Prevent a Government Shutdown Act of 2015

Summary: Prevent a Government Shutdown Act of 2015  This bill requires the congressional leadership of both parties to appoint an equal number of individuals to negotiate legislation to: (1) increase the security and nonsecurity discretionary spending limits equally for both FY2016 and FY2017, and (2) reduce the deficit by the amount deemed appropriate.   If a majority of the appointees approve the measure, Congress must consider the legislation using expedited legislative procedures included in the Budget Control Act of 2011.  If the legislation is not enacted prior to October 1, 2015, the bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to increase the discretionary spending limits by specified amounts and eliminate the automatic spending cuts required in FY2016 and FY2017 by sequestration under current law. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Prevent a 
Government Shutdown Act of 2015''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Budget Control Act of 2011 set tight discretionary 
        spending caps and required additional deficit reduction to be 
        accomplished either through bipartisan, bicameral negotiations 
        or, as a fallback, through sequestration that would further cut 
        discretionary and mandatory spending levels. The threat of such 
        draconian and arbitrary cuts was intended to encourage 
        lawmakers to negotiate a thoughtfully designed substitute 
        package of revenue increases and targeted spending cuts.
            (2) The negotiations that followed were unsuccessful and 
        the initial sequester took place in fiscal year 2013.
            (3) While the threat of a sequester had not led to an 
        agreement, the reality of a sequester did. Lawmakers negotiated 
        a two-year agreement that set higher levels of both defense and 
        non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending for fiscal years 2014 
        and 2015.
            (4) A similar agreement is necessary now to avoid deep 
        budget cuts in the new fiscal year, beginning on October 1, 
        2015.
            (5) Senator John McCain and Representative Mac Thornberry, 
        the Chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, 
        have criticized the level of defense spending allowed under 
        sequestration: ``These cuts are seriously undermining the 
        capabilities, readiness, morale and modernization of the armed 
        forces. The senior military leaders of the Army, Navy, Air 
        Force and Marine Corps have all testified to our committees 
        that, with defense spending at sequestration levels, they 
        cannot execute the National Military Strategy.''
            (6) The impact of the cuts on NDD spending is becoming 
        increasingly clear. NDD United--an alliance of more than 2,500 
        organizations trying to protect NDD investments that benefit 
        all Americans--made the case that ``these self-imposed cuts are 
        dragging down our economic recovery, hampering business growth 
        and development, weakening public health preparedness and 
        response, reducing resources for our nation's schools and 
        colleges, compromising federal oversight and fraud recovery, 
        hindering scientific discovery, eroding our infrastructure, and 
        threatening our ability to address emergencies around the 
        world.'' The impact can also be seen in the bills reported by 
        the House Committee on Appropriations for fiscal year 2016. 
        Among other things, those bills would cut the Department of 
        Education by $2.8 billion below the current level, take away 
        housing vouchers from thousands of families, and provide $1.4 
        billion less than the President requested for the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs.
            (7) The sequester--in addition to endangering our defense, 
        reducing investments in our future, and risking harm to 
        vulnerable Americans--will weaken the Nation's ongoing economic 
        recovery. A recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office 
        found that eliminating the sequester would increase Gross 
        Domestic Product by 0.4 percent in 2016 and 0.2 percent in 
        2017. It would also increase employment by 500,000 next year 
        and 300,000 in 2017.
            (8) Providing relief from the sequester will also make it 
        possible for Congress to act on appropriations legislation 
        before the start of the fiscal year, averting a Government 
        shutdown if funding is not in place.
            (9) The last Government shutdown lasted for 16 days in 
        2013. The Office of Management and Budget later found that the 
        shutdown cost the economy about 120,000 private-sector jobs and 
        shrunk GDP growth in that quarter by 0.2 percent to 0.6 
        percent. The country lost 6.6 million days' worth of work 
        through furloughs of Federal employees; national parks lost 
        $500 million in visitor spending; $4 billion in tax refunds 
        were delayed; nearly 6,300 children lost access to Head Start; 
        and hundreds of food safety inspections were delayed.
            (10) Therefore, to prevent another Government shutdown and 
        allow appropriations bills for fiscal year 2016 to fund vital 
        services at necessary levels, immediate negotiations on a 
        budget agreement are needed. An essential component of those 
        negotiations should be to raise the discretionary spending caps 
        for defense and non-defense, eliminating the non-defense 
        sequester and reducing the defense sequester by the same 
        amount.
            (11) It is preferable that Congress agree to offset the 
        cost of the sequester relief with deficit reduction from 
        closing special interest tax loopholes. However, it is 
        imperative that the sequester relief occur regardless of 
        whether the agreement for offsetting deficit reduction is 
        reached.

SEC. 2. BIPARTISAN, BICAMERAL AGREEMENT ON SEQUESTER RELIEF.

    (a) In General.--A bipartisan measure shall be negotiated, by the 
individuals appointed under subsection (b), that--
            (1) increases the discretionary spending limit for fiscal 
        years 2016 and 2017 in section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget 
        and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(c)), 
        with the increases equally applied to the revised security 
        category and the revised nonsecurity category for each such 
        fiscal year; and
            (2) includes provisions that reduce the deficit by an 
        amount deemed appropriate.
    (b) Appointment of Members.--Not later than 1 day after the date of 
enactment of this Act--
            (1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall 
        determine the total number of individuals that shall negotiate 
        the measure described under subsection (a); and
            (2) the Speaker, the Minority Leader of the House of 
        Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, and the 
        Minority Leader of the Senate shall each appoint one quarter of 
        the total number of individuals determined under paragraph (1).
    (c) Approval and Consideration of Measure.--
            (1) Approval.--The measure described in subsection (a) 
        shall require the approval of a majority of the individuals 
        appointed under subsection (b)(2).
            (2) Consideration.--If approved under paragraph (1), the 
        measure shall be considered under the procedures set forth in 
        section 402 of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-
        25), other than subsection (g), and except that in applying 
        such section, ``September 25, 2015'' shall be substituted for 
        ``December 9, 2011'' and ``September 30, 2015'' shall be 
        substituted for ``December 23, 2011'' in each place it appears.

SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE ADJUSTMENT TO DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS FOR 
              FISCAL YEAR 2016 AND 2017.

    (a) Security and Nonsecurity Discretionary Spending Limit 
Adjustments.--If the measure described under section 2(a) is not 
enacted into law before October 1, 2015, effective upon October 1, 
2015, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 
U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended as follows:
            (1) In section 251(c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking the dollar 
                amount and inserting ``$559,600,000,000''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking the dollar 
                amount and inserting ``$573,393,000,000''.
            (2) In section 251A--
                    (A) in paragraph (10)(A), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``and for fiscal years 2016 and 
                2017 by the Prevent a Government Shutdown Act of 
                2015.''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (10)(B), by striking ``and 2015'' 
                and inserting ``2015, 2016, and 2017''.
    (b) Application.--Any adjustment made to the discretionary spending 
limits for fiscal year 2016 in section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget 
and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(c)) by the 
Office of Management and Budget before the date of enactment of this 
Act shall have no force or effect. The preceding sentence shall only 
apply if the measure described under section 2(a) is not enacted into 
law before October 1, 2015.