S. 1107 — Introduced in Senate

II 115th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1107 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 11, 2017Mr. Coons (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Carper, Ms. Cortez Masto, and Mr. Hatch) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 28, United States Code, to authorize the appointment of additional bankruptcy judges, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017. 2. Conversion of the temporary office of bankruptcy judge to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge in certain judicial districts (a) District of Delaware (1) The temporary office of 4 bankruptcy judges authorized for the district of Delaware by section 1223(b)(1)(C) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(C) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, represented in the amendment made by section 3(1) of this Act, and may be filled. (2) The temporary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the district of Delaware by section 3(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 102–361), and extended by section 1223(c)(1) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8) and section 2(b)(1) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, represented in the amendment made by section 3(1) of this Act, and may be filled. (b) Southern District of Florida The temporary office of 2 bankruptcy judges authorized for the southern district of Florida by section 1223(b)(1)(D) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(D) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, represented in the amendment made by section 3(3) of this Act, and may be filled. (c) District of Maryland The temporary office of 1 bankruptcy judge first appointed as authorized for the district of Maryland by section 1223(b)(1)(F) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(F) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, represented in the amendment made by section 3(4) of this Act, and may be filled. (d) Eastern District of Michigan The temporary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the eastern district of Michigan by section 1223(b)(1)(G) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(G) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, represented in the amendment made by section 3(5) of this Act, and may be filled. (e) District of Nevada The temporary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the district of Nevada by section 1223(b)(1)(T) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(Q) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, represented in the amendment made by section 3(6) of this Act, and may be filled. (f) Eastern District of North Carolina The temporary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the eastern district of North Carolina by section 1223(b)(1)(M) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(J) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, represented in the amendment made by section 3(7) of this Act, and may be filled. (g) District of Puerto Rico (1) The temporary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the district of Puerto Rico by section 1223(b)(1)(P) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(M) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, represented in the amendment made by section 3(8) of this Act, and may be filled. (2) The temporary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the district of Puerto Rico by section 3(a)(7) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 102–361), and extended by section 1223(c)(1) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8) and section 2(b)(1) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, is represented in the amendment made by section 3(8) of this Act, and may be filled. (h) Eastern District of Virginia The temporary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the eastern district of Virginia by section 1223(b)(1)(R) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 109–8), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(P) of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note; Public Law 112–121), is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge, is represented in the amendment made by section 3(9) of this Act, and may be filled. 3. Permanent office of bankruptcy judge authorized To reflect the conversion of the temporary office of bankruptcy judge to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge made by the operation of section 2, and to authorize the appointment of additional bankruptcy judges, section 152(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is amended— (1) in the item relating to the district of Delaware, by striking 1 and inserting 8; (2) in the item relating to the middle district of Florida, by striking 8 and inserting 9; (3) in the item relating to the southern district of Florida, by striking 5 and inserting 7; (4) in the item relating to the district of Maryland, by striking 4 and inserting 5; (5) in the item relating to the eastern district of Michigan, by striking 4 and inserting 6; (6) in the item relating to the district of Nevada, by striking 3 and inserting 4; (7) in the item relating to the eastern district of North Carolina, by striking 2 and inserting 3; (8) in the item relating to the district of Puerto Rico, by striking 2 and inserting 4; and (9) in the item relating to the eastern district of Virginia, by striking 5 and inserting 6. 4. Bankruptcy fees (a) Amendments to title 28 of the United States Code Section 1930(a)(6) of title 28, United States Code, is amended— (1) by striking (6) In and inserting ‘‘(6)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in’’; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (B) In any fiscal year, the quarterly fee payable for a quarter in which disbursements equal or exceed $1,000,000 shall be 1 percent of such disbursements or $250,000, whichever is less, unless the balance in the United States Trustee System Fund as of September 30 immediately preceding such fiscal year exceeds $200,000,000. . (b) Deposits of certain fees for fiscal years 2018 through 2022 Notwithstanding section 589a(b) of title 28, United States Code, for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022— (1) 97.5 percent of the fees collected under section 1930(a)(6) of such title shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the appropriation United States Trustee System Fund, to remain available until expended; and (2) 2.5 percent of the fees collected under section 1930(a)(6) of such title shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury. (c) Effective date; application of amendments (1) Effective date This section shall take effect on July 1, 2017, or on the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later. (2) Application of amendments The amendments made by this section shall apply to quarterly fees payable under section 1930(a)(6) of title 28, United States Code, as amended by this section, for disbursements made in any calendar quarter that begins on or after the effective date of this section.