II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 139

To grant the power to the President to reduce budget authority.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. ROBB (for himself and Mr. HOLLINGS) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred jointly pursuant to the order of August

4, 1977, to the Committees on the Budget and Governmental Affairs,

with instructions that if one committee reports, the other committee have

thirty days to report or be discharged

A BILL

To grant the power to the President to reduce budget

authority.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Separate Enrollment

5 and Line Item Veto Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. STRUCTURE OF LEGISLATION.

7 (a) APPROPRIATIONS LEGISLATION.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee on Appro9 priations of either the House or the Senate shall not
2

•S 139 RIS

1 report an appropriation measure that fails to contain

2 such level of detail on the allocation of an item of

3 appropriation proposed by that House as is set forth

4 in the committee report accompanying such bill.

5 (2) POINT OF ORDER.—If an appropriation

6 measure is reported to the House or Senate that

7 fails to contain the level of detail on the allocation

8 of an item of appropriation as required in paragraph

9 (1), it shall not be in order in that House to con10 sider such measure. If a point of order under this

11 paragraph is sustained, the measure shall be recom12 mitted to the Committee on Appropriations of that

13 House.

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION LEGISLATION.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A committee of either the

16 House or the Senate shall not report an authoriza17 tion measure that contains new direct spending or

18 new tax benefits unless such measure presents each

19 new direct spending or new tax benefit as a separate

20 item and the accompanying committee report for

21 that measure shall contain such level of detail as is

22 necessary to clearly identify the allocation of new di23 rect spending or new tax benefits.

24 (2) POINT OF ORDER.—If an authorization

25 measure is reported to the House or Senate that
3

•S 139 RIS

1 fails to comply with paragraph (1), it shall not be

2 in order in that House to consider such measure. If

3 a point of order under this paragraph is sustained,

4 the measure shall be recommitted to the committee

5 of jurisdiction of that House.

6 (c) CONFERENCE REPORTS.—

7 (1) APPROPRIATIONS.—A committee of con8 ference to which is committed an appropriations

9 measure shall not file a conference report in either

10 House that fails to contain the level of detail on the

11 allocation of an item of appropriation as is set forth

12 in the statement of managers accompanying that re13 port.

14 (2) AUTHORIZATIONS.—A committee of con15 ference to which is committed an authorization

16 measure shall not file a conference report in either

17 House unless such measure presents each direct

18 spending or tax benefit as a separate item and the

19 statement of managers accompanying that report

20 clearly identifies each such item.

21 (3) POINT OF ORDER.—If a conference report

22 is presented to the House or Senate that fails to

23 comply with either paragraph (1) or (2), it shall not

24 be in order in that House to consider such con25 ference report. If a point of order under this para-
4

•S 139 RIS

1 graph is sustained in the House to first consider the

2 conference report, the measure shall be deemed re3 committed to the committee of conference.

4 SEC. 3. WAIVERS AND APPEALS.

5 Any provision of section 2 may be waived or sus6 pended in the House or Senate only by an affirmative vote

7 of three-fifths of the Members of that House duly chosen

8 and sworn. An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Mem9 bers duly chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain

10 an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order

11 raised under that section.

12 SEC. 4. SEPARATE ENROLLMENT.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—

14 (1) ENROLLMENT.—Notwithstanding any other

15 provision of law, when any appropriation or author16 ization measure first passes both Houses of Con17 gress in the same form, the Secretary of the Senate

18 (in the case of a measure originating in the Senate)

19 or the Clerk of the House of Representatives (in the

20 case of a measure originating in the House of Rep21 resentatives) shall disaggregate the items as ref22 erenced in section 5(4) and assign each item a new

23 bill number. After disaggregation each item shall be

24 treated as a separate bill to be considered under the

25 following subsections. The remainder of the bill not
5

•S 139 RIS

1 so disaggregated shall constitute a separate bill and

2 shall be considered with the other disaggregated bills

3 pursuant to subsection (b).

4 (2) FORM.—A bill that is required to be

5 disaggregated into separate bills pursuant to para6 graph (1)—

7 (A) shall be disaggregated without sub8 stantive revision; and

9 (B) shall bear the designation of the meas10 ure of which it was an item prior to such

11 disaggregation, together with such other des12 ignation as may be necessary to distinguish

13 such measure from other measures

14 disaggregated pursuant to paragraph (1) with

15 respect to the same measure.

16 (b) PROCEDURE.—The new bills resulting from the

17 disaggregation described in subsection (a)(1) shall be im18 mediately placed on the appropriate calendar in the House

19 of origination, and upon passage, placed on the appro20 priate calendar in the other House. They shall be the next

21 order of business in each House and they shall be consid22 ered and voted on en bloc and shall not be subject to

23 amendment. A motion to proceed to the bills shall be non24 debatable. Debate in the House of Representatives or the

25 Senate on the bill shall be limited to not more than 1 hour,
6

•S 139 RIS

1 which shall be divided equally between the majority leader

2 and the minority leader. A motion further to limit debate

3 is not debatable. A motion to recommit the bills is not

4 in order, and it is not in order to move to reconsider the

5 vote by which the bills are agreed to or disagreed to.

6 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) APPROPRIATION MEASURE.—The term ‘‘ap9 propriation measure’’ means any general or special

10 appropriation bill or any bill or joint resolution mak11 ing supplemental, deficiency, or continuing appro12 priations.

13 (2) AUTHORIZATION MEASURE.—The term ‘‘au14 thorization measure’’ means any measure other than

15 an appropriations measure that contains a provision

16 providing direct spending or tax benefits.

17 (3) DIRECT SPENDING.—The term ‘‘direct

18 spending’’ shall have the same meaning given to

19 such term in section 250(c)(8) of the Balanced

20 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

21 (4) ITEM.—The term ‘‘item’’ means—

22 (A) with respect to an appropriations

23 measure—

24 (i) any numbered section,

25 (ii) any unnumbered paragraph, or
7

•S 139 RIS

1 (iii) any allocation or suballocation of

2 an appropriation, made in compliance with

3 section 2(a), contained in a numbered sec4 tion or an unnumbered paragraph but

5 shall not include a provision which does

6 not appropriate funds, direct the President

7 to expend funds for any specific project, or

8 create an express or implied obligation to

9 expend funds and—

10 (I) rescinds or cancels existing

11 budget authority;

12 (II) only limits, conditions, or

13 otherwise restricts the President’s au14 thority to spend otherwise appro15 priated funds; or

16 (III) conditions on an item of ap17 propriation not involving a positive al18 location of funds by explicitly prohib19 iting the use of any funds; and

20 (B) with respect to an authorization

21 measure—

22 (i) any numbered section, or

23 (ii) any unnumbered paragraph,
8

•S 139 RIS

1 that contains new direct spending or a new tax

2 benefit presented and identified in conformance

3 with section 2(b).

4 (5) The term ‘‘tax benefit’’ means any provision

5 estimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation as

6 losing revenue for any one of the three following

7 periods—

8 (A) the first fiscal year covered by the

9 most recently adopted concurrent resolution on

10 the budget;

11 (B) the period of the 5 fiscal years covered

12 by the most recently adopted concurrent resolu13 tion on the budget; or

14 (C) the period of the 5 fiscal years follow15 ing the first 5 years covered by the most re16 cently adopted concurrent resolution on the

17 budget.

18 SEC. 6. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

19 (a) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—

20 (1) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—Any Member of

21 Congress may bring an action, in the United States

22 District Court for the District of Columbia, for de23 claratory judgment and injunctive relief on the

24 ground that a provision of this Act violates the Con25 stitution.
9

•S 139 RIS

1 (2) INTERVENTION BY HOUSES.—A copy of any

2 complaint in an action brought under paragraph (1)

3 shall be promptly delivered to the Secretary of the

4 Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representa5 tives, and each House of Congress shall have the

6 right to intervene in such action.

7 (3) PANEL.—Any action brought under para8 graph (1) shall be heard and determined by a three9 judge court in accordance with section 2284 of title

10 28, United States Code.

11 (4) AUTHORITY OF HOUSES.—Nothing in this

12 section or in any other law shall infringe upon the

13 right of the House of Representatives or the Senate

14 to intervene in an action brought under paragraph

15 (1) without the necessity of adopting a resolution to

16 authorize such intervention.

17 (b) APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—Notwithstanding

18 any other provisions of law, any order of the United States

19 District Court for the District of Columbia which is issued

20 pursuant to an action brought under paragraph (1) of sub21 section (a) shall be reviewable by appeal directly to the

22 Supreme Court of the United States. Any such appeal

23 shall be taken by a notice of appeal filed within 10 days

24 after such order is entered; and the jurisdictional state25 ment shall be filed within 30 days after such order is en-
10

•S 139 RIS

1 tered. No stay of an order issued pursuant to an action

2 brought under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be

3 issued by a single Justice of the Supreme Court.

4 (c) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—It shall be the

5 duty of the District Court for the District of Columbia

6 and the Supreme Court of the United States to advance

7 on the docket and to expedite to the greatest possible ex8 tent the disposition of any matter brought under sub9 section (a).

10 (d) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or

11 the application of such provision to any person or cir12 cumstance is held unconstitutional, the remainder of this

13 Act and the application of the provisions of such Act to

14 any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.

15 SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF EMERGENCY SPENDING.

16 (a) EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

17 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency

18 Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by adding at the

19 end the following new sentence: ‘‘However, OMB shall not

20 adjust any discretionary spending limit under this clause

21 for any statute that designates appropriations as emer22 gency requirements if that statute contains an appropria23 tion for any other matter, event, or occurrence, but that

24 statute may contain rescissions of budget authority.’’.
11

•S 139 RIS

1 (b) EMERGENCY LEGISLATION.—Section 252(e) of

2 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act

3 of 1985 is amended by adding at the end the following

4 new sentence: ‘‘However, OMB shall not designate any

5 such amounts of new budget authority, outlays, or receipts

6 as emergency requirements in the report required under

7 subsection (d) if that statute contains any other provisions

8 that are not so designated, but that statute may contain

9 provisions that reduce direct spending.’’.

10 (c) NEW POINT OF ORDER.—Part A of title IV of

11 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by add12 ing at the end the following new section:

13 ‘‘POINT OF ORDER REGARDING EMERGENCIES

14 ‘‘SEC. 407. It shall not be in order in the House of

15 Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill or joint

16 resolution, or amendment thereto or conference report

17 thereon, containing an emergency designation for purposes

18 of section 251(b)(2)(D) or 252(e) of the Balanced Budget

19 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 if it also pro20 vides an appropriation or direct spending for any other

21 item or contains any other matter, but that bill or joint

22 resolution, amendment, or conference report may contain

23 rescissions of budget authority or reductions of direct

24 spending, or that amendment may reduce for that emer25 gency.’’.
12

•S 139 RIS

1 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget

3 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in4 serting after the item relating to section 406 the following

5 new item:

‘‘Sec. 407. Point of order regarding emergencies.’’.

6 SEC. 8. SAVINGS FROM RESCISSION BILLS USED FOR DEFI7 CIT REDUCTION.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days of continu9 ous session after the President vetoes an appropriations

10 measure or an authorization measure, the President

11 shall—

12 (1) with respect to appropriations measures, re13 duce the discretionary spending limits under section

14 601 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 for the

15 budget year and each outyear by the amount by

16 which the measure would have increased the deficit

17 in each respective year; and

18 (2) with respect to a repeal of direct spending,

19 or a tax benefit, reduce the balances for the budget

20 year and each outyear under section 252(b) of the

21 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control

22 Act of 1985 by the amount by which the measure

23 would have increased the deficit in each respective

24 year.

25 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—
13

•S 139 RIS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall not apply

2 if the vetoed appropriations measure or authoriza3 tion measure becomes law, over the objections of the

4 President, before the President orders the reduction

5 required by subsections (a)(1) or (a)(2).

6 (2) RESTORATION OF LIMITS.—If the vetoed

7 appropriations measure or authorization measure be8 comes law, over the objections of the President, after

9 the President has ordered the reductions required by

10 subsections (a)(1) or (a)(2), then the President shall

11 restore the discretionary spending limits under sec12 tion 601 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

13 or the balances under section 252(b) of the Bal14 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of

15 1985 to reflect the positions existing before the re16 duction ordered by the President in compliance with

17 subsection (a).

18 SEC. 9. EVALUATION AND SUNSET OF TAX EXPENDITURES.

19 (a) LEGISLATION FOR SUNSETTING TAX EXPENDI20 TURES.—The President shall submit legislation for the

21 periodic review, reauthorization, and sunset of tax expend22 itures with his fiscal year 2000 budget.

23 (b) BUDGET CONTENTS AND SUBMISSION TO CON24 GRESS.—Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code,

25 is amended by adding after paragraph (30) the following:
14

•S 139 RIS

1 ‘‘(31) beginning with fiscal year 2002, a Fed2 eral Government performance plan for measuring

3 the overall effectiveness of tax expenditures, includ4 ing a schedule for periodically assessing the effects

5 of specific tax expenditures in achieving performance

6 goals.’’.

7 (c) PILOT PROJECTS.—Section 1118(c) of title 31,

8 United States Code, is amended by—

9 (1) striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in para10 graph (2);

11 (2) redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph

12 (4); and

13 (3) adding after paragraph (2) the following:

14 ‘‘(3) describe the framework to be utilized by

15 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg16 et, after consultation with the Secretary of the

17 Treasury, the Comptroller General of the United

18 States, and the Joint Committee on Taxation, for

19 undertaking periodic analyses of the effects of tax

20 expenditures in achieving performance goals and the

21 relationship between tax expenditures and spending

22 programs; and’’.

23 (d) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT.—Part A of title

24 IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended

25 by adding at the end thereof the following:
15

•S 139 RIS

1 ‘‘TAX EXPENDITURES

2 ‘‘SEC. 408. It shall not be in order in the House of

3 Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint

4 resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that

5 contains a tax expenditure unless the bill, joint resolution,

6 amendment, motion, or conference report provides that

7 the tax expenditure will terminate not later than 10 years

8 after the date of enactment of the tax expenditure.’’.

9 SEC. 10. SEVERABILITY.

10 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such

11 provision to any person or circumstance is held unconsti12 tutional, the remainder of this Act and the application of

13 the provisions of such Act to any person or circumstance

14 shall not be affected thereby.

15 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

16 The provisions of this Act and the amendments made

17 by this Act shall apply to measures passed by the Congress

18 beginning with the date of the enactment of this Act and

19 ending on September 30, 2004.

Æ