I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3771 

To establish a procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate 

to accomplish the policies contemplated by the Concurrent Resolution 

on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2016, to encourage the timely completion 

of fiscal policy work in Congress, and to provide for regulatory relief 

to grow the economy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2015 

Mr. FLORES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and 

Government Reform, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a procedure in the House of Representatives 

and the Senate to accomplish the policies contemplated 

by the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal 

Year 2016, to encourage the timely completion of fiscal 

policy work in Congress, and to provide for regulatory 

relief to grow the economy, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Terms of Credit Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—BUDGET 

Sec. 101. Procedure in the House of Representatives to reduce direct spending. 

Sec. 102. Consideration of alternative proposals. 

Sec. 103. Expedited procedures in the Senate. 

Sec. 104. Balanced budget constitutional amendment. 

TITLE II—WORK 

Sec. 201. Prohibiting consideration of legislation until passage of budget enforcement legislation. 

Sec. 202. Prohibiting adjournment of House until passage of budget enforcement legislation. 

Sec. 203. Prohibiting adjournment of House until passage of appropriation 

bills. 

Sec. 204. Appropriations procedures in the Senate. 

Sec. 205. Effective dates. 

TITLE III—GROW 

Subtitle A—Regulatory Freeze for Jobs 

Sec. 301. Short title. 

Sec. 302. Moratorium on significant regulatory actions. 

Sec. 303. Waivers and exceptions. 

Sec. 304. Judicial review. 

Sec. 305. Definitions. 

Subtitle B—Midnight Rule Relief 

Sec. 311. Short title. 

Sec. 312. Moratorium on midnight rules. 

Sec. 313. Exception. 

Sec. 314. Definitions. 

TITLE IV—DEBT LIMIT 

Sec. 401. Increase in the public debt limit. 


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1 TITLE I—BUDGET 

2 SEC. 101. PROCEDURE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA3 TIVES TO REDUCE DIRECT SPENDING. 

4 (a) SPENDING REDUCTION DIRECTIVES.—Not later 

5 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

6 chair of each committee of the House of Representatives 

7 listed in paragraphs (1) through (11) shall submit to the 

8 chair of the Committee on the Budget of the House of 

9 Representatives recommendations with respect to changes 

10 in laws within the committee’s jurisdiction to reduce direct 

11 spending, over the period of fiscal years 2016 through 

12 2025, equal to or greater than the dollar amount applica13 ble to such committee, as follows: 

14 (1) Committee on Agriculture, 

15 $300,022,000,000. 

16 (2) Committee on Education and the Work17 force, $229,658,000,000. 

18 (3) Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

19 $1,369,266,000,000. 

20 (4) Committee on Financial Services, 

21 $62,056,000,000. 

22 (5) Committee on Homeland Security, 

23 $19,470,000,000. 

24 (6) Committee on House Administration, 

25 $53,000,000. 


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1 (7) Committee on the Judiciary, 

2 $23,055,000,000. 

3 (8) Committee on Natural Resources, 

4 $32,483,000,000. 

5 (9) Committee on Oversight and Government 

6 Reform, $193,896,000,000. 

7 (10) Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

8 $2,569,000,000. 

9 (11) Committee on Ways and Means, 

10 $1,594,658,000,000. 

11 (b) LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each committee so directed 

13 under subsection (a) shall, not later than 90 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, submit the 

15 recommendations described in such subsection to the 

16 chair of the Committee on the Budget of the House 

17 of Representatives, which upon receiving all such 

18 recommendations, shall report to the House of Rep19 resentatives, not later than 30 days thereafter, the 

20 bill described in paragraph (2). 

21 (2) BILL DESCRIBED.—A bill described in this 

22 paragraph is a bill— 

23 (A) consisting of legislation carrying out 

24 the recommendations described in subsection 

25 (a) without any substantive revision; and 


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1 (B) entitled ‘‘A bill to provide for reduc2 tions in direct spending to meet the direct 

3 spending targets provided for in the Terms of 

4 Credit Act.’’. 

5 (3) FAILURE TO SUBMIT RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

6 The Committee on Rules of the House of Represent7 atives may make in order amendments to carry out 

8 the recommendations described in subsection (a) if a 

9 committee of the House fails to submit recommenda10 tions to the Committee on the Budget of the House 

11 of Representatives consistent with paragraph (1). 

12 (c) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF

13 REPRESENTATIVES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than five legisla15 tive days after the bill described in subsection (b) or 

16 section 102(a) is reported or the committees of re17 ferral have been discharged from further consider18 ation thereof, it shall be in order to move to proceed 

19 to consider the bill in the House. Such a motion 

20 shall be in order only at a time designated by the 

21 Speaker in the legislative schedule within two legisla22 tive days after the day on which the proponent an23 nounces an intention to the House to offer the mo24 tion provided that such notice is provided after such 

25 bill is reported. Such a motion shall not be in order 


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1 after the House has disposed of a motion to proceed 

2 with respect to that bill. The previous question shall 

3 be considered as ordered on the motion to its adop4 tion without intervening motion. 

5 (2) CONSIDERATION.—Except as provided in 

6 paragraph (3), if the motion to proceed is agreed to, 

7 the House shall immediately proceed to consider the 

8 bill referred to in paragraph (1) in the House with9 out intervening motion. Such bill shall be considered 

10 as read. Except as provided in paragraph (3), all 

11 points of order against such bill and against its con12 sideration are waived. The previous question shall be 

13 considered as ordered on such bill to its passage 

14 without intervening motion except 2 hours of debate 

15 equally divided and controlled by the proponent and 

16 an opponent and one motion to limit debate on the 

17 bill. 

18 (3) EXTRANEOUS MATTER.—A provision con19 taining an extraneous matter may not be reported in 

20 a bill considered pursuant to this subsection, and 

21 may not be considered as an amendment thereto. 

22 When the House is considering a bill pursuant to 

23 paragraph (2), upon a point of order being made by 

24 any Member against material extraneous to the di25 rectives to a committee which is contained in any 


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1 title or provision of the bill or offered as an amend2 ment to the bill, and the point of order is sustained 

3 by the Chair, any part of said title or provision that 

4 contains material extraneous to the instructions 

5 shall be deemed stricken from the bill and no provi6 sion deemed extraneous may be offered as an 

7 amendment from the floor. For purposes of the pre8 ceding sentence, a provision of a bill considered pur9 suant to paragraph (2) shall be considered extra10 neous if such provision does not produce a net de11 crease in outlays or produces a net increase in rev12 enue. In making a determination as to the extra13 neous nature of a provision, material, or part, the 

14 Chair shall rely on estimates from the Committee on 

15 the Budget. 

16 (4) SPECIAL RULE.—If the House adopts a spe17 cial order of business for the consideration of the bill 

18 referred to in paragraph (1), including a special 

19 order of business which may make amendments to 

20 the bill in order, the bill shall be considered under 

21 the terms and conditions of that special order of 

22 business, except that such special order of business 

23 may not provide for debate for a period of time to 

24 exceed 10 hours, equally divided and controlled by 

25 the proponent and an opponent. 


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1 (5) TERMINATION OF EXPEDITED PROCE2 DURES.—After the House has passed a bill or bills 

3 that meet the total amount of each spending reduc4 tion directive under subsection (a) as estimated by 

5 the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget, the 

6 expedited procedures under this subsection shall no 

7 longer apply. 

8 SEC. 102. CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Committee on the Budget 

10 fails to report the bill required under section 101(b) prior 

11 to the deadline set forth under such section for reporting 

12 the bill, any Member of the House of Representatives may 

13 introduce a bill to accomplish spending reduction direc14 tives under section 101(a)(1). 

15 (b) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT16 ATIVES.— 

17 (1) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Except as 

18 provided in paragraph (2), any committee of the 

19 House of Representatives to which a bill introduced 

20 pursuant to subsection (a) is referred shall report it 

21 to the House without amendment not later than the 

22 fifth legislative day after the date of its introduction. 

23 If a committee fails to report the bill within that pe24 riod or the House has adopted a concurrent resolu25 tion providing for adjournment sine die at the end 


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1 of a Congress, such committee shall be automatically 

2 discharged from further consideration of the bill and 

3 it shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

4 (2) REQUIRING MINIMUM REDUCTION IN DI5 RECT SPENDING.—A committee of the House to 

6 which a bill is referred under this section is not re7 quired to report the bill to the House if the bill does 

8 not reduce direct spending by at least 5 percent of 

9 the directive applicable to the committee under sec10 tion 101(a), as estimated by the Congressional 

11 Budget Office. 

12 (3) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—Any bill re13 ported or discharged pursuant to paragraph (1) 

14 shall be considered under the expedited procedures 

15 described under section 101(c). 

16 (4) TERMINATION OF EXPEDITED PROCE17 DURES.—After the House has passed a bill or bills 

18 that meet the total amount of each spending reduc19 tion directive under section 101(a) as estimated by 

20 the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget, the 

21 expedited procedures under paragraph (3) shall no 

22 longer apply. 

23 SEC. 103. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES IN THE SENATE. 

24 (a) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.—In the Senate, 

25 upon receipt of a bill passed in the House pursuant to 


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1 section 101 or 102 shall be jointly referred to the com2 mittee or committees of jurisdiction, which shall report the 

3 bill without any revision and with a favorable rec4 ommendation, an unfavorable recommendation, or without 

5 recommendation, not later than 5 legislative days after re6 ceipt in the Senate. If any committee fails to report the 

7 bill within that period, that committee shall be automati8 cally discharged from consideration of the bill, and the bill 

9 shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

10 (b) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Notwithstanding Rule 

11 XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is in order, 

12 not later than 2 days of session after the date on which 

13 a bill under paragraph (1) is reported or discharged from 

14 all committees to which it was referred, for the majority 

15 leader of the Senate or the majority leader’s designee to 

16 move to proceed to the consideration of the bill. It shall 

17 also be in order for any Member of the Senate to move 

18 to proceed to the consideration of such bill at any time 

19 after the conclusion of such 2-day period. A motion to pro20 ceed is in order even though a previous motion to the same 

21 effect has been disagreed to. All points of order against 

22 the motion to proceed to the bill are waived. The motion 

23 to proceed is not debatable. The motion is not subject to 

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1 eration of the bill is agreed to, the bill shall remain the 

2 unfinished business until disposed of. 

3 (c) CONSIDERATION.—All points of order against the 

4 bill and against consideration of the bill are waived. Con5 sideration of the bill and of all debatable motions and ap6 peals in connection therewith shall not exceed a total of 

7 30 hours which shall be divided equally between the Ma8 jority and Minority Leaders or their designees. A motion 

9 further to limit debate on the bill is in order, shall require 

10 an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members duly 

11 chosen and sworn, and is not debatable. Any debatable 

12 motion or appeal is debatable for not to exceed 1 hour, 

13 to be divided equally between those favoring and those op14 posing the motion or appeal. All time used for consider15 ation of the bill, including time used for quorum calls and 

16 voting, shall be counted against the total 30 hours of con17 sideration. 

18 (d) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—If the Senate has voted to 

19 proceed to the bill, the vote on passage of the bill shall 

20 occur immediately following the conclusion of the debate 

21 on the bill, and a single quorum call at the conclusion of 

22 the debate if requested. 

23 (e) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCEDURE.—Ap24 peals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the appli25 cation of the rules of the Senate, as the case may be, to 


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1 the procedure relating to the bill shall be decided without 

2 debate. 

3 SEC. 104. BALANCED BUDGET CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND4 MENT. 

5 (a) VOTE ON THE BALANCED BUDGET AMEND6 MENT.—Not later than December 31, 2015, the House of 

7 Representatives and Senate, respectively, shall vote on 

8 passage of a joint resolution, the title of which is as fol9 lows: ‘‘Joint resolution proposing a balanced budget 

10 amendment to the Constitution of the United States.’’. 

11 (b) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.— 

12 (1) HOUSE CONSIDERATION.— 

13 (A) REFERRAL.—If the House receives a 

14 joint resolution described in subsection (a) from 

15 the Senate, such joint resolution shall be re16 ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary. If the 

17 committee fails to report the joint resolution 

18 within five legislative days, it shall be in order 

19 to move that the House discharge the com20 mittee from further consideration of the joint 

21 resolution. Such a motion shall not be in order 

22 after the House has disposed of a motion to 

23 discharge the joint resolution. The previous 

24 question shall be considered as ordered on the 

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1 tion except twenty minutes of debate equally di2 vided and controlled by the proponent and an 

3 opponent. If such a motion is adopted, the 

4 House shall proceed immediately to consider the 

5 joint resolution in accordance with subpara6 graph (C). A motion to reconsider the vote by 

7 which the motion is disposed of shall not be in 

8 order. 

9 (B) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

10 After the joint resolution has been referred to 

11 the appropriate calendar or the committee has 

12 been discharged (other than by motion) from its 

13 consideration, it shall be in order to move to 

14 proceed to consider the joint resolution in the 

15 House. Such a motion shall not be in order 

16 after the House has disposed of a motion to 

17 proceed with respect to the joint resolution. The 

18 previous question shall be considered as ordered 

19 on the motion to its adoption without inter20 vening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote 

21 by which the motion is disposed of shall not be 

22 in order. 

23 (C) CONSIDERATION.—The joint resolution 

24 shall be considered as read. All points of order 

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1 sideration are waived. The previous question 

2 shall be considered as ordered on the joint reso3 lution to its passage without intervening motion 

4 except two hours of debate equally divided and 

5 controlled by the proponent and an opponent 

6 and one motion to limit debate on the joint res7 olution. A motion to reconsider the vote on pas8 sage of the joint resolution shall not be in 

9 order. 

10 (2) SENATE CONSIDERATION.— 

11 (A) REFERRAL.—If the Senate receives a 

12 joint resolution described in subsection (a) from 

13 the House of Representatives, such joint resolu14 tion shall be referred to the appropriate com15 mittee of the Senate. If such committee has not 

16 reported the joint resolution at the close of the 

17 fifth session day after its receipt by the Senate, 

18 such committee shall be automatically dis19 charged from further consideration of the joint 

20 resolution and it shall be placed on the appro21 priate calendar. 

22 (B) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

23 Consideration of the joint resolution and on all 

24 debatable motions and appeals in connection 

25 therewith, shall be limited to not more than 20 


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1 hours, which shall be divided equally between 

2 the majority and minority leaders or their des3 ignees. A motion to further limit debate is in 

4 order and not debatable. An amendment to, or 

5 a motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to 

6 the consideration of other business, or a motion 

7 to recommit the joint resolution is not in order. 

8 Any debatable motion or appeal is debatable for 

9 not to exceed 1 hour, to be divided equally be10 tween those favoring and those opposing the 

11 motion or appeal. All time used for consider12 ation of the joint resolution, including time 

13 used for quorum calls and voting, shall be 

14 counted against the total 20 hours of consider15 ation. 

16 (C) CONSIDERATION.—If the Senate has 

17 voted to proceed to a joint resolution, the vote 

18 on passage of the joint resolution shall be taken 

19 on or before the close of the seventh session day 

20 after such joint resolution has been reported or 

21 discharged or immediately following the conclu22 sion of consideration of the joint resolution, and 

23 a single quorum call at the conclusion of the de24 bate if requested in accordance with the rules of 

25 the Senate. 


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1 TITLE II—WORK 

2 SEC. 201. PROHIBITING CONSIDERATION OF LEGISLATION 

3 UNTIL PASSAGE OF BUDGET ENFORCEMENT 

4 LEGISLATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the House has not passed a bill 

6 or bills that meet the total amount of each spending reduc7 tion directive under section 101(a) as estimated by the 

8 Chairman of the Committee on the Budget, it shall not 

9 be in order in the House of Representatives to consider 

10 any bill or joint resolution during the One Hundred Four11 teenth Congress, other than legislation under section 101 

12 or 102 or a bill, resolution, concurrent resolution, or joint 

13 resolution referenced in subsection (b). 

14 (b) WAIVER.—The point of order under subsection 

15 (a) shall not apply at any time after— 

16 (1) the House has adopted a concurrent resolu17 tion on the budget for fiscal year 2017; and 

18 (2) the House of Representatives has passed 

19 during fiscal year 2016 legislation containing an au20 thorization of the use of military force or a declara21 tion of war. 


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1 SEC. 202. PROHIBITING ADJOURNMENT OF HOUSE UNTIL 

2 PASSAGE OF BUDGET ENFORCEMENT LEGIS3 LATION. 

4 It shall not be in order for the House of Representa5 tives to consider a concurrent resolution to provide that 

6 the House stand adjourned during the One Hundred 

7 Fourteenth Congress unless the House has passed legisla8 tion under section 101 or 102. 

9 SEC. 203. PROHIBITING ADJOURNMENT OF HOUSE UNTIL 

10 PASSAGE OF APPROPRIATION BILLS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—If by September 1 of any calendar 

12 year the House of Representatives has not passed each 

13 of the regular appropriation bills (or any combination 

14 thereof), a consolidated appropriations bill, or a full-year 

15 continuing resolution for the fiscal year which begins on 

16 October 1 of that calendar year, it shall not be in order 

17 in the House to consider a concurrent resolution to provide 

18 that the House stand adjourned during any day occurring 

19 during that calendar year until the House has passed each 

20 such bill or such continuing resolution. 

21 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

22 (1) the term ‘‘regular appropriation bill’’ means 

23 any annual appropriation bill which is under the ju24 risdiction of a single subcommittee of the Committee 

25 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 


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1 (as may be provided under the Rules for the fiscal 

2 year involved); and 

3 (2) the term ‘‘full-year continuing resolution’’ 

4 means a bill or joint resolution providing for con5 tinuing appropriations for all of the programs and 

6 activities of the Federal Government through the 

7 end of the fiscal year for which a regular appropria8 tion bill has not been enacted. 

9 SEC. 204. APPROPRIATIONS PROCEDURES IN THE SENATE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—After October 1 of a fiscal year, 

11 a motion to proceed to a regular appropriations bill for 

12 that fiscal year shall be nondebatable. 

13 (b) REGULAR APPROPRIATIONS BILL DEFINED.—In 

14 this section, the term ‘‘regular appropriations bill’’ means 

15 any annual appropriations bill which has been reported fa16 vorably from the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen17 ate. 

18 SEC. 205. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

19 (a) SECTIONS 201 AND 202.—Sections 201 and 202 

20 shall take effect upon the expiration of the 150-day period 

21 which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (b) SECTIONS 203 AND 204.—Sections 203 and 204 

23 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 TITLE III—GROW 

2 Subtitle A—Regulatory Freeze for 

3 Jobs 

4 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Regulatory Freeze 

6 for Jobs Act of 2015’’. 

7 SEC. 302. MORATORIUM ON SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY AC8 TIONS. 

9 An agency may not take any significant regulatory 

10 action during the period beginning on the date of the en11 actment of this Act and ending on July 1, 2017. 

12 SEC. 303. WAIVERS AND EXCEPTIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of this subtitle, an agency may take a significant reg15 ulatory action only in accordance with subsection (b), (c), 

16 or (d) during the period described in section 302. 

17 (b) PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may take a sig19 nificant regulatory action if the President deter20 mines by Executive order that the significant regu21 latory action is— 

22 (A) necessary because of an imminent 

23 threat to health or safety or other emergency; 

24 (B) necessary for the enforcement of crimi25 nal or civil rights laws; 


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1 (C) necessary for the national security of 

2 the United States; or 

3 (D) issued pursuant to any statute imple4 menting an international trade agreement. 

5 (2) CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL.—If a joint 

6 resolution disapproving an Executive order issued 

7 under paragraph (1) is enacted into law not later 

8 than 30 legislative days after the issuance of the Ex9 ecutive order, an agency may not take a significant 

10 regulatory action pursuant to the Executive order, 

11 and any significant regulatory action taken pursuant 

12 to the Executive order prior to the enactment of the 

13 joint resolution shall have no force or effect. 

14 (c) DEREGULATORY EXCEPTION.—An agency may 

15 take a significant regulatory action if the Administrator 

16 of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the 

17 Office of Management and Budget certifies in writing that 

18 the significant regulatory action is limited to repealing an 

19 existing rule. 

20 (d) CONGRESSIONAL WAIVERS.— 

21 (1) SUBMISSION.—For any significant regu22 latory action not eligible for a Presidential waiver 

23 pursuant to subsection (b), the President may sub24 mit a written request to Congress for a waiver of the 

25 application of section 302 for such action. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—A submission by the President 

2 under this subsection shall— 

3 (A) identify the significant regulatory ac4 tion and the scope of the requested waiver; 

5 (B) describe all the reasons the significant 

6 regulatory action is necessary to protect the 

7 public health, safety, or welfare; and 

8 (C) include an explanation of why the sig9 nificant regulatory action is ineligible for a 

10 Presidential waiver under subsection (b). 

11 (3) CONGRESSIONAL ACTION.—Congress shall 

12 give expeditious consideration and take appropriate 

13 legislative action with respect to any submission by 

14 the President under this subsection. 

15 SEC. 304. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

16 (a) REVIEW.—Any party adversely affected or ag17 grieved by any rule or guidance resulting from a regu18 latory action taken in violation of this subtitle is entitled 

19 to judicial review in accordance with chapter 7 of title 5, 

20 United States Code. Any determination by either the 

21 President or the Secretary of Labor under this subtitle 

22 shall be subject to judicial review under such chapter. 

23 (b) JURISDICTION.—Each court having jurisdiction 

24 to review any rule or guidance resulting from a significant 

25 regulatory action for compliance with any other provision 


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1 of law shall have jurisdiction to review all claims under 

2 this subtitle. 

3 (c) RELIEF.—In granting any relief in any civil ac4 tion under this section, the court shall order the agency 

5 to take corrective action consistent with this subtitle and 

6 chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, including re7 manding the rule or guidance resulting from the signifi8 cant regulatory action to the agency and enjoining the ap9 plication or enforcement of that rule or guidance, unless 

10 the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that 

11 application or enforcement is required to protect against 

12 an imminent and serious threat to the national security 

13 of the United States. 

14 (d) REASONABLE ATTORNEY’S FEES FOR SMALL

15 BUSINESSES.—The court shall award reasonable attor16 ney’s fees and costs to a substantially prevailing small 

17 business in any civil action arising under this subtitle. A 

18 small business may qualify as substantially prevailing even 

19 without obtaining a final judgment in its favor if the agen20 cy that took the significant regulatory action changes its 

21 position after the civil action is filed. Such award shall 

22 be paid out of the administrative budget of the office in 

23 the agency that took the challenged agency action. 

24 (e) LIMITATION ON COMMENCING CIVIL ACTION.— 

25 A party may seek and obtain judicial review during the 


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1 1-year period beginning on the date of the challenged 

2 agency action or within 90 days after an enforcement ac3 tion or notice thereof, except that where another provision 

4 of law requires that a civil action be commenced before 

5 the expiration of that 1-year period, such lesser period 

6 shall apply. 

7 (f) SMALL BUSINESS DEFINED.—In this section, the 

8 term ‘‘small business’’ means any business, including an 

9 unincorporated business or a sole proprietorship, that em10 ploys not more than 500 employees or that has a net 

11 worth of less than $7,000,000 on the date a civil action 

12 arising under this subtitle is filed. 

13 SEC. 305. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this subtitle: 

15 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

16 meaning given that term under section 551 of title 

17 5, United States Code, except that such term does 

18 not include— 

19 (A) the Board of Governors of the Federal 

20 Reserve System; 

21 (B) the Federal Open Market Committee; 

22 or 

23 (C) the United States Postal Service. 

24 (2) REGULATORY ACTION.—The term ‘‘regu25 latory action’’ means any substantive action by an 


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1 agency that promulgates or is expected to lead to the 

2 promulgation of a final rule or regulation, including 

3 a notice of inquiry, an advance notice of proposed 

4 rulemaking, and a notice of proposed rulemaking. 

5 (3) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 

6 given that term under section 551 of title 5, United 

7 States Code. 

8 (4) SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY ACTION.—The 

9 term ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ means any reg10 ulatory action that is likely to result in a rule or 

11 guidance that the Administrator of the Office of In12 formation and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of 

13 Management and Budget finds is likely to have an 

14 annual cost to the economy of $50,000,000 or more 

15 or adversely affect in a material way the economy, 

16 a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, 

17 jobs, the environment, public health or safety, small 

18 entities, or State, local, or tribal governments or 

19 communities. In determining the annual cost to the 

20 economy under this paragraph, the Administrator 

21 shall take into account any expected change in rev22 enue of businesses that will be caused by such regu23 latory action, as well as any change in revenue of 

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1 latory action. If meeting that definition, such term 

2 includes any requirement by the Secretary of the 

3 Treasury, except to the extent provided in Treasury 

4 Regulations as in effect on February 21, 2011, that 

5 a payor of interest make an information return in 

6 the case of interest— 

7 (A) which is described in section 

8 871(i)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986, and 

10 (B) which is paid— 

11 (i) to a nonresident alien, and 

12 (ii) on a deposit maintained at an of13 fice within the United States. 

14 (5) SMALL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘small entity’’ 

15 has the meaning given that term under section 

16 601(6) of title 5, United States Code. 

17 Subtitle B—Midnight Rule Relief 

18 SEC. 311. SHORT TITLE. 

19 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Midnight Rule Re20 lief Act of 2015’’. 

21 SEC. 312. MORATORIUM ON MIDNIGHT RULES. 

22 Except as provided under section 311, during the 

23 moratorium period, an agency may not propose or finalize 

24 any midnight rule that the Administrator of the Office of 

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1 agement and Budget finds is likely to result in an annual 

2 cost to the economy of $50,000,000 or more or adversely 

3 affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the econ4 omy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, 

5 public health or safety, small entities, or State, local, or 

6 tribal governments or communities. 

7 SEC. 313. EXCEPTION. 

8 (a) EMERGENCY EXCEPTION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 312 shall not apply 

10 to a midnight rule if the President determines that 

11 the midnight rule is— 

12 (A) necessary because of an imminent 

13 threat to health or safety or other emergency; 

14 (B) necessary for the enforcement of crimi15 nal or civil rights laws; 

16 (C) necessary for the national security of 

17 the United States; or 

18 (D) issued pursuant to any statute imple19 menting an international trade agreement. 

20 (2) CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL.—If a joint 

21 resolution disapproving a midnight rule described in 

22 paragraph (1) is enacted into law not later than 30 

23 legislative days after the determination made by the 

24 President under paragraph (1), an agency may not 

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1 night rule finalized pursuant to that determination 

2 under paragraph (1) prior to the enactment of the 

3 joint resolution shall have no force or effect. 

4 (b) DEREGULATORY EXCEPTION.—Section 312 shall 

5 not apply to a midnight rule that the Administrator of 

6 the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within 

7 the Office of Management and Budget certifies in writing 

8 is limited to repealing an existing rule. 

9 (c) NOTICE OF EXCEPTIONS.—Not later than 30 

10 days after a determination under subsection (a) or a cer11 tification is made under subsection (b), the head of the 

12 relevant agency shall publish in the Federal Register any 

13 midnight rule excluded from the moratorium period due 

14 to an exception under this section. 

15 SEC. 314. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this subtitle: 

17 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

18 meaning given that term under section 551 of title 

19 5, United States Code, except that such term does 

20 not include— 

21 (A) the Board of Governors of the Federal 

22 Reserve System; 

23 (B) the Federal Open Market Committee; 

24 or 

25 (C) the United States Postal Service. 


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1 (2) MORATORIUM PERIOD.—The term ‘‘morato2 rium period’’ means the day after the day referred 

3 to in section 1 of title 3, United States Code, 

4 through January 20 of the following year, in which 

5 a President is not serving a consecutive term. 

6 (3) MIDNIGHT RULE.—The term ‘‘midnight 

7 rule’’ means an agency statement of general applica8 bility and future effect, issued during the morato9 rium period, that is intended to have the force and 

10 effect of law and is designed— 

11 (A) to implement, interpret, or prescribe 

12 law or policy; or 

13 (B) to describe the procedure or practice 

14 requirements of an agency. 

15 (4) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 

16 given that term under section 551 of title 5, United 

17 States Code. 

18 (5) SMALL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘small entity’’ 

19 has the meaning given that term under section 

20 601(6) of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 TITLE IV—DEBT LIMIT 

2 SEC. 401. INCREASE IN THE PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT. 

3 Section 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, is 

4 amended by striking the dollar amount contained therein 

5 and inserting ‘‘$19,600,000,000,000’’. 

Æ 


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