I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3575 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish joint resolutions 

on the budget, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2011 

Mrs. BLACK (for herself, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. 

YOUNG of Indiana, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. MULVANEY, and 

Mr. STUTZMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 

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 amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish 

joint resolutions on the budget, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legally Binding Budg5 et Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 3 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

3 is amended by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

4 following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(4) The term ‘joint resolution on the budget’ 

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(A) a joint resolution setting forth the 

8 budget for the United States Government for a 

9 fiscal year as provided in section 301; and 

10 ‘‘(B) any other joint resolution revising the 

11 budget for the United States Government for a 

12 fiscal year as described in section 304.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. REVISION OF TIMETABLE. 

14 Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

15 (2 U.S.C. 631) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘TIMETABLE

17 ‘‘SEC. 300. (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 

18 subsection (b), the timetable with respect to the congres19 sional budget process for any Congress (beginning with 

20 the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress or a subsequent 

21 Congress, as applicable) is as follows: 

‘‘On or before: Action to be completed: 

First Monday in February ........ President submits budget recommendations. 

February 15 ............................... Congressional Budget Office submits report 

to Budget Committees. 

Not later than 6 weeks after 

budget submission.

Committees submit views and estimates to 

Budget Committees. 

April 1 ....................................... Budget Committees report joint resolution on 

the budget. 

April 15 ..................................... Congress completes action on joint resolution 

on the budget. 


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May 15 ....................................... Appropriation bills may be considered in the 

House of Representatives. 

June 10 ...................................... House Appropriations Committee reports last 

appropriation bill. 

June 30 ...................................... House completes action on appropriation 

bills. 

October 1 ................................... Fiscal year begins. 

1 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of any first session 

2 of Congress that begins in any year during which the term 

3 of a President (except a President who succeeds himself) 

4 begins, the following dates shall supersede those set forth 

5 in subsection (a): 

‘‘On or before: Action to be completed: 

First Monday in April ............... President submits budget recommendations. 

April 20 ..................................... Committees submit views and estimates to 

Budget Committees. 

May 15 ....................................... Budget Committees report joint resolution on 

the budget. 

June 1 ........................................ Congress completes action on joint resolution 

on the budget. 

June 1 ........................................ Appropriation bills may be considered in the 

House of Representatives. 

July 1 ......................................... House Appropriations Committee reports last 

appropriation bill. 

July 20 ....................................... House completes action on appropriation 

bills. 

October 1 ................................... Fiscal year begins.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 303 AND CONFORMING 

7 AMENDMENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Congressional 

9 Budget Act of 1974 is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’, by strik11 ing ‘‘has been agreed to’’ and inserting ‘‘takes ef12 fect’’, and by striking subsections (b) and (c); and 

13 (2) by striking its section heading and inserting 

14 the following new section heading: ‘‘CONSIDERATION


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1 OF BUDGET-RELATED LEGISLATION BEFORE BUDG2 ET BECOMES LAW’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item relating 

4 to section 303 in the table of contents set forth in section 

5 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Con6 trol Act of 1974 is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 303. Consideration of budget-related legislation before budget becomes 

law.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. PERMISSIBLE REVISIONS OF BUDGET RESOLU8 TIONS. 

9 Section 304 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

10 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘PERMISSIBLE REVISIONS OF BUDGET RESOLUTIONS

12 ‘‘SEC. 304. At any time after the joint resolution on 

13 the budget for a fiscal year has been enacted pursuant 

14 to section 301, and before the end of such fiscal year, the 

15 two Houses and the President may enact a joint resolution 

16 on the budget which revises or reaffirms the joint resolu17 tion on the budget for such fiscal year most recently en18 acted, and for purposes of the enforcement of the Congres19 sional Budget Act of 1974, the chairman of the Budget 

20 Committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate, 

21 as applicable, may adjust levels as needed for the enforce22 ment of the budget resolution.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON THE CONTENT OF BUDGET RESO2 LUTIONS. 

3 Section 305 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 section: 

6 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON CONTENTS.—(1) It shall not be 

7 in order in the House of Representatives or in the Senate 

8 to consider any joint resolution on the budget or any 

9 amendment thereto or conference report thereon that con10 tains any matter referred to in paragraph (2). 

11 ‘‘(2) Any joint resolution on the budget or any 

12 amendment thereto or conference report thereon that con13 tains any matter not permitted in section 301(a) or (b) 

14 shall not be treated in the House of Representatives or 

15 the Senate as a budget resolution under subsection (a) or 

16 (b) or as a conference report on a budget resolution under 

17 subsection (c) of this section.’’. 

18 SEC. 7. DEEMING OF BUDGETARY AGGREGATES, ALLOCA19 TIONS, AND RECONCILIATION INSTRUCTIONS 

20 IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE UPON VETO OF 

21 JOINT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 

23 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding after section 

24 315 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘AUTOMATIC STANDING ORDER UPON VETO OF JOINT

2 RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET

3 ‘‘SEC. 316. If the President vetoes a joint resolution 

4 on the budget, the aggregates, allocations, and any other 

5 matters that pertain solely to the Congress set forth in 

6 that joint resolution shall, for all purposes of titles III and 

7 IV, be deemed to operate and be enforceable in the House 

8 of Representatives and the Senate as if the joint resolution 

9 had been enacted.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con11 tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget 

12 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in13 serting after the item relating to section 315 the following 

14 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 316. Automatic standing order upon veto of joint resolution on the budget.’’. 

15 SEC. 8. PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT. 

16 Section 301(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 

17 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para18 graph (8), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’ 

19 at the end of paragraph (9), and by inserting after para20 graph (9) the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(10) set forth the public debt limit.’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS TO THE CONGRES2 SIONAL BUDGET ACT OF 1974 TO EFFEC3 TUATE JOINT RESOLUTIONS ON THE BUDG4 ET. 

5 (a) ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS TO THE CONGRES6 SIONAL BUDGET AND IMPOUNDMENT CONTROL ACT OF

7 1974.—(1)(A) Sections 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 308, 

8 310, 311, 312, 314, 405, and 904 of the Congressional 

9 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) are amended 

10 by striking ‘‘concurrent’’ each place it appears and insert11 ing ‘‘joint’’. 

12 (B)(i) Sections 302(d), 302(g), 308(a)(1)(A), and 

13 310(d)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 are 

14 amended by striking ‘‘most recently agreed to concurrent 

15 resolution on the budget’’ each place it occurs and insert16 ing ‘‘most recently enacted joint resolution on the budg17 et’’. 

18 (ii) The section heading of section 301 of such Act 

19 is amended by striking ‘‘ANNUAL ADOPTION OF CONCUR20 RENT RESOLUTION’’ and inserting ‘‘JOINT RESOLUTIONS’’; 

21 and 

22 (C) Sections 302, 303, 304, 310, and 311 of the Con23 gressional Budget Act of 1974 are amended by striking 

24 ‘‘agreed to’’ each place it appears and by inserting ‘‘en25 acted’’. 


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1 (2) The table of contents set forth in section 1(b) of 

2 the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act 

3 of 1974 is amended— 

4 (A) in the item relating to section 301, by strik5 ing ‘‘Annual adoption of concurrent resolution’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘Joint resolutions’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘concurrent’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘joint’’ in the item relating to section 305. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 310 

10 REGARDING RECONCILIATION DIRECTIVES.—(1) The side 

11 heading of section 310(a) of the Congressional Budget Act 

12 of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘JOINT EXPLANATORY

13 STATEMENT ACCOMPANYING CONFERENCE REPORT ON’’ 

14 before ‘‘JOINT’’. 

15 (2) Section 310(a) of the Congressional Budget Act 

16 of 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘A’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

17 joint explanatory statement accompanying the conference 

18 report on a’’. 

19 (3) The first sentence of section 310(b) of the Con20 gressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘If’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘If the joint explanatory statement accom22 panying the conference report on’’. 

23 (4) Section 310(c)(1) of the Congressional Budget 

24 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘the joint explanaVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:01 Dec 09, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3575.IH H3575

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1 tory statement accompanying the conference report on’’ 

2 after ‘‘pursuant to’’. 

3 SEC. 10. AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF 

4 REPRESENTATIVES TO EFFECTUATE JOINT 

5 BUDGET RESOLUTIONS. 

6 Clauses 1(d)(1), 4(a)(4), 4(b)(2), 4(f)(1)(A), and 

7 4(f)(2) of rule X, clause 10 of rule XVIII, clause 10 of 

8 rule XX, and clauses 7 and 10 of rule XXI of the Rules 

9 of the House of Representatives are amended by striking 

10 ‘‘concurrent’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘joint’’. 

11 SEC. 11. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO THE BALANCED 

12 BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL 

13 ACT OF 1985. 

14 Section 258C(b)(1) of the Balanced Budget and 

15 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 

16 907d(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘concurrent’’ and in17 serting ‘‘joint’’. 

Æ 


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