee have already received subcommittee action. If a subcommittee reports its version of a text to the full committee, the product is often printed and referred to as a committee print. The committee print can then be used as the markup vehicle.

The rules of each standing committee may be published as a committee print, and drafts of bills or committee reports may be produced as committee prints.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the revenue effects of legislation changing tax expenditures, and also publishes five-year projections of these provisions as an annual committee print.

At the end of each presidential election year, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform alternate in publishing a book-length committee print of politically appointed positions entitled Policy and Supporting Positions, more popularly known as the “Plum Book,” named for its serendipitous cover color the first time it was published.

Sample Chairman’s Mark: “Chairman’s Mark, Establishing the budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2013 and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2014 through 2022,” by Rep. Paul Ryan, Chairman, House Committee on the Budget, March 2012. (70-page PDF)

Also see

• Marking Up A Bill (CongressionalGlossary.com)
• Markup (CongressionalGlossary.com)
• Plum Book (CongressionalGlossary.com)
• Ramseyer Rule (CongressionalGlossary.com)
• § 6.50 Committee Markup, in Congressional Deskbook
• Chapter 3.E. Markups in Congressional Procedure

More

• Congressional Committee Prints – FDsys
• Congressional Committee Prints, Govinfo.gov
• House Rule XIII – Calendars and Committee Reports
• “Senate Committee Reports: Required Contents,” CRS Report 98-305 (3-page PDF)
• “How Bills Amend Statutes,” CRS Report RS20617 (4-page PDF)
• “House Committee Chairs: Considerations, Decisions, and Actions as One Congress Ends and a New Congress Begins,” CRS Report RL34679 (34-page PDF)
• “House Committee Organization and Process: A Brief Overview,” CRS Report RS20465 (7-page PDF)
• “Fiscal Year 2018 Military Construction Authorizations and Appropriations,” CRS Report R45217 (84-page PDF)
• “House Committee Markups: Manual of Procedures and Procedural Strategies,” CRS Report R41083 (220-page PDF)

Courses

• Congressional Operations Briefing – Capitol Hill Workshop
• Drafting Federal Legislation and Amendments
• Writing for Government and Business: Critical Thinking and Writing
• Custom Training
• Drafting Effective Federal Legislation and Amendments in a Nutshell, Audio Course on CD
• Congress, the Legislative Process, and the Fundamentals of Lawmaking Series, a Nine-Course series on CD

Publications

Legislative Drafter’s Deskbook: A Practical Guide

Pocket Constitution

Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials: A Guide for Citizen Lobbyists and Grassroots Advocates

Congressional Procedure

CongressionalGlossary.com, from TheCapitol.Net