Budget Control Act of 1994

Summary: Budget Control Act of 1994 - Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit a report to the Congress setting forth projected direct spending targets for FY 1994 through 1997.  Makes the initial targets equal to the total outlays for all direct spending (except net interest and deposit insurance) as determined above by OMB, subject to annual adjustment for increases in numbers of direct spending program beneficiaries, and for revenue and emergency legislation. Requires an annual review of direct spending and receipts by the President as part of the budget process.  Specifies the information to be included in the President's budget, such as information on target adjustments, and, in appropriate cases such as where direct spending outlays for the current year are projected to exceed applicable targets, a special direct spending message that includes a draft resolution recommending reduced outlays or increased revenues by specified amounts. Sets forth procedures governing congressional consideration of such recommendations (which may not consist of any proposed changes under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Program), including:  (1) requirements for a separate vote in the House of Representatives to increase direct spending targets; and (2) special rules regarding the applicability of budget process and enforcement provisions of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) whenever budget resolutions or reconciliation legislation proposing target changes, outlay reductions, or revenue increases are reported. States that:  (1) the procedures set forth in this Act shall not apply when the coverage for any fiscal year is less than one-half of one percent of the direct spending target for that year; and (2) the President and the Congress should seriously consider all other alternatives before recommending reductions in means-tested programs. Declares it shall not be in order in the House to consider any general appropriation bill if the President has submitted a special direct spending message until the Congress has adopted a concurrent budget resolution meeting the requirements of this Act.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Budget Control Act 
of 1994''.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to create a mechanism to 
monitor total costs of direct spending programs, and, in the event that 
actual or projected costs exceed targeted levels, to require the 
President and Congress to address adjustments in direct spending.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DIRECT SPENDING TARGETS.

    (a) In General.--The initial direct spending targets for each of 
fiscal years 1994 through 1997 shall equal total outlays for all direct 
spending except net interest and deposit insurance as determined by the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (hereinafter referred 
to in this Act as the ``Director'') under subsection (b).
    (b) Initial Report by Director.--
            (1) Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Director shall submit a report to Congress 
        setting forth projected direct spending targets for each of 
        fiscal years 1994 through 1997.
            (2) The Director's projections shall be based on 
        legislation enacted as of 5 days before the report is submitted 
        under paragraph (1). To the extent feasible, the Director shall 
        use the same economic and technical assumptions used in 
        preparing the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal 
        year 1994 (H. Con. Res. 64, One Hundred Third Congress).
    (c) Adjustments.--Direct spending targets shall be subsequently 
adjusted by the Director under section 6.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REVIEW OF DIRECT SPENDING AND RECEIPTS BY PRESIDENT.

    As part of each budget submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, 
United States Code, the President shall provide an annual review of 
direct spending and receipts, which shall include (1) information 
supporting the adjustment of direct spending targets pursuant to 
section 6, (2) information on total outlays for programs covered by the 
direct spending targets, including actual outlays for the prior fiscal 
year and projected outlays for the current fiscal year and the 5 
succeeding fiscal years, and (3) information on the major categories of 
Federal receipts, including a comparison between the levels of those 
receipts and the levels projected as of the date of enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 4. SPECIAL DIRECT SPENDING MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT.

    (a) Trigger.--In the event that the information submitted by the 
President under section 3 indicates--
            (1) that actual outlays for direct spending in the prior 
        fiscal year exceeded the applicable direct spending target, or
            (2) that outlays for direct spending for the current or 
        budget year are projected to exceed the applicable direct 
        spending targets,
the President shall include in his budget a special direct spending 
message meeting the requirements of subsection (b).
    (b) Contents.--(1) The special direct spending message shall 
include:
            (A) An explanation of any adjustments to the direct 
        spending targets pursuant to section 6.
            (B) An analysis of the variance in direct spending over the 
        adjusted direct spending targets.
            (C) The President's recommendations for addressing the 
        direct spending overages, if any, in the prior, current, or 
        budget year.
    (2) The President's recommendations may consist of any of the 
following:
            (A) Proposed legislative changes to reduce outlays, 
        increase revenues, or both, in order to recoup or eliminate the 
        overage for the prior, current, and budget years in the current 
        year, the budget year, and the 4 outyears.
            (B) Proposed legislative changes to reduce outlays, 
        increase revenues, or both, in order to recoup or eliminate 
        part of the overage for the prior, current, and budget year in 
        the current year, the budget year, and the 4 outyears, 
        accompanied by a finding by the President that, because of 
        economic conditions or for other specified reasons, only some 
        of the overage should be recouped or eliminated by outlay 
        reductions or revenue increases, or both.
            (C) A proposal to make no legislative changes to recoup or 
        eliminate any overage, accompanied by a finding by the 
        President that, because of economic conditions or for other 
        specified reasons, no legislative changes are warranted.
    (3) Except as provided by paragraph (4), any proposed legislative 
change under paragraph (2) to reduce outlays may include reductions in 
direct spending or in the discretionary spending limits under section 
601 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    (4) The President's recommendations may not consist of any proposed 
legislative changes under the old-age, survivors, and disability 
insurance program established under title II of the Social Security 
Act.
    (c) Proposed Special Direct Spending Resolution.--
            (1) President's recommendations to be submitted as draft 
        resolution.--If the President recommends reductions consistent 
        with subsection (b)(2)(A) or (B), the special direct spending 
        message shall include the text of a special direct spending 
        resolution implementing the President's recommendations through 
        reconciliation directives instructing the appropriate 
        committees of the House of Representatives and Senate to 
        determine and recommend changes in laws within their 
        jurisdictions to reduce outlays or increase revenues by 
        specified amounts. If the President recommends no reductions 
        pursuant to (b)(2)(C), the special direct spending message 
        shall include the text of a special resolution concurring in 
        the President's recommendation of no legislative action.
            (2) Resolution to be introduced in house.--Within 10 days 
        after the President's special direct spending message is 
        submitted, the text required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        introduced as a concurrent resolution in the House of 
        Representatives by the chairman of the Committee on the Budget 
        of the House of Representatives without substantive revision. 
        If the chairman fails to do so, after the tenth day the 
        resolution may be introduced by any Member of the House of 
        Representatives. A concurrent resolution introduced under this 
        paragraph shall be referred to the Committee on the Budget.

SEC. 5. REQUIRED RESPONSE BY CONGRESS.

    (a) Requirement for Special Direct Spending Resolution.--Whenever 
the President submits a special direct spending message under section 
4, the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives shall 
report, not later than April 15, the concurrent resolution on the 
budget and include in it a separate title that meets the requirements 
of subsections (b) and (c).
    (b) Contents of Separate Title.--The separate title of the 
concurrent resolution on the budget shall contain reconciliation 
directives to the appropriate committees of the House of 
Representatives and Senate to determine and recommend changes in laws 
within their jurisdictions to reduce outlays or increase revenues by 
specified amounts (which in total equal or exceed the reductions 
recommended by the President, up to the amount of the overage). If this 
separate title recommends that no legislative changes be made to recoup 
or eliminate an overage, then a statement to that effect shall be set 
forth in that title.
    (c) Requirement for Separate Vote to Increase Targets.--If the 
separate title of a concurrent resolution on the budget proposes to 
recoup or eliminate less than the entire overage for the prior, 
current, and budget years, then the Committee on the Budget of the 
House of Representatives shall report a resolution directing the 
Committee on Government Operations to report legislation increasing the 
direct spending targets for each applicable year by the full amount of 
the overage not recouped or eliminated. It shall not be in order in the 
House of Representatives to consider that concurrent resolution on the 
budget until the House of Representatives has agreed to the resolution 
directing the increase in direct spending targets.
    (d) Conference Reports Must Fully Address Overage.--It shall not be 
in order in the House of Representatives to consider a conference 
report on a concurrent resolution on the budget unless that conference 
report fully addresses the entirety of any overage contained in the 
applicable report of the President under section 4 through 
reconciliation directives requiring spending reductions, revenue 
increases, or changes in the direct spending targets.
    (e) Procedure if House Budget Committee Fails to Report Required 
Resolution.--
            (1) Automatic discharge of house budget committee.--If a 
        special direct spending resolution is required and the 
        Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives fails 
        to report a resolution meeting the requirements of subsections 
        (b) and (c) by April 15, then the committee shall be 
        automatically discharged from further consideration of the 
        concurrent resolution reflecting the President's 
        recommendations introduced pursuant to section 4(c)(2) and the 
        concurrent resolution shall be placed on the appropriate 
        calendar.
            (2) Consideration by house.--Ten days after the Committee 
        on the Budget of the House of Representatives has been 
        discharged under paragraph (1), any Member may move that the 
        House proceed to consider the resolution. Such motion shall be 
        highly privileged and not debatable.
    (f) Application of Congressional Budget Act.--To the extent that 
they are relevant and not inconsistent with this Act, the provisions of 
title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 shall apply in the 
House of Representatives and the Senate to special direct spending 
resolutions, resolutions increasing targets under subsection (c), and 
reconciliation legislation reported pursuant to directives contained in 
those resolutions.
    (g) Limitation on Changes to the Social Security Act.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it shall not be in order in 
the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any 
reconciliation bill reported pursuant to a concurrent resolution on the 
budget agreed to under section 301 or 304 or reconciliation legislation 
reported pursuant to directives contained in any special direct 
spending resolution, or any amendment thereto or conference report 
thereon, that contains recommendations to make any legislative changes 
under the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance program 
established under title II of the Social Security Act.

SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENTS TO DIRECT SPENDING TARGETS.

    (a) Required Annual Adjustments.--Prior to the submission of the 
President's budget for each of fiscal years 1994 through 1997, the 
Director shall adjust the direct spending targets in accordance with 
this section. Any such adjustments shall be reflected in the targets 
used in the President's report under section 3 and message (if any) 
under section 4.
    (b) Adjustment for Increases in Beneficiaries.--(1) The Director 
shall adjust the direct spending targets for increases (if any) in 
actual or projected numbers of beneficiaries under direct spending 
programs for which the number of beneficiaries is a variable in 
determining costs.
    (2) The adjustment shall be made by --
            (A) computing, for each program under paragraph (1), the 
        percentage change between (i) the annual average number of 
        beneficiaries under that program (including actual numbers of 
        beneficiaries for the prior fiscal year and projections for the 
        budget and subsequent fiscal years) to be used in the 
        President's budget with which the adjustments will be 
        submitted, and (ii) the annual average number of beneficiaries 
        used in the adjustments made by the Director in the previous 
        year (or, in the case of adjustments made in 1994, the annual 
        average number of beneficiaries used in the Director's initial 
        report under section 2(b));
            (B) applying the percentages computed under subparagraph 
        (A) to the projected levels of outlays for each program 
        consistent with the direct spending targets in effect 
        immediately prior to the adjustment; and
            (C) adding the results of the calculations required by 
        subparagraph (B) to the direct spending targets in effect 
        immediately prior to the adjustment.
    (3) No adjustment shall be made for any program for a fiscal year 
in which the percentage increase computed under paragraph (2)(A) is 
less than or equal to zero.
    (c) Adjustments for Revenue Legislation.--(1) The Director shall 
adjust the targets as follows--
            (A) they shall be increased by the amount of any increase 
        in receipts; or
            (B) they shall be decreased by the amount of any decrease 
        in receipts,
resulting from receipts legislation enacted after the date of enactment 
of this Act, except legislation enacted under section 5.
    (d) Adjustments to Reflect Congressional Decisions.--Upon enactment 
of a reconciliation bill pursuant to instructions under section 5, the 
Director shall adjust direct spending targets for the current year, the 
budget year, and each outyear through 1997 by--
            (1) increasing the target for the current year and the 
        budget year by the amount stated for that year in that 
        reconciliation bill (but if a separate vote was required by 
        section 5(c), only if that vote has occurred); and
            (2) decreasing the target for the current, budget, and 
        outyears through 1997 by the amount of reductions in direct 
        spending enacted in that reconciliation bill.
    (e) Designated Emergencies.--The Director shall adjust the targets 
to reflect the costs of legislation that is designated as an emergency 
by Congress and the President under section 252(b) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

SEC. 7. RELATIONSHIP TO BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL 
              ACT.

    Reductions in outlays or increases in receipts resulting from 
legislation reported pursuant to section 5 shall not be taken into 
account for purposes of any budget enforcement procedures under the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

SEC. 8. ESTIMATING MARGIN.

    For any fiscal year for which the overage is less than one-half of 
1 percent of the direct spending target for that year, the procedures 
set forth in sections 4 and 5 shall not apply.

SEC. 9. CONSIDERATION OF APPROPRIATION BILLS.

    (a) Point of Order.--It shall not be in order in the House of 
Representatives to consider any general appropriation bill if the 
President has submitted a direct spending message under section 4 until 
Congress has adopted a concurrent resolution on the budget for the 
budget year that meets the requirements of section 5.
    (b) Waiver.--The point of order established by subsection (a) may 
only be waived for all general appropriation bills for that budget year 
through the adoption of one resolution waiving that point of order.

SEC. 10. MEANS-TESTED PROGRAMS.

    In making recommendations under sections 4 and 5, the President and 
the Congress should seriously consider all other alternatives before 
proposing reductions in means-tested programs.

SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall apply to direct spending targets for fiscal years 
1994 through 1997 and shall expire at the end of fiscal year 1997.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 21, 1994.

            Attest:






                                                                 Clerk.
                                     







103d CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 4604

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

     To establish direct spending targets, and for other purposes.