I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2599

To reform the Congressional Budget Process, establish binding spending

caps, introduce fiscal integrity, discipline and accountability, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 8, 1995

Mr. BARTON of Texas (for himself, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. EWING, Mr. PETE

GEREN of Texas, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr.

HALL of Texas, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr.

HAYES, Mr. BREWSTER, Mr. MINGE, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. FORBES, Mr.

SHADEGG, Mr. PAYNE Of Virginia, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. ORTON, Mr.

BARR of Georgia, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. WAMP, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas,

and Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Government Reform and Oversight, and Rules, 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 reform the Congressional Budget Process, establish binding spending caps, introduce fiscal integrity, discipline

and accountability, 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,
2

HR 2599 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

3 ‘‘Budget Enforcement Simplification Trust Act’’.

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

TITLE I—BUDGET PROCESS REFORM

Sec. 101. Definitions.

Sec. 102. Timetable.

Sec. 103. Biennial joint budget resolution.

Sec. 104. Committee allocations.

Sec. 105. Backstop budget resolution.

Sec. 106. Revisions to joint budget resolutions and spending caps.

Sec. 107. Budget enforcement provisions.

Spending caps.

Reporting excess spending.

Presidential orders to eliminate excess spending.

Enforcing discretionary spending limits.

Enforcing direct spending limits.

Exempt programs and activities.

Special rules.

The current law baseline.

PAYGO.

TITLE II—ITEM VETO AND ENHANCED RESCISSION AUTHORITY

CHAPTER A—LINE-ITEM VETO ACT

CHAPTER B—ENHANCED RESCISSION AUTHORITY

TITLE III—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 301. Transition rules.

Sec. 302. Effective dates.

Sec. 303. Conforming amendments.

Sec. 304. Amendments to title 31, United States Code.

Sec. 305. Effects of certain judicial action.

5 TITLE I—BUDGET PROCESS

6 REFORM

7 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.

8 Section 3 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

9 is amended to read as follows:
3

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 3. IN GENERAL.

2 ‘‘For purposes of this Act—

3 ‘‘(1) The term ‘biennial budget years’ means

4 the two year period encompassing a fiscal year be5 ginning in a calendar year that ends in an odd num6 ber and the subsequent fiscal year.

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘budget biennium’ means the two

8 year period consisting of the biennial budget years.

9 ‘‘(3) The term ‘eligible population’ shall mean

10 those individuals to whom the United States is obli11 gated to make a payment under the provisions of a

12 law creating entitlement authority. Such term shall

13 not include States, localities, corporations or other

14 non-living entities.

15 ‘‘(4) The terms ‘sequester’ and ‘sequestration’

16 refer to or mean the cancellation of budgetary re17 sources provided by discretionary appropriations or

18 direct spending law.

19 ‘‘(5) The term ‘breach’ means, for any fiscal

20 year—

21 ‘‘(A) the amount (if any) by which new

22 budget authority or outlays for that year (with23 in a category of discretionary appropriations) is

24 above that category’s discretionary spending

25 cap for new budget authority or outlays for that

26 year, as the case may be; or
4

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(B) the amount (if any) by which outlays

2 for that year (within a category of direct spend3 ing) is above that category’s direct spending

4 cap for that year.

5 ‘‘(6) The term ‘baseline’ means the projection

6 (described in section 657 of this Act) of current-year

7 levels of new budget authority, outlays, receipts, and

8 the surplus or deficit into the budget year and the

9 outyears.

10 ‘‘(7) The term ‘budgetary resources’ means new

11 budget authority; unobligated balances; direct spend12 ing authority; and obligation limitations.

13 ‘‘(8) The term ‘discretionary appropriations’

14 means budgetary resources (except to fund direct15 spending programs) provided in appropriation Acts.

16 If an appropriations Act alters the level of direct

17 spending or offsetting collections, that effect shall be

18 treated as discretionary spending. Discretionary ap19 propriations shall be those so designated in the joint

20 statement of managers accompanying the conference

21 report on the Budget Enforcement Simplification

22 Truth Act. Classifications of new accounts or activi23 ties and changes in classifications shall be made in

24 consultation with the Committees on Appropriations
5

HR 2599 IH

1 and the Budget of the House of Representatives and

2 the Senate.

3 ‘‘(9) The term ‘direct spending’ means—

4 ‘‘(A) budget authority provided by law

5 other than appropriations Acts, including enti6 tlement authority; and

7 ‘‘(B) the food stamp program.

8 If a law other than an appropriations Act alters the

9 level of discretionary appropriations or offsetting col10 lections, that effect shall be treated as direct spend11 ing.

12 ‘‘(10) The term ‘entitlement authority’ means

13 authority (whether temporary or permanent) to

14 make payments (including loans and grants), the

15 budget authority for which is not provided for in ad16 vance by appropriations Acts, to any person or gov17 ernment if, under the provisions of the law contain18 ing such authority, the United States is obligated to

19 make such payments to persons or governments who

20 meet the requirements established by such law.

21 ‘‘(11) The term ‘current’ means, with respect to

22 OMB estimates included with a budget submission

23 under section 1105(a) of title 31, the estimates con24 sistent with the economic and technical assumptions

25 underlying that budget.
6

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(12) The term ‘account’ means an item for

2 which appropriations are made in any appropriations

3 Act and, for items not provided for in appropriations

4 Acts, such term means an item which is identified

5 in the section ‘Federal Programs by Agency and Ac6 count’ as it appears in the ‘Analytical Perspectives’

7 to the President’s fiscal year 1996 budget proposal

8 beginning at page 337.

9 ‘‘(13) The term ‘budget year’ means the fiscal

10 year of the Government that starts on the next Oc11 tober 1.

12 ‘‘(14) The term ‘current year’ means, with re13 spect to a budget year, the fiscal year that imme14 diately precedes that budget year.

15 ‘‘(15) The term ‘outyear’ means, with respect

16 to a budget year, any of the fiscal years that follow

17 the budget year.

18 ‘‘(16) The term ‘OMB’ means the Director of

19 the Office of Management and Budget.

20 ‘‘(17) The term ‘CBO’ means the Director of

21 the Congressional Budget Office.

22 ‘‘(18) The terms ‘budget outlays’ and ‘outlays’

23 mean, with respect to any fiscal year, expenditures

24 of funds under budget authority during such year.
7

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(19) Budget authority and new budget author2 ity:

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘budget au4 thority’ means the authority provided by Fed5 eral law to incur financial obligations, as fol6 lows—

7 ‘‘(i) provisions of law that make funds

8 available for obligation and expenditure

9 (other than borrowing authority), including

10 the authority to obligate and expend the

11 proceeds of offsetting receipts and collec12 tions;

13 ‘‘(ii) borrowing authority, which

14 means authority granted to a Federal en15 tity to borrow and obligate and expend the

16 borrowed funds, including through the is17 suance of promissory notes or other mone18 tary credits;

19 ‘‘(iii) contract authority, which means

20 the making of funds available for obliga21 tion but not for expenditure; and

22 ‘‘(iv) offsetting receipts and collections

23 as negative budget authority, and the re24 duction thereof as positive budget author25 ity.
8

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS ON BUDGET AUTHOR2 ITY.—Any amount that is precluded from obli3 gation in a fiscal year by a provision of law

4 (such as a limitation or a benefit formula) shall

5 not be budget authority in that year.

6 ‘‘(C) NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY.—The

7 term ‘new budget authority’ means, with re8 spect to a fiscal year—

9 ‘‘(i) budget authority that first be10 comes available for obligation in that year,

11 including budget authority that becomes

12 available in that year as a result of a reap13 propriation; or

14 ‘‘(ii) a change in any account in the

15 availability of unobligated balances of

16 budget authority carried over from a prior

17 year, resulting from a provision of law first

18 effective in that year;

19 ‘‘(iii) and includes a change in the es20 timated level of new budget authority pro21 vided in indefinite amounts by existing law.

22 The term includes the cost for direct loan

23 and loan guarantee programs, as those

24 terms are defined by title V.
9

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(20) The term ‘tax expenditures’ means those

2 revenue losses attributable to provisions of the Fed3 eral tax laws which allow a special exclusion, exemp4 tion, or deduction from gross income or which pro5 vide a special credit, a preferential rate of tax, or a

6 deferral of tax liability; and the term ‘tax expendi7 tures budget’ means an enumeration of such tax ex8 penditures.

9 ‘‘(21) The term ‘joint resolution on the budget’

10 means—

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

12 congressional budget for the United States Gov13 ernment for a fiscal year as provided in section

14 301 of this Act; and

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

16 congressional budget for the United States Gov17 ernment for a fiscal year as described in section

18 304 of this Act.

19 ‘‘(22) The term ‘appropriation Act’ means an

20 Act referred to in section 105 of title 1 of the

21 United States Code.

22 ‘‘(23) The term ‘deficit’ means, with respect to

23 a fiscal year, the amount by which outlays exceed re24 ceipts during that year.
10

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(24) The term ‘surplus’ means, with respect to

2 a fiscal year, the amount by which receipts exceed

3 outlays during that year.

4 ‘‘(25) The term ‘government-sponsored enter5 prise’ means a corporate entity created by a law of

6 the United States that—

7 ‘‘(A)(i) has a Federal charter authorized

8 by law;

9 ‘‘(ii) is privately owned, as evidenced by

10 capital stock owned by private entities or indi11 viduals;

12 ‘‘(iii) is under the direction of a board of

13 directors, a majority of which is elected by pri14 vate owners;

15 ‘‘(iv) is a financial institution with power

16 to—

17 ‘‘(I) make loans or loan guarantees

18 for limited purposes such as to provide

19 credit for specific borrowers or one sector;

20 and

21 ‘‘(II) raise funds by borrowing (which

22 does not carry the full faith and credit of

23 the Federal Government) or to guarantee

24 the debt of others in unlimited amounts;

25 and
11

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(B)(i) does not exercise powers that are

2 reserved to the Government as sovereign (such

3 as the power to tax or to regulate interstate

4 commerce);

5 ‘‘(ii) does not have the power to commit

6 the Government financially (but it may be a re7 cipient of a loan guarantee commitment made

8 by the Government); and

9 ‘‘(iii) has employees whose salaries and ex10 penses are paid by the enterprise and are not

11 Federal employees subject to title 5 of the

12 United States Code.

13 ‘‘(26) The sale of an asset means the sale to

14 the public of any physical asset owned in whole or

15 in part by the United States.’’.

16 SEC. 102. TIMETABLE.

17 Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act is

18 amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘SEC. 300. The timetable with respect to the congres20 sional budget process for any budget biennium is as fol21 lows:

‘‘ODD-NUMBERED YEARS

‘‘On or before: Action to be completed:

January 15 .................................... CBO economic and budget update.

First Monday in February ............ President’s budget: includes sequestration update based on new assumptions.

April 15 ......................................... House and Senate pass joint budget

resolution.
12

HR 2599 IH

‘‘On or before: Action to be completed:

May 15 .......................................... President signs joint budget resolution.

July 1 ............................................ Cut-off for in-session sequestration

(sequesters triggered by legislative

action).

August 1 ........................................ Baseline update.

August 15 ...................................... Preview report.

October 1 ....................................... Start of new fiscal year; start of first

year of biennium.

December 15 .................................. OMB issues final (lookback) report

for prior year and preview for current year.

December 15 .................................. Presidential sequester order.

‘‘EVEN-NUMBERED YEARS

‘‘On or before: Action to be completed:

January 15 .................................... CBO economic and budget update.

First Monday in February ............ OMB baseline revision.

July 1 ............................................ Cut-off for in-session sequester.

August 1 ........................................ Revised baseline.

August 15 ...................................... Preview fiscal years ending and beginning on October 1.

October 1 ....................................... Fiscal year begins; starts second year

of biennium.

December 15 .................................. OMB issues final (lookback) report

for prior year and preview for current fiscal year.’’.

1 SEC. 103. BIENNIAL JOINT BUDGET RESOLUTION.

2 Section 301 of the Congressional Budget and Im3 poundment Control Act of 1974 is amended to read as

4 follows:

5 ‘‘BIENNIAL ADOPTION OF JOINT RESOLUTION ON THE

6 BUDGET

7 SEC. 301. (a) CONTENT OF JOINT RESOLUTION ON

8 THE BUDGET.—Beginning in calendar year 1997, on or

9 before May 15 of each odd numbered year, the Congress

10 shall complete action on a joint resolution on the budget

11 for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year

12 and for the following fiscal year (the biennial budget
13

HR 2599 IH

1 years). The joint resolution shall also set forth appropriate

2 levels for each of the two ensuing budget biennia. The

3 joint resolution shall specify the following for each fiscal

4 year—

5 ‘‘(1) total new budget authority and outlays;

6 ‘‘(2) total Federal revenues and the amount, if

7 any, by which the aggregate level of Federal reve8 nues should be increased or decreased by bills and

9 resolutions to be reported by the appropriate com10 mittees;

11 ‘‘(3) the budget surplus or deficit;

12 ‘‘(4) new budget authority and budget outlays

13 for each major functional category, based on alloca14 tions of the total levels set forth pursuant to para15 graph (1);

16 ‘‘(5) the public debt;

17 ‘‘(6) amounts for spending caps for all budget

18 authority, outlays and entitlement authority (except

19 for matters exempted from the caps under section

20 606 of this Act), including—

21 ‘‘(A) total discretionary spending, which

22 may be subdivided according to section

23 301(b)(3) of this Act; and

24 ‘‘(B) total direct spending, with separate

25 caps for—
14

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(i) programs (as described in table

2 10 of the August 1995 Congressional

3 Budget Office Report entitled ‘‘The Eco4 nomic and Budget Outlook: An Update’’)

5 with estimated outlays for any fiscal year

6 that equal or exceed $20 billion;

7 ‘‘(ii) such other programs or groups of

8 programs as may be provided in the joint

9 resolution.

10 ‘‘(iii) the remainder of direct spending

11 programs.

12 ‘‘(7) an amount of budget authority and outlays

13 for each fiscal year equal to or greater than one per14 cent of the spending caps for total discretionary

15 budget authority and total discretionary outlays for

16 such fiscal year (as set forth pursuant to section

17 301(a)(6)(A) of this Act) that is withheld from allo18 cation pursuant to section 302(a) of this act to pro19 vide a reserve fund for contingencies.

20 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS IN JOINT RESOLU21 TION.—The joint resolution on the budget may—

22 ‘‘(1) include reconciliation directives described

23 in section 310;

24 ‘‘(2) require a procedure under which all or cer25 tain bills or resolutions providing new budget au-
15

HR 2599 IH

1 thority or new entitlement authority for the biennial

2 budget years shall not be enrolled until the Congress

3 has completed action on any reconciliation bill or

4 reconciliation resolution or both required by such

5 joint resolution to be reported in accordance with

6 section 310(b);

7 ‘‘(3) require or modify a procedure establishing

8 firewalls between categories of spending or programs

9 subject to specific caps as provided in section

10 301(a)(6)(A) of this Act; and

11 ‘‘(4) set forth such other matters, and require

12 such other procedures, relating to the budget as may

13 be appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act

14 and the joint resolution.

15 ‘‘(c) VIEWS AND ESTIMATES OF OTHER COMMIT16 TEES.—Within 6 weeks after the President submits a

17 budget under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States

18 Code, each committee of the House of Representatives

19 having legislative jurisdiction shall submit to the Commit20 tee on the Budget of the House and each committee of

21 the Senate having legislative jurisdiction shall submit to

22 the Committee on the Budget of the Senate its views and

23 estimates (as determined by the committee making such

24 submission) with respect to all matters set forth in sub25 sections (a) and (b) which relate to matters within the
16

HR 2599 IH

1 jurisdiction or functions of such committee. Any other

2 Committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate

3 may submit to the Committee on the Budget of its House,

4 and any joint committee of the Congress may submit to

5 the Committees on the Budget of both Houses, its views

6 and estimates with respect to all matters set forth in sub7 sections (a) and (b) which relate to matters within its ju8 risdiction or functions.

9 ‘‘(d) HEARINGS AND REPORT.—In developing the

10 joint resolution on the budget referred to in subsection (a)

11 for each budget biennium, the Committee on the Budget

12 of each House shall hold hearings and shall receive testi13 mony from Members of Congress and such appropriate

14 representatives of Federal departments and agencies, the

15 general public, and national organizations as the commit16 tee deems desirable. The report accompanying such joint

17 resolution shall include, but not be limited to—

18 ‘‘(1) a comparison of revenues estimated by the

19 committee with those estimated in the budget sub20 mitted by the President;

21 ‘‘(2) a comparison of the appropriate levels of

22 total budget outlays and total new budget authority

23 as set forth in such joint resolution with those esti24 mated or requested in the budget submitted by the

25 President;
17

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(3) with respect to each major functional cat2 egory, an estimate of budget outlays and an appro3 priate level of new budget authority for all proposed

4 programs and for all existing programs (including

5 renewals thereof), with the estimate and level for ex6 isting programs being divided between permanent

7 authority and funds provided in appropriation Acts,

8 and with each such division being subdivided be9 tween controllable amounts and all other amounts;

10 ‘‘(4) an allocation of the level of Federal reve11 nues recommended in the concurrent resolution

12 among the major sources of such revenues;

13 ‘‘(5) the economic assumptions and objectives

14 which underlie each of the matters set forth in such

15 concurrent resolution and any alternative economic

16 assumptions and objectives which the committee

17 considered;

18 ‘‘(6) projections (not limited to the following),

19 for the period of ten fiscal years beginning with such

20 fiscal year, of the estimated levels of total budget

21 outlays and total new budget authority, the esti22 mated revenues to be received, and the estimated

23 surplus or deficit, if any, for each fiscal year in such

24 period, and the estimated levels of tax expenditures
18

HR 2599 IH

1 (the tax expenditures budget) by major functional

2 categories;

3 ‘‘(7) a statement of any significant changes in

4 the proposed levels of Federal assistance to State

5 and local governments;

6 ‘‘(8) information, data, and comparisons indi7 cating the manner in which, and the basis on which,

8 the committee determined each of the matters set

9 forth in the joint resolution;

10 ‘‘(9) allocations described in section 302(a); and

11 ‘‘(10) an analysis, prepared after consultation

12 with the Director of the Congressional Budget Of13 fice, of the joint resolution’s impact on the inter14 national competitiveness of United States business

15 and the United States balance of payments position

16 and shall include the following projections, based

17 upon the best information available at the time, for

18 the fiscal years covered by the joint resolution—

19 ‘‘(A) the amount of borrowing by the Gov20 ernment in private credit markets;

21 ‘‘(B) net domestic savings (defined as per22 sonal savings, corporate savings, and the fiscal

23 surplus of State and local government);

24 ‘‘(C) net private domestic investment;
19

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(D) the merchandise trade and current

2 accounts;

3 ‘‘(E) the net increase or decrease in for4 eign indebtedness (defined as net foreign invest5 ment); and

6 ‘‘(F) the estimated direction and extent of

7 the influence of the Government’s borrowing in

8 private credit markets on United States dollar

9 interest rates and on the real effective exchange

10 rate of the United States dollar.

11 ‘‘(e) ECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS.—

12 ‘‘(1) The joint explanatory statement accom13 panying a conference report on a joint resolution on

14 the budget shall set forth the common economic as15 sumptions upon which such joint statement and con16 ference report are based, or upon which any amend17 ment contained in the joint explanatory statement to

18 be proposed by the conferees in the case of technical

19 disagreement, is based.

20 ‘‘(2) Subject to periodic re-estimation based on

21 changed economic conditions or technical estimates,

22 determinations under titles III, IV and VI of the

23 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 shall be based

24 upon such common economic and technical assump25 tions.’’.
20

HR 2599 IH

1 SEC. 104. COMMITTEE ALLOCATIONS.

2 Section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

3 is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘COMMITTEE ALLOCATIONS

5 ‘‘SEC. 302. ‘‘(a) ALLOCATION OF TOTALS.—

6 ‘‘(1) For the House of Representatives, the

7 joint explanatory statement accompanying a con8 ference report on a joint resolution on the budget

9 shall include an estimated allocation, based on such

10 joint resolution as recommended in such conference

11 report, of the appropriate levels of total budget out12 lays, total budget authority, and total entitlement

13 authority among each committee of the House of

14 Representatives which has jurisdiction over laws,

15 bills and resolutions providing such new budget au16 thority and such entitlement authority. Pursuant to

17 paragraph (3), the allocation shall insure that

18 amounts set aside for natural disasters shall be

19 available only for such purposes.

20 ‘‘(2) For the Senate, the joint explanatory

21 statement accompanying a conference report on a

22 joint resolution on the budget shall include an esti23 mated allocation, based upon such joint resolution as

24 recommended in such conference report, of the ap25 propriate levels for each fiscal year of total budget

26 outlays, total budget authority and total entitlement
21

HR 2599 IH

1 authority among each committee of the Senate

2 which has jurisdiction over bills and resolutions pro3 viding such budget authority. Pursuant to paragraph

4 (3), the allocation shall insure that amounts set

5 aside for natural disasters shall be available only for

6 such purposes.

7 ‘‘(3) CONTINGENCY RESERVE FOR NATURAL

8 DISASTERS.—The joint resolution on the budget

9 shall specify the amount of new budget authority

10 and outlays within the discretionary spending cap

11 that shall be withheld from allocation to the commit12 tees and reserved for natural disasters, and a proce13 dure for releasing such funds for allocation to the

14 committee of jurisdiction. The amount withheld shall

15 be equal to one percent of the total discretionary

16 cap, unless additional amounts are specified.

17 ‘‘(A) Such procedure shall insure that

18 funds are released for allocation only if—

19 ‘‘(i) The President has made a re20 quest for such disaster funds;

21 ‘‘(ii) The programs to be funded are

22 included in the Presidential request;

23 ‘‘(iii) The projected obligations for un24 foreseen emergency needs exceed the ten25 year rolling average annual expenditure for
22

HR 2599 IH

1 existing programs included in the Presi2 dential request for the applicable fiscal

3 year or fiscal years.

4 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding any other provision

5 of law, such procedure shall also—

6 ‘‘(i) Require States and localities to

7 maintain effort and ensure that Federal

8 assistance payments do not replace,

9 subvent or otherwise have the effect of re10 ducing regularly budgeted State and local

11 expenditures for law enforcement, fire

12 fighting, road construction and mainte13 nance, building construction and mainte14 nance and/or any other category of regular

15 government expenditure. The purpose of

16 this clause is to ensure that Federal disas17 ter assistance payments are made only for

18 incremental costs directly attributable to

19 unforeseen events resulting from unfore20 seen disasters, and do not replace or re21 duce regular State and local expenditures

22 for the same or similar purposes.

23 ‘‘(ii) Prohibit the President from tak24 ing administrative action to waive any re25 quirement for States and/or localities to
23

HR 2599 IH

1 make minimum matching payments as a

2 condition of receiving Federal disaster as3 sistance; and/or prohibit the President

4 from taking administrative action to waive

5 all or part of any repayment of Federal

6 loans for the State and/or local matching

7 share required as a condition of receiving

8 Federal disaster assistance. This clause

9 shall apply to all matching share require10 ment and loans to meet matching share re11 quirements under the Robert T. Stafford

12 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) and/or any

14 and all other Acts pursuant to which the

15 President may declare a disaster or disas16 ters and States and/or localities otherwise

17 qualify for Federal disaster assistance.

18 ‘‘(iii) Require a two-thirds vote in

19 each House of Congress, for each emer20 gency, to reduce or waive the State match21 ing requirement or to forgive all or part of

22 loans for the State matching share as re23 quired under the Robert T. Stafford Disas24 ter Relief and Emergency Assistance Act

25 (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).
24

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(b) REPORTS BY COMMITTEES.—As soon as prac2 ticable after a joint resolution on the budget is enacted—

3 ‘‘(1) the Committees on Appropriations of each

4 House shall, after consulting with the Committee on

5 Appropriations of the other House subdivide among

6 its subcommittees the allocation of budget outlays,

7 and new budget authority allocated to it in the joint

8 budget resolution; and

9 ‘‘(2) every other committee of the House and

10 Senate to which an allocation was made in such

11 joint budget resolution shall, after consulting with

12 the committee or committees of the other house to

13 which all or part of its allocation was made, sub14 divide such allocation among its subcommittees or

15 among programs over which it has jurisdiction.

16 Each such committee shall promptly report to its House

17 the subdivisions made by it pursuant to this subsection.

18 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER.—It shall not be in order in

19 the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider

20 any bill or resolution, or amendment thereto, providing—

21 ‘‘(1) new budget authority for a fiscal year; or

22 ‘‘(2) new spending authority as described in

23 section 3(11) of this Act for a fiscal year—

24 within the jurisdiction of any committee which has re25 ceived an appropriate allocation of such authority pursu-
25

HR 2599 IH

1 ant to subsection (a) for such fiscal year, unless and until

2 such committee makes the allocation of subdivisions re3 quired by subsection (b), in connection with the most re4 cently enacted joint resolution on the budget for such fis5 cal year.

6 ‘‘(d) SUBSEQUENT JOINT RESOLUTIONS.—In the

7 case of a joint resolution on the budget referred to in sec8 tion 304(a) of this Act, the subdivisions under subsection

9 (b) shall be required only to the extent necessary to take

10 into account revisions made in the most recently enacted

11 joint resolution on the budget.

12 ‘‘(e) ALTERATION OF ALLOCATIONS.—At any time

13 after a committee reports the subdivision required to be

14 made under subsection (b), such committee may report to

15 its House an alteration of such subdivision. Any alteration

16 of such subdivision must be consistent with any actions

17 already taken by its House on legislation within the com18 mittee’s jurisdiction.

19 ‘‘(f) LEGISLATION SUBJECT TO POINT OF ORDER.—

20 After enactment of a joint resolution on the budget for

21 a fiscal year, it shall not be in order in the House of Rep22 resentatives or the Senate to consider any bill, resolution,

23 or amendment providing new budget authority for such

24 fiscal year, or new entitlement authority effective during
26

HR 2599 IH

1 such fiscal year for such fiscal year, or any conference re2 port on any such bill or resolution, if—

3 ‘‘(1) the enactment of such bill or resolution as

4 reported;

5 ‘‘(2) the adoption and enactment of such

6 amendment; or

7 ‘‘(3) the enactment of such bill or resolution in

8 the form recommended in such conference report;

9 would cause the appropriate allocation made pursuant to

10 subsection (a) or subdivision made under subsection (b)

11 of this section for each fiscal year of new discretionary

12 budget authority or new entitlement authority to be ex13 ceeded.

14 ‘‘(g) DETERMINATIONS BY BUDGET COMMITTEES.—

15 For purposes of this section, the levels of new budget au16 thority, entitlement authority, and outlays for a fiscal year

17 shall be determined on the basis of estimates made by the

18 Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives

19 or the Senate, as the case may be.’’.

20 SEC. 105. BACKSTOP BUDGET RESOLUTION.

21 Section 303 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

22 is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘BACKSTOP BUDGET RESOLUTION

24 ‘‘SEC. 303. BACKSTOP BUDGET RESOLUTION.

25 ‘‘Following May 15 of any odd numbered year, if a joint

26 resolution on the budget has not yet been enacted for the
27

HR 2599 IH

1 upcoming biennial budget years, then the amounts and

2 caps established for those years in the most recently en3 acted joint budget resolution shall be binding as if they

4 had been enacted pursuant to this section.’’.

5 SEC. 106. REVISIONS TO JOINT BUDGET RESOLUTIONS AND

6 SPENDING CAPS.

7 Section 304 of the Congressional Budget Act is

8 amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘REVISIONS TO JOINT BUDGET RESOLUTIONS AND

10 SPENDING CAPS

11 ‘‘SEC. 304. PERMISSIBLE REVISIONS TO JOINT RESOLU12 TIONS ON THE BUDGET AND SPENDING CAPS.

13 ‘‘(a) REVISIONS TO JOINT BUDGET RESOLUTIONS.—

14 At any time after the enactment of a joint resolution on

15 the budget pursuant to section 301 of this Act, Congress

16 may consider a joint resolution on the budget which re17 vises or reaffirms the joint resolution on the budget for

18 the biennial budget years most recently agreed to.

19 ‘‘(b) REVISIONS TO SPENDING CAPS.—

20 ‘‘(1) AUTOMATIC ADJUSTMENTS TO SPENDING

21 LIMITS.—When the President submits the budget

22 under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States

23 Code, for any year, and when reports are submitted

24 pursuant to section 602 of this Act, OMB shall cal25 culate (in the order set forth below), and the budget

26 and reports shall include, adjustments to the spend-
28

HR 2599 IH

1 ing limits (and those limits as cumulatively ad2 justed) for the budget year and each outyear, to re3 flect the following:

4 ‘‘(A) CHANGES IN CONCEPTS AND DEFINI5 TIONS.—The adjustments produced by changes

6 in concepts and definitions shall equal the base7 line levels of new budget authority and outlays

8 using up-to-date concepts and definitions minus

9 those levels using the concepts and definitions

10 in effect before such changes. Such changes in

11 concepts and definitions may only be made in

12 consultation with the Committees on Appropria13 tions, the Budget, Government Reform and

14 Oversight and Governmental Affairs of the

15 House of Representatives and Senate.

16 ‘‘(B) CHANGES IN INFLATION.—

17 ‘‘(i) There shall be no adjustment to

18 discretionary spending caps for changes in

19 inflation. For direct spending programs

20 where adjustments for inflation are re21 quired by existing law, the direct spending

22 caps shall be adjusted for inflation. The

23 adjustments produced by changes in infla24 tion shall equal the level of new budget au25 thority and outlays in the most recently
29

HR 2599 IH

1 published current law baseline recalculated

2 with baseline inflation factor for the bien3 nium covered in reports submitted pursu4 ant to section 602.

5 ‘‘(ii) For the biennium, the inflation

6 adjustment factors shall equal the ratio be7 tween the level of year-over-year inflation

8 measured for the fiscal year most recently

9 completed and the applicable estimated

10 level for those years included in the Joint

11 Statement of Managers pursuant to section

12 301(e).

13 ‘‘(iii) Inflation shall be measured as

14 follows: for indexed programs, inflation

15 shall be measured by the changes in the

16 index specified in law; for programs provid17 ing health care, inflation shall be measured

18 by changes in the consumer price index for

19 all urban consumers for medical care com20 ponents (CPI–U medical care); and for all

21 other programs, inflation shall be meas22 ured by changes in the consumer price

23 index for all urban consumers (CPI–U).

24 ‘‘(C) CHANGES IN UNEMPLOYMENT AND

25 INTEREST RATES.—For direct spending caps,
30

HR 2599 IH

1 OMB shall make adjustments in new budget

2 authority and outlays for changes in actual un3 employment and interest rates, in the most re4 cent period for which such data is available, rel5 ative to the baseline contained in the Statement

6 of Managers accompanying the most recently

7 enacted joint budget resolution, pursuant to

8 section 301(e) of this Act. The baseline and the

9 caps for direct spending programs shall be ad10 justed to reflect those changes.

11 ‘‘(D) CHANGES IN ELIGIBLE POPU12 LATIONS.—For direct spending caps, OMB

13 shall make adjustments in new budget authority

14 and outlays for changes in the number of eligi15 ble beneficiaries (the eligible population), com16 pared to the number projected to be eligible in

17 the calculation of the baseline contained in the

18 Statement of Managers accompanying the most

19 recently enacted joint budget resolution, pursu20 ant to section 301(e) of this Act.

21 ‘‘(E) Intra-budgetary payments from dis22 cretionary accounts to mandatory accounts.

23 ‘‘(2) PERMISSIBLE REVISIONS TO SPENDING

24 CAPS.—Spending caps enacted pursuant to section

25 301(a)(6) of this Act may be revised as follows:
31

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(A) PERMISSIBLE ADJUSTMENTS.—Ex2 cept for amendments offered pursuant to sub3 section (c), spending caps enacted pursuant to

4 section 301(a)(6) of this Act may only be

5 amended by recorded vote. It shall be a matter

6 of highest privilege in the House of Representa7 tives and the Senate for a Member of the

8 House of Representatives or the Senate to in9 sist on a recorded vote solely on the question

10 of amending such spending caps.

11 ‘‘(c) LOCK-BOX AMENDMENT.—Notwithstanding any

12 other law or any rule of the House of Representatives or

13 the Senate, it shall always be in order to offer an amend14 ment to a bill providing discretionary budget authority or

15 budget outlays that would—

16 ‘‘(1) only reduce such budget authority or budg17 et outlays; and

18 ‘‘(2) reduce the appropriate caps in the most

19 recently enacted joint budget resolution for such

20 budget authority or budget outlays by an amount

21 less than or equal to the amount of the reduction in

22 the amendment.’’.

23 SEC. 107. BUDGET ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.

24 Title VI of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is

25 amended to read as follows—
32

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘TITLE VI—BUDGET

2 ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS

3 ‘‘SEC. 601. ENFORCING SPENDING CAPS.

4 ‘‘(a) GENERAL STATEMENT ON SPENDING CAPS.—

5 This title provides enforcement of the caps on categories

6 of spending established in joint budget resolutions under

7 section 301(a)(6) of this Act. The provisions of this title

8 trigger sequestration of discretionary and direct spending

9 that exceeds an applicable spending cap.

10 ‘‘(b) OVERALL RULES.—

11 ‘‘(1) ELIMINATING A BREACH.—Each non-ex12 empt account within a category shall be reduced by

13 a dollar amount calculated by multiplying the base14 line level of sequestrable budgetary resources in that

15 account at that time by the uniform percentage nec16 essary to eliminate a breach within that category. If,

17 within a category, the discretionary spending limits

18 for both new budget authority and outlays are

19 breached, the uniform percentage shall be calculated

20 by—

21 ‘‘(A) first, calculating the uniform percent22 age necessary to eliminate the breach in new

23 budget authority, and
33

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(B) second, if any breach in outlays re2 mains, increasing the uniform percentage to a

3 level sufficient to eliminate that breach.

4 ‘‘(2) PROGRAMS, PROJECTS, OR ACTIVITIES.—

5 Except as otherwise provided, the same percentage

6 sequestration shall apply to all programs, projects,

7 and activities within a budget account (with pro8 grams, projects, and activities as delineated in the

9 appropriation Act or accompanying report for the

10 relevant fiscal year covering that account, or for ac11 counts not included in appropriation Acts, as identi12 fied in the section ‘Federal Programs by Agency and

13 Account’ as it appears in the Analytical Perspectives

14 to the President’s fiscal year 1996 budget proposal

15 beginning at page 337.

16 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES ASSOCIATED

17 WITH CERTAIN PROGRAMS.—Notwithstanding any

18 exemption, general rule or special rule in this Act,

19 administrative expenses associated with all programs

20 shall be fully subject to sequestration under this sec21 tion.

22 ‘‘(4) INDEFINITE AUTHORITY.—Except as oth23 erwise provided, sequestration in accounts for which

24 obligations are indefinite shall be taken in a manner

25 to ensure that obligations in the fiscal year of a se-
34

HR 2599 IH

1 questration and succeeding fiscal years are reduced,

2 from the level that would actually have occurred, by

3 the applicable sequestration percentage or percent4 ages.

5 ‘‘(5) CANCELLATION OF BUDGETARY RE6 SOURCES.—Budgetary resources sequestered from

7 any account other than an entitlement trust, special,

8 or revolving fund account shall revert to the Treas9 ury and be permanently canceled or repealed.

10 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.—Adminis11 trative regulations or similar actions implementing

12 the sequestration of a program or activity shall be

13 made within 30 days of the effective date of the se14 questration of that program or activity.

15 ‘‘(7) PART YEAR APPROPRIATIONS.—If, within

16 15 days after Congress adjourns to end a session,

17 there is in effect an Act making or continuing ap18 propriations for part of a fiscal year for any budget

19 account, then the dollar sequestration calculated for

20 that account under paragraph (1) shall be sub21 tracted from—

22 ‘‘(A) the annualized amount otherwise

23 available by law in that account under that or

24 a subsequent part-year appropriation; and
35

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(B) when a full-year appropriation for the

2 account is enacted, from the amount otherwise

3 provided by the full-year appropriation.

4 ‘‘(8) MILITARY PERSONNEL.—If the President

5 uses the authority to exempt any military personnel

6 from sequestration under section 606(j) each ac7 count within subfunctional category 051 (other than

8 those military personnel accounts for which the au9 thority provided under section 606(j) has been exer10 cised) shall be further reduced by a dollar amount

11 calculated by multiplying the enacted levels of non12 exempt budgetary resources in that account at that

13 time by the uniform percentage necessary to offset

14 the total dollar amount by which outlays are not re15 duced in military personnel accounts by reason of

16 the use of such authority.

17 ‘‘SEC. 602. REPORTING EXCESS SPENDING.

18 ‘‘(a) ANALYSIS OF ACTUAL SPENDING LEVELS.—

19 Following the end of any fiscal year the Director of the

20 Office of Management and Budget shall compile a state21 ment of actual spending for that year. The statement shall

22 identify such spending by categories contained in section

23 301(a)(6) of this Act.

24 ‘‘(b) ESTIMATE OF NECESSARY SPENDING REDUC25 TION.—Based on the statement provided under subsection
36

HR 2599 IH

1 (a), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

2 shall issue a report to the President and the Congress on

3 December 15 of any year in which such statement identi4 fies actual spending in excess of amounts allocated under

5 the most recently enacted joint resolution on the budget

6 by more than one percent of the budget cap established

7 for total discretionary spending and total direct spending

8 over the course of a budget biennium. Such report shall

9 identify:

10 ‘‘(1) All instances in which actual spending has

11 exceeded the appropriate budget cap or caps estab12 lished pursuant to Section 301(a)(6) of this Act;

13 ‘‘(2) The amount by which actual spending has

14 exceeded the appropriate budget cap or caps as iden15 tified under the preceding paragraph;

16 ‘‘(3) For the current fiscal year, the difference

17 between the amount of spending available under the

18 budget caps identified under paragraph (1) and esti19 mated actual spending for the categories associated

20 with such caps;

21 ‘‘(4) The amounts by which spending must be

22 reduced in the current fiscal year so that total ac23 tual and estimated spending for all cap categories

24 identified under paragraph (1) for the current and

25 immediately preceding fiscal years shall not exceed
37

HR 2599 IH

1 the total amounts available for such fiscal years in

2 the most recently enacted joint resolution on the

3 budget.

4 ‘‘(5) If the excess spending, in whole or in part,

5 has resulted solely from changes in inflation, interest

6 rates, unemployment or eligible population, the

7 amounts by which such spending has resulted solely

8 from such factors.

9 ‘‘(c) TIMETABLE.—The timetable with respect to re10 ports and orders required under this title is as follows:

ODD-NUMBERED YEARS

‘‘Date Action to be Completed

January 15 .................................... CBO economic and budget update.

First Monday in February ............ President’s budget (Includes sequestration update based on new assumptions).

August 1 ........................................ Baseline update.

August 15 ...................................... Preview report.

December 15 .................................. OMB issues final (lookback) report

for prior year and preview for current year.

December 15 .................................. Presidential sequester order.

EVEN-NUMBERED YEARS

‘‘Date Action to be Completed

January 15 .................................... CBO economic and budget update

First Monday in February ............ OMB baseline revision.

August 1 ........................................ Revised baseline.

August 15 ...................................... Preview fiscal years ending and beginning on October 1.

December 15 .................................. OMB issues final (lookback) report

for prior year and preview for current year.

11 ‘‘SEC. 603. PRESIDENTIAL ORDERS TO ELIMINATE EXCESS

12 SPENDING.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Following the submission of any

14 report made by the Director of the Office of Management
38

HR 2599 IH

1 and Budget under section 602 of this Act, the President

2 shall issue an order eliminating all excess actual and esti3 mated spending.

4 ‘‘(b) TIMING OF ORDER.—The order required under

5 this section shall be issued on December 15.

6 ‘‘SEC. 604. ENFORCING DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS.

7 ‘‘(a) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING.—All discretionary

8 appropriations shall be subject to budget authority and

9 outlay caps for each fiscal year. Consistent with the total

10 cap or caps, such cap may be subdivided according to the

11 procedures established pursuant to section 301(b)(3) of

12 this Act.

13 ‘‘(b) GENERAL RULES.—

14 ‘‘(1) LOOKBACK ADJUSTMENT FOR DISCRE15 TIONARY SPENDING.—For fiscal years where actual

16 spending exceeded spending permitted under the dis17 cretionary spending budget authority or outlay caps

18 as established under section 301(a)(6), the sequester

19 shall eliminate the entire overage or overages and:

20 ‘‘(A) The budget authority cap or caps for

21 such discretionary spending for the current fis22 cal year shall be revised downward by an

23 amount sufficient to eliminate the overage or

24 overages, and the outlay cap or caps for such

25 discretionary spending for the current and sub-
39

HR 2599 IH

1 sequent (if necessary) fiscal year or years shall

2 be adjusted downward by an amount sufficient

3 to eliminate the overage.

4 ‘‘(B) Where no firewalls have been estab5 lished, the entire overage shall be sequestered

6 from spending under the aggregate cap and the

7 appropriate cap or caps shall be adjusted ac8 cordingly.

9 ‘‘(C) Where discretionary spending fire10 walls have been established, and if spending is

11 projected to exceed any discretionary spending

12 cap or caps, all excess spending in a particular

13 firewall category shall be sequestered from that

14 category and the cap or caps for that category

15 or categories shall be adjusted accordingly.

16 ‘‘(2) PROSPECTIVE ADJUSTMENT FOR DISCRE17 TIONARY SPENDING.—For fiscal years where actual

18 spending is projected to exceed spending permitted

19 under a discretionary spending cap or caps, excess

20 spending shall be sequestered following the proce21 dures set forth in subparagraphs (1) (C) and (D).

22 ‘‘(3) WITHIN-SESSION SEQUESTERS.—If a bill

23 or resolution providing discretionary appropriations

24 for a fiscal year in progress is enacted before July

25 1 of that fiscal year that causes a breach within a
40

HR 2599 IH

1 discretionary spending cap or caps for that year, 15

2 days later there shall be a sequestration to eliminate

3 that breach within that cap or caps following the

4 procedures set forth in subparagraphs (1) (C) and

5 (D).

6 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES FOR DISCRETIONARY SPEND7 ING.—

8 ‘‘(1) CONTINGENT FEES.—In any account for

9 which fees charged to the public are legally deter10 mined by the level of appropriations, fees shall be

11 charged on the basis of the pre-sequestration level of

12 appropriations.

13 ‘‘(2) BIENNIAL APPROPRIATIONS.—With regard

14 to new budget authority which is provided in an ap15 propriation Act for two more years, the following

16 special rules shall apply—

17 ‘‘(A) Sequestration following the end of a

18 biennial budget period shall eliminate 100 per19 cent of any overage for the biennium.

20 ‘‘(B) Sequestration following the end of

21 the first year of a biennial budget period shall

22 eliminate the lesser of—

23 ‘‘(i) the actual overage in the first

24 year of the biennium, or
41

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) 50 percent of the total overage

2 projected for the biennium.

3 ‘‘SEC. 605. ENFORCING DIRECT SPENDING LIMITS.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—All direct spending (except mat5 ters exempted from the caps under section 606 of this Act)

6 shall be subject to caps on total outlays for each fiscal

7 year. Consistent with the cap on total outlays, separate

8 caps shall be established for—

9 ‘‘(1) any program (as named in Table 10 of the

10 August 1995 Congressional Budget Office Report

11 entitled ‘‘The Economic and Budget Outlook: An

12 Update’’) with outlays equal to or in excess of $20

13 billion in any fiscal year;

14 ‘‘(2) such other program or group of programs

15 as may be identified in the joint budget resolution;

16 and

17 ‘‘(3) the remainder of direct spending pro18 grams.

19 ‘‘(b) DIRECT SPENDING.—For all direct spending

20 programs (except matters exempted from the caps under

21 section 606 and programs subject to the special rules set

22 forth under section 607), notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of law, any sequestration required under this Act

24 shall reduce benefit levels by an amount sufficient to elimi25 nate all excess spending identified in the report issued
42

HR 2599 IH

1 pursuant to section 602, except for those amounts identi2 fied under section 602(b)(5), while maintaining the same

3 uniform percentage reduction in the monetary value of

4 benefits subject to reduction under this subsection.

5 ‘‘(c) GENERAL RULES FOR DIRECT SPENDING.—For

6 programs subject to direct spending caps:

7 ‘‘(1) Sequestration is triggered if total direct

8 spending subject to the caps exceeds or is projected

9 to exceed the aggregate cap for direct spending for

10 the biennium.

11 ‘‘(2) Sequestration shall reduce spending under

12 each separate direct spending cap in proportion to

13 the amounts each category of direct spending con14 tributes or contributed to the overage.

15 ‘‘(3) UNIFORM PERCENTAGES.—In calculating

16 the uniform percentage applicable to the sequestra17 tion of all direct spending programs or activities, or

18 the uniform percentage applicable to the sequestra19 tion of nonexempt direct spending programs or ac20 tivities, the sequestrable base for direct spending

21 programs and activities is the total level of outlays

22 for the biennium for those programs or activities in

23 the current law baseline.
43

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(4) Sequestration following the end of a bien2 nial budget period shall eliminate 100 percent of any

3 overage for the biennium.

4 ‘‘(5) Sequestration following the end of the first

5 year of a biennial budget period shall eliminate the

6 lesser of—

7 ‘‘(A) the actual overage in the first year of

8 the biennium, or

9 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of the total overage pro10 jected for the biennium.

11 ‘‘(6) PERMANENT SEQUESTRATION OF DIRECT

12 SPENDING.—Obligations in sequestered direct spend13 ing accounts shall be reduced in the fiscal year in

14 which a sequestration occurs and in all succeeding

15 fiscal years. Notwithstanding any other provision of

16 this section, after the first direct spending seques17 tration, any later sequestration shall reduce direct

18 spending by an amount in addition to, rather than

19 in lieu of, the reduction in direct spending in place

20 under the existing sequestration or sequestrations.

21 ‘‘(7) For any direct spending program in which:

22 ‘‘(A) Outlays pay for entitlement benefits.

23 ‘‘(B) A budget-year sequestration takes ef24 fect after the 1st day of the budget year.
44

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(C) That delay reduces the amount of en2 titlement authority that is subject to sequestra3 tion in the budget, the uniform percentage oth4 erwise applicable to the sequestration of that

5 program in the budget year shall be increased

6 as necessary to achieve the same budget-year

7 outlay reduction in that program as would have

8 been achieved had there been no delay.

9 ‘‘(D) If the uniform percentage otherwise

10 applicable to the budget-year sequestration of a

11 program or activity is increased due to the

12 delay, then it shall revert to the uniform per13 centage calculated under paragraph (3) when

14 the budget year is completed.

15 ‘‘(8) INDEXED BENEFIT PAYMENTS.—If, under

16 any entitlement program—

17 ‘‘(A) benefit payments are made to persons

18 or governments more frequently than once a

19 year, and

20 ‘‘(B) the amount of entitlement authority

21 is periodically adjusted under existing law to re22 flect changes in a price index (commonly called

23 ‘cost of living adjustments’),

24 sequestration shall first be applied to the cost of liv25 ing adjustment before reductions are made to the
45

HR 2599 IH

1 base benefit. For the first fiscal year to which a se2 questration order applies, the benefit payment re3 ductions in such programs accomplished by the

4 order shall take effect starting with the payment

5 made at the beginning of January following a final

6 sequester order. For the purposes of this subsection,

7 Veterans Compensation shall be considered a pro8 gram that meets the conditions of the preceding sen9 tence.

10 ‘‘(9) LOAN PROGRAMS.—For all loan programs

11 subject to direct spending caps made on or after the

12 date of a sequestration, the fees paid by borrowers

13 shall be increased by a uniform percentage sufficient

14 to produce the dollar savings in such loan programs

15 for the fiscal year of the sequestration required by

16 this section. All subsequent fees shall be increased

17 by the same percentage, and all proceeds from such

18 fees shall be paid into the general fund of the Treas19 ury, in any year for which a sequester affecting such

20 programs is in effect, notwithstanding any other

21 provision of law).

22 ‘‘(10) INSURANCE PROGRAMS.—Any sequestra23 tion in a Federal program that sells insurance con24 tracts to the public (including the Federal Crop In25 surance Fund, the National Insurance Development
46

HR 2599 IH

1 Fund, the National Flood Insurance Fund, insur2 ance activities of the Overseas Private Insurance

3 Corporation, and Veterans’ life insurance programs)

4 shall be accomplished by increasing premiums on

5 contracts entered into after the date a sequestration

6 order takes effect by the uniform sequestration per7 centage. Proceeds from the premium increase shall

8 be paid from the insurance fund or account to the

9 general fund of the Treasury in any year for which

10 a sequester affecting such programs are in effect.

11 ‘‘(11) STATE GRANT FORMULAS.—For all stage

12 grant programs subject to direct spending caps the

13 total amount of funds available for all states shall be

14 reduced by the amount required to be sequestered.

15 ‘‘(d) WITHIN SESSION SEQUESTER.—If a bill or reso16 lution providing direct spending for a fiscal year in

17 progress is enacted before July 1 of that fiscal year that

18 causes a breach within a direct spending cap or caps for

19 that year, 15 days later there shall be a sequestration to

20 eliminate that breach within that cap or caps following

21 the procedures set forth in subsection (a).

22 ‘‘SEC. 606. EXEMPT PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.

23 ‘‘The following budget accounts, activities within ac24 counts, or income shall be exempt from sequestration—

25 ‘‘(a) net interest;
47

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(b) all payments to trust funds from excise

2 taxes or other receipts or collections properly cred3 itable to those trust funds;

4 ‘‘(c) offsetting receipts and collections;

5 ‘‘(d) all payments from one Federal direct

6 spending budget account to another Federal budget

7 account; all intragovernmental funds including those

8 from which funding is derived primarily from other

9 Government accounts;

10 ‘‘(e) expenses to the extent they result from pri11 vate donations, bequests, or voluntary contributions

12 to the Government;

13 ‘‘(f) nonbudgetary activities, including but not

14 limited to—

15 ‘‘(1) credit liquidating and financing ac16 counts;

17 ‘‘(2) the Pension Benefit Guarantee Cor18 poration Trust Funds;

19 ‘‘(3) the Thrift Savings Fund;

20 ‘‘(4) the Federal Reserve System; and

21 ‘‘(5) appropriations for the District of Co22 lumbia to the extent they are appropriations of

23 locally raised funds;

24 ‘‘(g) payments resulting from Government in25 surance, Government guarantees, or any other form
48

HR 2599 IH

1 of contingent liability, to the extent those payments

2 result from contractual or other legally binding com3 mitments of the Government at the time of any se4 questration;

5 ‘‘(h) the following accounts, which largely fulfill

6 requirements of the Constitution or otherwise make

7 payments to which the Government is committed—

8 ‘‘(1) Bureau of Indian Affairs, miscellane9 ous trust funds, tribal trust funds (14–9973–0–

10 7–999);

11 ‘‘(2) Claims, defense;

12 ‘‘(3) Claims, judgments, and relief act

13 (20–1895–0–1–806);

14 ‘‘(4) Compact of Free Association, eco15 nomic assistance pursuant to Public Law 99–

16 658 (14–0415–0–1–806);

17 ‘‘(5) Compensation of the President (11–

18 0001–0–1–802);

19 ‘‘(6) Customs Service, miscellaneous per20 manent appropriations (20–9992–0–2–852);

21 ‘‘(7) Eastern Indian land claims settlement

22 fund (14–2202–0–1–806);

23 ‘‘(8) Farm Credit System Financial Assist24 ance Corporation, interest payments (20–1850–

25 0–1–351);
49

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(9) Internal Revenue collections of Puerto

2 Rico (20–5737–0–2–852);

3 ‘‘(10) Payments of Vietnam and USS

4 Pueblo prisoner-of-war claims (15–0104–0–1–

5 153);

6 ‘‘(11) Payments to copyright owners (03–

7 5175–0–2–376);

8 ‘‘(12) Salaries of Article III judges (not in9 cluding cost-of-living adjustments);

10 ‘‘(13) Soldier’s and Airmen’s Home, pay11 ment of claims (84–8930–0–7–705); and

12 ‘‘(14) Washington Metropolitan Area

13 Transit Authority, interest payments (46–

14 0300–0–1–401).

15 ‘‘(i) the following noncredit special, revolving,

16 or trust-revolving funds—

17 ‘‘(1) Exchange Stabilization Fund (20–

18 4444–0–3–155); and

19 ‘‘(2) Foreign Military Sales trust fund

20 (11–82232–0–7–155).

21 ‘‘(j) OPTIONAL EXEMPTION OF MILITARY PERSON22 NEL.—

23 ‘‘(1) The President may, with respect to any

24 military personnel account, exempt that account
50

HR 2599 IH

1 from sequestration or provide for a lower uniform

2 percentage reduction that would otherwise apply.

3 ‘‘(2) The President may not use the authority

4 provided by paragraph (1) unless he notifies the

5 Congress of the manner in which such authority will

6 be exercised on or before the initial snapshot date

7 for the budget year.

8 ‘‘SEC. 607. SPECIAL RULES.

9 ‘‘(a) CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM.—

10 Any sequestration order shall accomplish the full amount

11 of any required reduction in payments under sections 455

12 and 458 of the Social Security Act by reducing the Fed13 eral matching rate for State administrative costs under

14 the program, as specified (for the fiscal year involved) in

15 section 455(a) of such Act, to the extent necessary to re16 duce such expenditures by that amount.

17 ‘‘(b) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.—

18 ‘‘(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—For the Commodity Credit

19 Corporation, the date on which a sequestration order takes

20 effect in a fiscal year shall vary for each crop of a com21 modity. In general, the sequestration order shall take ef22 fect when issued, but for each crop of a commodity for

23 which 1-year contracts are issued as an entitlement, the

24 sequestration order shall take effect with the start of the

25 sign-up period for that crop that begins after the seques-
51

HR 2599 IH

1 tration order is issued. Payments for each contract in such

2 a crop shall be reduced under the same terms and condi3 tions.

4 ‘‘(2) DAIRY PROGRAM.—

5 ‘‘(A) As the sole means of achieving any

6 reduction in outlays under the milk price-sup7 port program, the Secretary of Agriculture shall

8 provide for a reduction to be made in the price

9 received by producers for all milk produced in

10 the United States and marketed by producers

11 for commercial use.

12 ‘‘(B) That price reduction (measured in

13 cents per hundred-weight of milk marketed)

14 shall occur under subparagraph (A) of section

15 201(d)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7

16 U.S.C. 1446(d)(2)(A)), shall begin on the day

17 any sequestration order is issued, and shall not

18 exceed the aggregate amount of the reduction

19 in outlays under the milk price-support pro20 gram, that otherwise would have been achieved

21 by reducing payments made for the purchase of

22 milk or the products of milk under this sub23 section during that fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF DELAY.—For purposes of sub25 section (b)(1), the sequestrable base for the Com-
52

HR 2599 IH

1 modity Credit Corporation is the budget-year level of

2 gross outlays resulting from new budget authority

3 that is subject to reduction under paragraphs (1)

4 and (2), and subsection (b)(2) shall not apply.

5 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN AUTHORITY NOT TO BE LIM6 ITED.—Nothing in this Act shall restrict the Cor7 poration in the discharge of its authority and re8 sponsibility as a corporation to buy and sell com9 modities in world trade, or limit or reduce in any

10 way any appropriation that provides the Corporation

11 with funds to cover its net realized losses.

12 ‘‘(c) REGULAR AND EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT

13 COMPENSATION.—(1) A State may reduce each weekly

14 benefit payment made under the regular and extended un15 employment benefit programs for any week of unemploy16 ment occurring during any period with respect to which

17 payments are reduced under any sequestration order by

18 a percentage not to exceed the percentage by which the

19 Federal payment to the State is to be reduced for such

20 week as a result of such order.

21 ‘‘(2) A reduction by a State in accordance with para22 graph (1) shall not be considered as a failure to fulfill the

23 requirements of section 3304(a)(11) of the Internal Reve24 nue Code of 1986.
53

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS

2 FUND.—For the Federal Employees Health Benefits

3 Fund, a sequestration order shall take effect with the next

4 open season. The sequestration shall be accomplished by

5 annual payments from that Fund to the General Fund of

6 the Treasury. Those annual payments shall be financed

7 solely by charging higher premiums. The sequestrable base

8 for the Fund is the budget-year level of gross outlays re9 sulting from claims paid after the sequestration order

10 takes effect.

11 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD.—Any se12 questration of the Federal Housing Finance Board shall

13 be accomplished by annual payments (by the end of each

14 fiscal year) from that Board to the general fund of the

15 Treasury, in amounts equal to the uniform sequestration

16 percentage for that year times the gross obligations of the

17 Board in that year.

18 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL PAY.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—New budget authority to

20 pay Federal personnel from direct spending accounts

21 shall be reduced by the uniform percentage cal22 culated under section 652(a)(3), as applicable, but

23 no sequestration order may reduce or have the effect

24 of reducing the rate of pay to which any individual

25 is entitled under any statutory pay system (as in-
54

HR 2599 IH

1 creased by any amount payable under section 5304

2 of title 5, United States Code, or section 302 of the

3 Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990)

4 or the rate of any element of military pay to which

5 any individual is entitled under title 37, United

6 States Code, or any increase in rates of pay which

7 is scheduled to take effect under section 5303 of

8 title 5, United States Code, section 1009 of title 37,

9 United States Code, or any other provision of law.

10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub11 section:

12 ‘‘(A) The term ‘statutory pay system’ shall

13 have the meaning given that term in section

14 5302(1) of title 5, United States Code.

15 ‘‘(B) The term ‘elements of military pay’

16 means—

17 ‘‘(i) the elements of compensation of

18 members of the uniformed services speci19 fied in section 1009 of title 37, United

20 States Code,

21 ‘‘(ii) allowances provided members of

22 the uniformed services under sections 403a

23 and 405 of such title, and

24 ‘‘(iii) cadet pay and midshipman pay

25 under section 203(c) of such title.
55

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(C) The term ‘uniformed services’ shall

2 have the meaning given that term in section

3 101(3) of title 37, United States Code.

4 ‘‘(g) MEDICARE.—

5 ‘‘(1) TIMING OF APPLICATION OF REDUC6 TIONS.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

8 subparagraph (B), if a reduction is made in

9 payment amounts pursuant to a sequestration

10 order, the reduction shall be applied to payment

11 for services furnished after the effective date of

12 the order. For purposes of the previous sen13 tence, in the case of inpatient services furnished

14 for an individual, the services shall be consid15 ered to be furnished on the date of the individ16 ual’s discharge from the inpatient facility.

17 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT ON THE BASIS OF COST

18 REPORTING PERIODS.—In the case in which

19 payment for services of a provider of services is

20 made under title XVIII of the Social Security

21 Act on a basis relating to the reasonable cost

22 incurred for the services during a cost reporting

23 period of the provider, if a reduction is made in

24 payment amounts pursuant to a sequestration

25 order, the reduction shall be applied to payment
56

HR 2599 IH

1 for costs for such services incurred at any time

2 during each cost reporting period of the pro3 vider any part of which occurs after the effec4 tive date of the order, but only (for each such

5 cost reporting period) in the same proportion as

6 the fraction of the cost reporting period that oc7 curs after the effective date of the order.

8 ‘‘(2) NO INCREASE IN BENEFICIARY CHARGES

9 IN ASSIGNMENT-RELATED CASES.—If a reduction in

10 payment amounts is made pursuant to a sequestra11 tion order for services for which payment under part

12 B of title XVIII of the Social Security Act is made

13 on the basis of an assignment described in section

14 1842(b)(3)(B)(ii), in accordance with section

15 1842(b)(6)(B), or under the procedure described in

16 section 1870(f)(1) of such Act, the person furnishing

17 the services shall be considered to have accepted

18 payment of the reasonable charge for the services,

19 less any reduction in payment amount made pursu20 ant to a sequestration order, as payment in full.

21 ‘‘(3) PART B PREMIUMS.—In computing the

22 amount and method of sequestration from Part B of

23 title XVIII of the Social Security Act—

24 ‘‘(A) the amount of the sequestration shall

25 be calculated by multiplying the total amount
57

HR 2599 IH

1 by which Medicare spending exceeds the appro2 priate spending cap by a percentage that re3 flects the ratio of total spending under Part B

4 to total Medicare spending; and

5 ‘‘(B) sequestration in the Part B program

6 shall be accomplished by increasing premiums

7 to beneficiaries.

8 ‘‘(4) NO EFFECT ON COMPUTATION OF

9 AAPCC.—In computing the adjusted average per cap10 ita cost for purposes of section 1876(a)(4) of the So11 cial Security Act, the Secretary of Health and

12 Human Services shall not take into account any re13 ductions in payment amounts which have been or

14 may be effected under this part.

15 ‘‘(h) POSTAL SERVICE FUND.—Any sequestration of

16 the Postal Service Fund shall be accomplished by annual

17 payments from that Fund to the General Fund of the

18 Treasury, and the Postmaster General of the United

19 States shall have the duty to make those payments during

20 the fiscal year to which the sequestration order applies

21 and each succeeding fiscal year. The amount of each an22 nual payment shall be—

23 ‘‘(1) the uniform sequestration percentage,

24 times
58

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(2) the estimated gross obligations of the

2 Postal Service Fund in that year other than those

3 obligations financed with an appropriation for reve4 nue foregone for that year.

5 Any such payment for a fiscal year shall be made as soon

6 as possible during the fiscal year, except that it may be

7 made in installments within that year if the payment

8 schedule is approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.

9 Within 30 days after the sequestration order is issued, the

10 Postmaster General shall submit to the Postal Rate Com11 mission a plan for financing the annual payment for that

12 fiscal year and publish that plan in the Federal Register.

13 The plan may assume efficiencies in the operation of the

14 Postal Service, reductions in capital expenditures, in15 creases in the prices of services, or any combination, but

16 may not assume a lower Fund surplus or higher Fund

17 deficit and must follow the requirements of existing law

18 governing the Postal Service in all other respects. Within

19 30 days of the receipt of that plan, the Postal Rate Com20 mission shall approve the plan or modify it in the manner

21 that modifications are allowed under current law. If the

22 Postal Rate Commission does not respond to the plan

23 within 30 days, the plan submitted by the Postmaster

24 General shall go into effect. Any plan may be later revised
59

HR 2599 IH

1 by the submission of a new plan to the Postal Rate Com2 mission, which may approve or modify it.

3 ‘‘(i) POWER MARKETING ADMINISTRATIONS AND

4 TVA—Any sequestration of the Department of Energy

5 power marketing administration funds or the Tennessee

6 Valley Authority fund shall be accomplished by annual

7 payments from those funds to the General Fund of the

8 Treasury, and the administrators of those funds shall have

9 the duty to make those payments during the fiscal year

10 to which the sequestration order applies and each succeed11 ing fiscal year. The amount of each annual payment by

12 a fund shall be—

13 ‘‘(1) the direct spending uniform sequestration

14 percentage, times

15 ‘‘(2) the estimated gross obligations of the fund

16 in that year other than those obligations financed

17 from discretionary appropriations for that year.

18 Any such payment for a fiscal year shall be made as soon

19 as possible during the fiscal year, except that it may be

20 made in installments within that year if the payment

21 schedule is approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. An22 nual payments by a fund may be financed by reductions

23 in costs required to produce the presequester amount of

24 power (but those reductions shall not include reductions

25 in the amount of power supplied by the fund), by reduc-
60

HR 2599 IH

1 tions in capital expenditures, by increases in rates, or by

2 any combination, but may not be financed by a lower fund

3 surplus, a higher fund deficit, additional borrowing, delay

4 in repayment of principal on outstanding debt and must

5 follow the requirements of existing law governing the fund

6 in all other respects. The administrator of a fund or the

7 TVA Board is authorized to take the actions specified

8 above in order to make the annual payments to the Treas9 ury.

10 ‘‘(j) BUSINESSLIKE TRANSACTIONS.—For programs

11 which provide a businesslike service in exchange for a fee,

12 sequestration shall be accomplished through a uniform in13 crease in fees (sufficient to produce the dollar savings in

14 such programs for the fiscal year of the sequestration re15 quired by section 650(a)(2), all subsequent fees shall be

16 increased by the same percentage, and all proceeds from

17 such fees shall be paid into the general fund of the Treas18 ury, in any year for which a sequester affecting such pro19 grams are in effect, notwithstanding any other provision

20 of law).

21 ‘‘SEC. 608. THE CURRENT LAW BASELINE.

22 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF THE BUDGET BASELINE.—

23 The Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the

24 Office of Management and Budget shall submit to the

25 President and the Congress reports setting forth the budg-
61

HR 2599 IH

1 et baselines for the budget year and at least the subse2 quent nine fiscal years. The CBO report shall be submit3 ted on or before January 15. In odd numbered years, the

4 OMB report shall accompany the President’s budget. In

5 even numbered years, the OMB report shall be submitted

6 on or before the first Monday in February:

7 ‘‘(1) The budget baseline shall be based on the

8 common economic assumptions set forth in the

9 Statement of Managers accompanying the most re10 cently enacted joint resolution on the budget, pursu11 ant to section 301(e) of this Act, adjusted to reflect

12 revisions pursuant to (b) below.

13 ‘‘(2) The budget baseline shall consist of a

14 project of current-year levels of budget authority,

15 outlays, revenues and the surplus or deficit into the

16 budget year and the relevant outyears based upon

17 current enacted laws as of the date of the projection.

18 ‘‘(b) REVISIONS TO THE BASELINE.—The baseline

19 shall be adjusted for up-to-date economic and technical as20 sumptions when the CBO submits its Economic and

21 Budget Update and OMB submits its Budget Update, and

22 by August 1 each year, when CBO and OMB submit their

23 Midyear Reviews.

24 ‘‘(1) For Discretionary spending items, the

25 baseline shall be the spending caps in effect pursu-
62

HR 2599 IH

1 ant to section 301(a)(6)(A) of this Act. For years in

2 which there are no caps, the baseline for discre3 tionary spending shall be the same as in the last

4 year for which caps were included in the most re5 cently enacted joint resolution on the budget.

6 ‘‘(2) For all other expenditures, and for reve7 nues, the baseline shall be adjusted by comparing

8 unemployment, inflation, interest rates, growth and

9 other economic indicators—changes in eligible popu10 lation and other technical estimates for the most re11 cent period for which actual data are available, com12 pared to the assumptions contained in the statement

13 of managers pursuant to section 301(e) of this Act.

14 ‘‘(c) The budget baseline shall provide the basis for

15 enforcement procedures pursuant to section 311 and Title

16 IV of this Act.

17 ‘‘(d) MODIFICATION OF BUDGET BASELINE

18 RULES.—Pursuant to Section 301 of this Act, Biennial

19 Joint Resolutions on the Budget may expound and revise

20 rules determining the calculation of budget baselines.

21 ‘‘SEC. 609. PAY-AS-YOU-GO.

22 ‘‘(a) REVENUE LEGISLATION MUST BE DEFICIT

23 NEUTRAL.—It shall not be in order in the House of Rep24 resentatives or the Senate to consider a bill, resolution or

25 amendment reducing receipts unless such reduction is
63

HR 2599 IH

1 fully offset by an equal or greater increase in receipts or

2 reduction in direct spending for each and all fiscal years

3 affected by the reduction in receipts.

4 ‘‘(b) DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENT OF SPENDING

5 CAPS.—If any reduction in receipts is offset in whole or

6 in part by a reduction in direct spending pursuant to the

7 preceeding subsection, then the appropriate direct spend8 ing cap or caps shall be adjusted downward by an amount

9 equal to the offset or offsets.

10 ‘‘(c) EXPIRATION OF TAX CUTS.—If any provision of

11 law that offsets a reduction in receipts pursuant to sub12 section (a) expires, then the reduction in receipts shall ex13 pire on the same date.

14 ‘‘(d) SUPERMAJORITY REQUIRED TO WAIVE.—Not15 withstanding any rule of the House of Representatives or

16 the Senate, the provisions of this section shall not be

17 waived except with the concurrence of two-thirds of the

18 whole number of the House of Representatives or the Sen19 ate, as the case may be, shall provide for such waiver by

20 roll-call vote.’’.

21 TITLE II

22 CHAPTER A

23 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

24 This Chapter may be cited as the ‘‘Line Item Veto

25 Act’’.
64

HR 2599 IH

1 SEC. 202. LINE ITEM VETO AUTHORITY.—

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provisions of

3 part B of title X of the Congressional Budget and Im4 poundment Control Act of 1974, and subject to the provi5 sions of this section, the President may rescind all or part

6 of any dollar amount on any discretionary budget author7 ity specified in an appropriation Act or conference report

8 or joint explanatory statement accompanying a conference

9 report on the Act, or veto any targeted tax benefit which

10 is subject to the terms of this Act if the President—

11 (1) determines that—

12 (A) such rescission or veto would help re13 duce the Federal budget deficit;

14 (B) such rescission or veto will not impair

15 any essential Government functions; and

16 (C) such rescission or veto will not harm

17 the national interest; and

18 (2) notifies the Congress of such rescission or

19 veto by a special message not later than ten calendar

20 days (not including Sundays) after the date of en21 actment of an appropriation Act providing such

22 budget authority or a revenue or reconciliation Act

23 containing a targeted tax benefit.

24 (b) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—In each special message,

25 the President may also propose to reduce the appropriate

26 discretionary spending caps set forth pursuant to section
65

HR 2599 IH

1 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by an

2 amount that does not exceed the total amount of discre3 tionary budget authority rescinded by that message.

4 (c) SEPARATE MESSAGES.—The President shall sub5 mit a separate special message for each appropriation Act

6 and for each revenue or reconciliation Act under this sec7 tion.

8 (d) LIMITATION.—No special message submitted by

9 the President under this section may change any prohibi10 tion or limitation of discretionary budget authority set

11 forth in any appropriation Act.

12 (e) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEAR 1996 APPRO13 PRIATION MEASURES.—Notwithstanding subsection

14 (a)(2), in the case of any unobligated discretionary budget

15 authority provided by any appropriation Act for fiscal year

16 1996, the President may rescind all or part of that discre17 tionary budget authority under the terms of this Act if

18 the President notifies the Congress of such rescission by

19 a special message not later than ten calendar days (not

20 including Sundays) after the date of enactment of this

21 Act.

22 SEC. 203. LINE ITEM VETO EFFECTIVE UNLESS DIS23 APPROVED.

24 (a)(1) Any amount of budget authority rescinded

25 under this Act as set forth in a special message by the
66

HR 2599 IH

1 President shall be deemed canceled unless, during the pe2 riod described in subsection (b), a rescission/receipts dis3 approval bill making available all of the amount rescinded

4 is enacted into law.

5 (2) Any provision of law vetoed under this Act as set

6 forth in a special message by the President shall be

7 deemed repealed unless, during the period described in

8 subsection (b), a rescission/receipts disapproval bill restor9 ing that provision is enacted into law.

10 (b) The period referred to in subsection (a) is—

11 (1) a congressional review period of twenty cal12 endar days of session, beginning on the first cal13 endar day of session after the date of submission of

14 the special message, during which Congress must

15 complete action on the rescission/receipts disapproval

16 bill and present such bill to the President for ap17 proval or disapproval;

18 (2) after the period provided in paragraph (1),

19 an additional ten days (not including Sundays) dur20 ing which the President may exercise his authority

21 to sign or veto the rescission/receipts disapproval

22 bill; and

23 (3) if the President vetoes the rescission/re24 ceipts disapproval bill during the period provided in
67

HR 2599 IH

1 paragraph (2), an additional five calendar days of

2 session after the date of the veto.

3 (c) If a special message is transmitted by the Presi4 dent under this Act and the last session of the Congress

5 adjourns sine die before the expiration of the period de6 scribed in subsection (b), the rescission or veto, as the case

7 may be, shall not take effect. The message shall be deemed

8 to have been retransmitted on the first Monday in Feb9 ruary of the succeeding Congress and the review period

10 referred to in subsection (b) (with respect to such mes11 sage) shall run beginning after such first day.

12 SEC. 204. DEFINITIONS.

13 As used in this Act:

14 (a) The term ‘‘rescission/receipts disapproval

15 bill’’ means a bill or joint resolution which only dis16 approves, in whole, rescissions of discretionary budg17 et authority or only disapproves vetoes of targeted

18 tax benefits in a special message transmitted by the

19 President under this Act and—

20 (1) which does not have a preamble;

21 (2)(A) in the case of a special message re22 garding rescissions, the matter after the enact23 ing clause of which is as follows: ‘‘That Con24 gress disapproves each rescission of discre25 tionary budget authority of the President as
68

HR 2599 IH

1 submitted by the President in a special message

2 on XXXX’’, the blank space being filled in with

3 the appropriate date and the public law to

4 which the message relates; and

5 (B) in the case of a special message re6 garding vetoes of targeted tax benefits, the

7 matter after the enacting clause of which is as

8 follows: ‘‘That Congress disapproves each veto

9 of targeted tax benefits of the President as sub10 mitted by the President in a special message on

11 XXXX’’, the blank space being filled in with

12 the appropriate date and the public law to

13 which the message relates; and

14 (3) the title of which is as follows: ‘‘A bill

15 disapproving the recommendations submitted by

16 the President on XXXX’’, the blank space

17 being filled in with the date of submission of

18 the relevant special message and the public law

19 to which the message relates.

20 (b) The term ‘‘calendar days of session’’ shall

21 mean only those days on which both Houses of Con22 gress are in session.

23 (c) The term ‘‘targeted tax benefit’’ means any

24 provision of a revenue or reconciliation Act deter25 mined by the President to provide a Federal tax de-
69

HR 2599 IH

1 duction, credit, exclusion, preference, or other con2 cession to 100 or fewer beneficiaries. Any partner3 ship, limited partnership, trust, or S corporation,

4 and any subsidiary or affiliate of the same parent

5 corporation, shall be deemed and counted as a single

6 beneficiary regardless of the number of partners,

7 limited partners, beneficiaries, shareholders, or affili8 ated corporate entities.

9 (d) The term ‘‘appropriation Act’’ means any

10 general or special appropriation Act, and any Act or

11 joint resolution making supplemental, deficiency, or

12 continuing appropriations.

13 SEC. 205. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF LINE ITEM

14 VETOES.

15 (a) PRESIDENTIAL SPECIAL MESSAGE.—Whenever

16 the President rescinds any budget authority as provided

17 in this Act or vetoes any provision of law as provided in

18 this Act, the President shall transmit to both Houses of

19 Congress a special message specifying—

20 (1) the amount of budget authority rescinded or

21 the provision vetoed;

22 (2) any account, department, or establishment

23 of the Government to which such budget authority

24 is available for obligation, and the specific project or

25 governmental functions involved;
70

HR 2599 IH

1 (3) the reasons and justifications for the deter2 mination to rescind budget authority or veto any

3 provision pursuant of this Act;

4 (4) to the maximum extent practicable, the esti5 mated fiscal, economic, and budgetary effect of the

6 rescission or veto; and

7 (5) all actions, circumstances, and consider8 ations relating to or bearing upon the rescission or

9 veto and the decision to effect the rescission or veto

10 and to the maximum extent practicable, the esti11 mated effect of the rescission upon the objects, pur12 poses, and programs for which the budget authority

13 is provided.

14 (b) TRANSMISSION OF MESSAGES TO HOUSE

15 AND SENATE.—

16 (1) Each special message transmitted under the

17 Act shall be transmitted to the House of Represent18 atives and the Senate on the same day, and shall be

19 delivered to the Clerk of the House of Representa20 tives if the House is not in session, and to the Sec21 retary of the Senate if the Senate is not is session.

22 Each special message so transmitted shall be re23 ferred to the appropriate committees of the House of

24 Representatives and the Senate. Each such message

25 shall be printed as a document of each House.
71

HR 2599 IH

1 (2) Any special message transmitted under the

2 Act shall be printed in the first issue of the Federal

3 Register published after such transmittal.

4 (c) INTRODUCTION OF RESCISSION/RECEIPTS DIS5 APPROVAL BILLS.—The procedures sit forth in subsection

6 (d) shall apply to any rescission/receipts disapproval bill

7 introduced in the House of Representatives not later than

8 the third calendar day of session beginning on the day

9 after the date of submission of a special message by the

10 President under section 2.

11 (d) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT12 ATIVES.

13 (1) The committee of the House of Representa14 tives to which a rescission/receipts disapproval bill is

15 referred shall report it without amendment, and with

16 or without recommendation, not later than the

17 eighth calendar day of session after the date of its

18 introduction. If the committee fails to report the bill

19 within that period, it is in order to move that the

20 House discharge the committee from further consid21 eration of the bill. A motion to discharge may be

22 made only by an individual favoring the bill (but

23 only after the legislative day on which a Member an24 nounces to the House the Member’s intention to do

25 so). The motion is highly privileged. Debate thereon
72

HR 2599 IH

1 shall be limited to not more than one hour, the time

2 to be divided in the House equally between a pro3 ponent and an opponent. The previous question shall

4 be considered as ordered on the motion to its adop5 tion without intervening motion. A motion to recon6 sider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or

7 disagreed to shall not be in order.

8 (2) After a rescission/receipts disapproval bill is

9 reported or the committee has been discharged from

10 further consideration, it is in order to move that the

11 House resolve into the Committee of the Whole

12 House on the state of the Union for consideration of

13 the bill. All points of order against the bill and

14 against consideration of the bill are waived. The mo15 tion is highly privileged. The previous question shall

16 be considered as order on that motion to its adop17 tion without intervening motion. A motion to recon18 sider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or

19 disagreed to shall not be in order. During consider20 ation of the bill in the Committee of the Whole, the

21 first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. Gen22 eral debate shall proceed without intervening motion,

23 shall be confined to the bill, and shall not exceed two

24 hours equally divided and controlled by a proponent

25 and an opponent of the bill. No amendment to the
73

HR 2599 IH

1 bill is in order, except any Member may move to

2 strike the disapproval of any rescission or rescissions

3 of budget authority or any proposed repeal of a tar4 geted tax benefit, as applicable, if supported by 49

5 other Members. At the conclusion of the consider6 ation of the bill for amendment, the Committee shall

7 rise and report the bill to the House. The previous

8 question shall be considered as ordered on the bill

9 and amendments thereto to final passage without in10 tervening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote on

11 passage of the bill shall not be in order.

12 (3) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair re13 lating to the application of the rules of the House

14 of Representatives to the procedure relating to a bill

15 described in subsection (a) shall be decided without

16 debate.

17 (4) It shall not be in order to consider more

18 than one bill described in subsection (c) or more

19 than one motion to discharge described in paragraph

20 (1) with respect to a particular special message.

21 (5) Consideration of any rescission/receipts dis22 approval bill under this subsection is governed by

23 the rules of the House of Representatives except to

24 the extent specifically provided by the provisions of

25 this Act.
74

HR 2599 IH

1 (e) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.—

2 (1) Any rescission/receipts disapproval bill re3 ceived in the Senate from the House shall be consid4 ered in the Senate pursuant to the provisions of this

5 Act.

6 (2) Debate in the Senate on any rescission/re7 ceipts disapproval bill and debatable motions and ap8 peals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not

9 more than ten hours. The time shall be equally di10 vided between, and controlled by, the majority leader

11 and the minority leader or their designees.

12 (3) Debate in the Senate on any debatable mo13 tions or appeal in connection with such bill shall be

14 limited to one hour, to be equally divided between,

15 and controlled by the mover and the manager of the

16 bill, except that in the event the manager of the bill

17 is in favor of any such motion or appeal, the time

18 in opposition thereto shall be controlled by the mi19 nority leader or his designee. Such leaders, or either

20 of them, may, from the time under their control on

21 the passage of the bill, allot additional time to any

22 Senator during the consideration of any debatable

23 motion or appeal.

24 (4) A motion to further limit debate is not de25 batable. A motion to recommit (except a motion to
75

HR 2599 IH

1 recommit with instructions to report back within a

2 specified number of days not to exceed one, not

3 counting any day on which the Senate is not in ses4 sion) is not in order.

5 (f) POINTS OF ORDER.—

6 (1) It shall not be in order in the Senate to

7 consider any rescission/receipts disapproval bill that

8 relates to any matter other than the rescission of

9 budget authority or veto of the provision of law

10 transmitted by the President under this Act.

11 (2) It shall not be in order in the Senate to

12 consider any amendment to a rescission/receipts dis13 approval bill.

14 (3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) may be waived or

15 suspended in the Senate only by a vote of three16 fifths of the members duly chosen and sworn.

17 SEC. 206. REPORTS OF THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OF18 FICE.

19 Beginning on January 6, 1996, and at one-year inter20 vals thereafter, the Comptroller General shall submit a re21 port to each House of Congress which provides the follow22 ing information:

23 (a) A list of each proposed Presidential rescis24 sion of discretionary budget authority and veto of a

25 targeted tax benefit submitted through special mes-
76

HR 2599 IH

1 sages for the fiscal year ending during the preceding

2 calendar year, together with their dollar value, and

3 an indication of whether each rescission of discre4 tionary budget authority or veto of a targeted tax

5 benefit was accepted or rejected by Congress.

6 (b) The total number of proposed Presidential

7 rescissions of discretionary budget authority and ve8 toes of a targeted tax benefit submitted through spe9 cial messages for the fiscal year ending during the

10 preceding calendar year, together with their total

11 dollar value.

12 (c) The total number of Presidential rescissions

13 of discretionary budget authority or vetoes of a tar14 geted tax benefit submitted through special mes15 sages for the fiscal year ending during the preceding

16 calendar year and approved by Congress, together

17 with their total dollar value.

18 (d) A list of rescissions of discretionary budget

19 authority initiated by Congress for the fiscal year

20 ending during the preceding calendar year, together

21 with their dollar value, and an indication of whether

22 each such rescission was accepted or rejected by

23 Congress.

24 (e) The total number of rescissions of discre25 tionary budget authority initiated and accepted by
77

HR 2599 IH

1 Congress for the fiscal year ending during the pre2 ceding calendar year, together with their total dollar

3 value.

4 (f) A summary of the information provided by

5 subsections (b), (c) and (e) for each of the ten fiscal

6 years ending before the fiscal year during this cal7 endar year.

8 SEC. 207. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

9 (a) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—

10 (1) Any Member of Congress may bring an ac11 tion, in the United States District Court for the Dis12 trict of Columbia, for declaratory judgment and in13 junctive relief on the ground that any provision of

14 this Act violates the Constitution.

15 (2) A copy of any complaint in an action

16 brought under paragraph (1) shall be promptly de17 livered to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk

18 of the House of Representatives, and each House of

19 Congress shall have the right to intervene in such

20 action.

21 (3) Any action brought under paragraph (1)

22 shall be heard and determined by a three-judge

23 court in accordance with section 2284 of title 28,

24 United States Code.
78

HR 2599 IH

1 Nothing in this section or in any other law shall infringe

2 upon the right of the House of Representatives to inter3 vene in an action brought under paragraph (1) without

4 the necessity of adopting a resolution to authorize such

5 intervention.

6 (b) APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—Notwithstanding

7 any other provision of law, any order of the United States

8 District Court for the District of Columbia which is issued

9 pursuant to an action brought under paragraph (1) of sub10 section (a) shall be reviewable by appeal directly to the

11 Supreme Court of the United States. Any such appeal

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

13 after such order is entered; and the jurisdictional state14 ment shall be filed within 30 days after such order is en15 tered. No stay of an order issued pursuant to an action

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

17 issued by a single Justice of the Supreme Court.

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

19 duty of the District Court for the District of Columbia

20 and the Supreme Court of the United States to advance

21 on the docket and to expedite to the greatest possible ex22 tent the disposition of any matter brought under sub23 section (a).
79

HR 2599 IH

1 CHAPTER B—ENHANCED RESCISSIONS

2 SECTION 1. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PRO3 POSED RESCISSIONS AND TARGETED TAX

4 BENEFITS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1012 of the Congressional

6 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C.

7 683) is amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PROPOSED

9 RESCISSIONS

10 ‘‘SEC. 1012. ‘‘(a) PROPOSED RESCISSION OF BUDG11 ET AUTHORITY OR REPEAL OF TARGETED TAX BENE12 FITS.—The President may propose, at the time and in the

13 manner provided in subsection (b) the rescission of any

14 budget authority provided in an appropriation Act or re15 peal of any targeted tax benefit provided in any revenue

16 Act. Funds made available for obligation under this proce17 dure may not be proposed for rescission again under this

18 section.

19 ‘‘(b) TRANSMITTAL OF SPECIAL MESSAGE.—

20 ‘‘(1) The President may transmit to Congress a

21 special message proposing to rescind amounts of

22 budget authority or to repeal any targeted tax bene23 fit and include with that special message a draft bill

24 that, if enacted, would only rescind that budget au25 thority or repeal that targeted tax benefit. That bill

26 shall clearly identify the amount of budget authority
80

HR 2599 IH

1 that is proposed to be rescinded for each program,

2 project, or activity to which that budget authority

3 relates or the targeted tax benefit proposed to be re4 pealed, as the case may be. It shall include a Deficit

5 Reduction Account. The President may place in the

6 Deficit Reduction Account an amount not to exceed

7 the total rescissions in that bill. A targeted tax bene8 fit may only be proposed to be repealed under this

9 section during the 20-calendar-day period (excluding

10 Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) commencing

11 on the day after the date of enactment of the provi12 sion proposed to be repealed.

13 ‘‘(2) In the case of an appropriation Act that

14 includes accounts within the jurisdiction of more

15 than one subcommittee of the Committee on Appro16 priations, the President in proposing to rescind

17 budget authority under this section shall send a sep18 arate special message and accompanying draft bill

19 for accounts within the jurisdiction of each such sub20 committee.

21 ‘‘(3) Each special message shall specify, with

22 respect to the budget authority proposed to be re23 scinded, the following—

24 ‘‘(A) the amount of budget authority which

25 he proposes to be rescinded;
81

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(B) any account, department, or estab2 lishment of the Government to which such

3 budget authority is available for obligation, and

4 the specific project or governmental functions

5 involved;

6 ‘‘(C) the reasons why the budget authority

7 should be rescinded;

8 ‘‘(D) to the maximum extent practicable,

9 the estimated fiscal, economic, and budgetary

10 effect (including the effect on outlays and re11 ceipts in each fiscal year) of the proposed re12 scission; and

13 ‘‘(E) all facts, circumstances, and consider14 ations relating to or bearing upon the proposed

15 rescission and the decision to effect the pro16 posed rescission, and to the maximum extent

17 practicable, the estimated effect of the proposed

18 rescission upon the objects, purposes, and pro19 grams from which the budget authority is pro20 vided.

21 Each special message shall specify, and respect to

22 the proposed repeal of targeted tax benefits, the in23 formation required by subparagraphs (C), (D), and

24 (E), as it relates to the proposed repeal.
82

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDER2 ATION.—

3 ‘‘(1)(A) Before the close of the second legisla4 tive day of the House of Representatives after the

5 date of receipt of a special message transmitted to

6 Congress under subsection (b), the majority leader

7 or minority leader of the House of Representatives

8 shall introduce (by request) the draft bill accom9 panying that special message. If the bill is not intro10 duced as provided in the preceding sentence, then,

11 on the third legislative day of the House of Rep12 resentatives after the date of receipt of that special

13 message, any Member of that House may introduce

14 the bill.

15 ‘‘(B) The bill shall be referred to the Commit16 tee on Appropriations or the Committee on Ways

17 and Means of the House of Representatives, as ap18 plicable. The committee shall report the bill without

19 substantive revision and with or without rec20 ommendation. The bill shall be reported not later

21 than the seventh legislative day of that House after

22 the date of receipt of that special message. If that

23 committee fails to report the bill within that period,

24 that committee shall be automatically discharged
83

HR 2599 IH

1 from consideration of the bill, and the bill shall be

2 placed on the appropriate calendar.

3 ‘‘(C)(i) During consideration under this para4 graph, any Member of the House of Representatives

5 may move to strike any proposed rescission or re6 scissions of budget authority or any proposed repeal

7 of a target tax benefit, as applicable, if supported by

8 49 other Members.

9 ‘‘(ii) It shall not be in order for a Member of

10 the House of Representatives to move to strike any

11 proposed rescission under clause (i) unless the

12 amendment reduces the appropriate Deficit Reduc13 tion Account if the program, project, or account to

14 which the proposed rescission applies was identified

15 in the Deficit Reduction Account in the special mes16 sage under subsection (b).

17 ‘‘(D) A vote on final passage of the bill shall be

18 taken in the House of Representatives on or before

19 the close of the 10th legislative day of that House

20 after the date of the introduction of the bill in that

21 House. If the bill is passed, the Clerk of the House

22 of Representatives shall cause the bill to be en23 grossed, certified, and transmitted to the Senate

24 within one calendar day of the day on which the bill

25 is passed.
84

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(2)(A) A motion in the House of Representa2 tives to proceed to the consideration of a bill under

3 this section shall be highly privileged and not debat4 able. An amendment to the motion shall not be in

5 order, nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider

6 the vote by which the motion is agreed to or dis7 agreed to.

8 ‘‘(B) Debate in the House of Representatives

9 on a bill under this section shall not exceed four

10 hours, which shall be divided equally between those

11 favoring and those opposing the bill. A motion fur12 ther to limit debate shall not be debatable. It shall

13 not be in order to move to recommit a bill under this

14 section or to move to reconsider the vote by which

15 the bill is agreed to or disagreed to.

16 ‘‘(C) Appeals from decisions of the Chair relat17 ing to the application of the Rules of the House of

18 Representatives to the procedure relating to a bill

19 under this section shall be decided without debate.

20 ‘‘(D) Except to the extent specifically provided

21 in the preceding provisions of this subsection, con22 sideration of a bill under this section shall be gov23 erned by the Rules of the House of Representatives.

24 It shall not be in order in the House of Representa25 tives to consider any rescission bill introduced pursu-
85

HR 2599 IH

1 ant to the provisions of this section under a suspen2 sion of the rules or under a special rule.

3 ‘‘(3)(A) A bill transmitted to the Senate pursu4 ant to paragraph (1)(D) shall be referred to its

5 Committee on Appropriations or Committee on Fi6 nance, as applicable. That committee shall report

7 the bill without substantive revision and with or

8 without recommendation. The bill shall be reported

9 not later than the seventh legislative day of the Sen10 ate after it receives the bill. A committee failing to

11 report the bill within such period shall be automati12 cally discharged from consideration of the bill, and

13 the bill shall be placed upon the appropriate cal14 endar.

15 ‘‘(B)(i) During consideration under this para16 graph, any Member of the Senate may move to

17 strike any proposed rescission or rescissions of budg18 et authority or any proposed repeal of a targeted tax

19 benefit, as applicable, if supported by 14 other Mem20 bers.

21 ‘‘(ii) It shall not be in order for a Member of

22 the House or Senate to move to strike any proposed

23 rescission under clause (i) unless the amendment re24 duces the appropriate Deficit Reduction Account

25 (pursuant to section 314) if the program, project, or
86

HR 2599 IH

1 account to which the proposed rescission applies was

2 identified in the Deficit Reduction Account in the

3 special message under subsection (b).

4 ‘‘(4)(A) A motion in the Senate to proceed to

5 the consideration of a bill under this section shall be

6 privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the

7 motion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order

8 to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion

9 is agreed to or disagreed to.

10 ‘‘(B) Debate in the Senate on a bill under this

11 section, and all debatable motions and appeals in

12 connection therewith, (including debate pursuant to

13 subparagraph (C)), shall not exceed 10 hours. The

14 time shall be equally divided between, and controlled

15 by, the majority leader and the minority leader or

16 their designees.

17 ‘‘(C) Debate in the Senate on any debatable

18 motion or appeal in connection with a bill under this

19 section shall be limited to not more than 1 hours, to

20 be equally divided between, and controlled by, the

21 mover and the manager of the bill, except that in

22 the event the manager of the bill is in favor of any

23 such motion or appeal, the time in opposition there24 to, shall be controlled by the minority leader or his

25 designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may, from
87

HR 2599 IH

1 time under their control on the passage of a bill,

2 allot additional time to any Senator during the con3 sideration of an debatable motion or appeal.

4 ‘‘(D) A motion in the Senate to further limit

5 debate on a bill under this section is not debatable.

6 A motion to recommit a bill under this section is not

7 in order.

8 ‘‘(d) AMENDMENTS AND DIVISIONS PROHIBITED.—

9 Except as otherwise provided by this section, no amend10 ment to a bill considered under this section shall be in

11 order in either the House of Representatives or the Sen12 ate. It shall not be in order to demand a division of the

13 question in the House of Representatives (or in a Commit14 tee of the Whole) or in the Senate. No motion to suspend

15 the application of this subsection shall be in order in either

16 House, nor shall it be in order in either House to suspend

17 the application of this subsection by unanimous consent.

18 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE AVAILABLE FOR OBLI19 GATION.—

20 ‘‘(1) Any amount of budget authority proposed

21 to be rescinded in a special message transmitted to

22 Congress under subsection (b) shall be made avail23 able for obligation on the day after the date on

24 which either House rejects the bill transmitted with

25 that special message.
88

HR 2599 IH

1 ‘‘(2) Any targeted tax benefit proposed to be re2 pealed under this section as set forth in a special

3 message transmitted to Congress under subsection

4 (b) shall be deemed repealed unless, during the pe5 riod described in that subsection, either House re6 jects the bill transmitted with that special message.

7 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

8 ‘‘(1) The term ‘appropriation Act’ means any

9 general or special appropriation Act, and any Act or

10 joint resolution making supplemental, deficiency, or

11 continuing appropriations;

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘legislative day’ means, with re13 spect to either House of Congress, any day of ses14 sion; and

15 ‘‘(3) The term ‘targeted tax benefit’ means any

16 provision which has the practical effect of providing

17 a benefit in the form of a different treatment to a

18 particular taxpayer or a limited class of taxpayers,

19 whether or not such provision is limited by its terms

20 to a particular taxpayer or a class of taxpayers.

21 Such term does not include any benefit provided to

22 a class of taxpayers distinguished on the basis of

23 general demographic conditions such as income,

24 number of dependents, or marital status.’’.
89

HR 2599 IH

1 (b) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.—Section

2 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C.

3 621 note) is amended—

4 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘and 1017’’

5 and inserting ‘‘1012, and 1017’’; and

6 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘section

7 1017’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 1012 and 1017’’.

8 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

9 (1) Section 1011 of the Congressional Budget

10 Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 682(5)) is amended by re11 pealing paragraphs (3) and (5) and by redesignating

12 paragraph (4) as paragraph (3).

13 (2) Section 1014 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 685) is

14 amended—

15 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘or

16 the reservation’’; and

17 (B) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘or a

18 reservation’’ and by striking ‘‘or each such res19 ervation’’.

20 (3) Section 1015(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 686)

21 is amended by striking ‘‘is to establish a reserve or’’,

22 by striking ‘‘the establishment of such a reserve or’’,

23 and by striking ‘‘reserve or’’ each other place it ap24 pears.
90

HR 2599 IH

1 (4) Section 1017 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 687) is

2 amended—

3 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘rescis4 sion bill introduced with respect to a special

5 message or’’;

6 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘re7 scission bill or’’, by striking ‘bill or’ the second

8 place it appears, by striking ‘‘rescission bill with

9 respect to the same special message or’’, and by

10 striking ‘‘, and the case may be,’’;

11 (C) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘bill

12 or’’ each place it appears;

13 (D) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘rescis14 sion’’ each place it appears and by striking ‘‘bill

15 or’’ each place it appears;

16 (E) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘re17 scission bill or’’ and by striking ‘‘, and all

18 amendments thereto (in the case of a rescission

19 bill)’’;

20 (F) in subsection (d)(2)—

21 (i) by striking the first sentence;

22 (ii) by amending the second sentence

23 to read as follows: ‘‘Debate on any debat24 able motion or appeal in connection with

25 an impoundment resolution shall be limited
91

HR 2599 IH

1 to 1 hour, to be equally divided between,

2 and controlled by, the mover and the man3 ager of the resolution, except that in the

4 event that the manager of the resolution is

5 in favor of any such motion or appeal, the

6 time in opposition thereto shall be con7 trolled by the minority leader or his des8 ignee.’’;

9 (iii) by striking the third sentence;

10 and

11 (iv) in the fourth sentence, by striking

12 ‘‘rescission bill or’’ and by striking

13 ‘‘amendment, debatable motion,’’ and by

14 inserting ‘‘debatable motion’’;

15 (G) in paragraph (d)(3), by striking the

16 second and third sentences; and

17 (H) by striking paragraphs (4), (5), (6),

18 and (7) of paragraph (d).

19 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The item relating to

20 section 1012 in the table of sections for subpart B of title

21 X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control

22 Act of 1974 is amended to read as follows: ‘‘Sec. 1012.

23 Expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions

24 and targeted tax benefits.’’.
92

HR 2599 IH

1 TITLE III

2 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 301. TRANSITION RULES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to fiscal years 1996

5 and 1997, for purposes of this Act, the concurrent resolu6 tion on the budget for fiscal year 1996 (H. Con. Res. 67)

7 is deemed to be a joint budget resolution pursuant to sec8 tion 301.

9 (b) CAP LEVELS.—Consistent with subsection (a),

10 spending cap levels for fiscal year 1996 through fiscal year

11 2002 are established as follows:

12 (1) Discretionary Appropriations (Outlays)—

13 (A) Fiscal year 1996—

14 (i) for the defense category

15 $265,406,000,000 in new budget authority

16 and $264,043,000,000 in outlays; and

17 (ii) for the non-defense category

18 $219,668,000,000 in new budget authority

19 and $267,725,000,000 in outlays;

20 (B) Fiscal year 1997—

21 (i) for the defense category

22 $267,962,000,000 in new budget authority

23 and $265,734,000,000 in outlays; and
93

HR 2599 IH

1 (ii) for the non-defense category

2 $214,468,000,000 in new budget authority

3 and $254,561,000,000 in outlays;

4 (C) Fiscal year 1998—

5 (i) for the defense category

6 $269,731,000,000 in new budget authority

7 and $264,531,000,000 in outlays; and

8 (ii) for the non-defense category

9 $220,961,000,000 in new budget authority

10 and $248,101,000,000 in outlays.

11 (D) Fiscal year 1999: $482,207,000,000 in

12 new budget authority and $510,482,000,000 in

13 outlays;

14 (E) Fiscal year 2000: $489,379,000,000 in

15 new budget authority and $514,234,000,000 in

16 outlays;

17 (F) Fiscal year 2001: $496,601,000,000 in

18 budget authority and $516,403,000,000 in out19 lays; and

20 (G) Fiscal year 2002: $498,837,000,000 in

21 budget authority and $515,075,000,000 in out22 lays.

23 (2) Direct Spending—Social Security (Out24 lays)—

25 (A) Fiscal year 1996: $352,000,000,000;
94

HR 2599 IH

1 (B) Fiscal year 1997: $371,000,000,000;

2 (C) Fiscal year 1998: $391,000,000,000;

3 (D) Fiscal year 1999: $411,000,000,000;

4 (E) Fiscal year 2000: $433,000,000,000;

5 (F) Fiscal year 2001: $456,000,000,000;

6 and

7 (G) Fiscal year 2002: $480,000,000,000.

8 (3) Direct Spending-Medicare (Outlays)—

9 (A) Fiscal year 1996: $171,000,000,000;

10 (B) Fiscal year 1997: $180,000,000,000;

11 (C) Fiscal year 1998: $189,000,000,000;

12 (D) Fiscal year 1999: $200,000,000,000;

13 (E) Fiscal year 2000: $212,000,000,000;

14 (F) Fiscal year 2001: $227,000,000,000;

15 and

16 (G) Fiscal year 2002: $244,000,000,000.

17 (4) Direct Spending—Medicaid—

18 (A) Fiscal year 1996: $96,000,000,000;

19 (B) Fiscal year 1997: $102,000,000,000;

20 (C) Fiscal year 1998: $106,000,000,000;

21 (D) Fiscal year 1999: $110,000,000,000;

22 (E) Fiscal year 2000: $115,000,000,000;

23 (F) Fiscal year 2001: $119,000,000,000;

24 and

25 (G) Fiscal year 2002: $124,000,000,000.
95

HR 2599 IH

1 (5) Direct Spending—Other (Outlays)—

2 (A) Fiscal year 1996: $177,000,000,000;

3 (B) Fiscal year 1997: $184,000,000,000;

4 (C) Fiscal year 1998: $188,000,000,000;

5 (D) Fiscal year 1999: $203,000,000,000;

6 (E) Fiscal year 2000: $216,000,000,000;

7 (F) Fiscal year 2001: $221,000,000,000;

8 and

9 (G) Fiscal year 2002: $230,000,000,000.

10 SEC. 302. EFFECTIVE DATES.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except for Title II, the provisions

12 of this Act are effective upon enactment.

13 (b) LINE-ITEM VETO AND ENHANCED RESCISSION

14 AUTHORITY.—

15 (1) Pursuant to the provisions of section 4 of

16 this title, chapter A of title II of this Act is effective

17 upon enactment; and

18 (2) Chapter B of title II of this Act is effective

19 upon the invalidation of chapter A of such title.

20 SEC. 303. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

21 (a) Part C (Emergency Powers to Eliminate Deficits

22 in Excess of Maximum Deficit Amount) of the Balanced

23 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as

24 amended, is repealed.
96

HR 2599 IH

1 (b) Section 1122(c) of title 31, United States Code,

2 is amended by striking ‘‘The Comptroller General—’’ and

3 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘The Directors of OMB and CBO,

4 jointly—’’.

5 (c) Section 710 of the Social Security Act is repealed.

6 (d) In section 305 of the Congressional Budget Act

7 of 1974, strike out the word ‘‘concurrent’’ wherever it ap8 pears and insert in lieu thereof the word ‘‘joint’’.

9 (e) In section 308 of the Congressional Budget Act

10 of 1974—

11 (1) strike out the word ‘‘concurrent’’ wherever

12 it appears and insert in lieu thereof the word

13 ‘‘joint’’; and

14 (2) strike out ‘‘new spending authority de15 scribed in section 401(c)(2)’’ wherever it appears

16 and insert in lieu thereof ‘‘new entitlement author17 ity’’.

18 (f) In section 310 of the Congressional Budget Act

19 of 1974, strike out the word ‘‘concurrent’’ wherever it ap20 pears and insert in lieu thereof the word ‘‘joint’’.

21 (g) In section 311 of the Congressional Budget Act

22 of 1974, strike out the word ‘‘concurrent’’ wherever it ap23 pears and insert in lieu thereof the word ‘‘joint’’.

24 (h)(1) Section 401 of the Congressional Budget Act

25 of 1974 is repealed, and
97

HR 2599 IH

1 (2) Section 402 of such Act is renumbered as section

2 401, and section 403 of such Act is renumbered as section

3 402.

4 (i) Section 404 of such Act is—

5 (1) Renumbered as section 403, and

6 (2) Amended to read as follows—

7 SEC. 403. ‘‘(a) AMENDMENT OF HOUSE RULES.—

8 ‘‘(1) Paragraph (b) of clause 1 of rule XI of the

9 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended

10 by striking subparagraph (4);

11 ‘‘(2) Clause 4(a)(2) of such rule is repealed;

12 and

13 ‘‘(3) Clause 4(a)(3) of such rule is redesignated

14 as clause 4(a)(2).

15 ‘‘(b) AMENDMENT OF SENATE RULES.—Subpara16 graph (b) of paragraph 1 of rule XXV of the Standing

17 Rules of the Senate is amended by striking clause 3 and

18 clause 4.’’.

19 (j) Section 405 of such Act is repealed.

20 (k) Section 406 of such Act is renumbered as section

21 404.
98

HR 2599 IH

1 SEC. 304. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 31, UNITED STATES

2 CODE.

3 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 1101 of title 31, United

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the

5 following new paragraph:

6 ‘‘(3) ‘budget biennium’ has the meaning given

7 to such term in paragraph (2) of section 3 of the

8 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control

9 Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622(2))’’.

10 (b) BUDGET CONTENTS AND SUBMISSION TO THE

11 CONGRESS.—

12 (1) So much of section 1105(a) of title 31,

13 United States Code, as precedes paragraph (1)

14 thereof is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘(a) On or before the first Monday in February of

16 each odd-numbered year, beginning with the One Hundred

17 Fifth Congress, the President shall transmit to the Con18 gress the budget for the biennium beginning on October

19 1 of such calendar year. The budget transmitted under

20 this subsection shall include a budget message and sum21 mary and supporting information. The President shall in22 clude in each budget the following.’’.

23 (2) Section 1105(a)(5) of title 31, United

24 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the fiscal year

25 for which the budget is submitted and the 4 fiscal

26 years after that year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal
99

HR 2599 IH

1 year in the biennium for which the budget is submit2 ted and in the succeeding two biennia’’.

3 (3) Section 1105(a)(6) of title 31, United

4 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the fiscal year

5 for which the budget is submitted and the 4 fiscal

6 years after that year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal

7 year in the biennium for which the budget is submit8 ted and in the succeeding two biennia’’.

9 (4) Section 1105(a)(9)(C) of title 31, United

10 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the fiscal

11 year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the bien12 nium’’.

13 (5) Section 1105(a)(12) of title 31, United

14 States Code, is amended—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘the fiscal year’’ in sub16 paragraph (A) and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year

17 in the biennium’’; and

18 (B) by striking ‘‘4 fiscal years after that

19 year’’ in subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘4 fis20 cal years immediately following the second fiscal

21 year in such biennium’’.

22 (6) Section 1105(a)(13) of title 31, United

23 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the fiscal

24 year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the bien25 nium’’.
100

HR 2599 IH

1 (7) Section 1105(a)(14) of title 31, United

2 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘that year’’ and

3 inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium for which

4 the budget is submitted’’.

5 (8) Section 1105(a)(16) of title 31, United

6 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the fiscal

7 year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the bien8 nium’’.

9 (9) Section 1105(a)(17) of title 31, United

10 States Code, is amended—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘the fiscal year following

12 the fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year

13 in the two biennia following the biennium’’;

14 (B) by striking ‘‘that following fiscal year’’

15 and inserting ‘‘each such fiscal year’’; and

16 (C) by striking ‘‘fiscal year before the fis17 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennium before the bi18 ennium’’.

19 (10) Section 1105(a)(18) of title 31, United

20 States Code, is amended—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘the prior fiscal year’’ and

22 inserting ‘‘each of the 2 most recently com23 pleted fiscal years’’;

24 (B) by striking ‘‘for that year’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘with respect to that fiscal year’’; and
101

HR 2599 IH

1 (C) by striking ‘‘in that year’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘in that fiscal year’’.

3 (11) Section 1105(a)(19) of title 31, United

4 States Code, is amended—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘the prior fiscal year’’ and

6 inserting ‘‘each of the 2 most recently com7 pleted fiscal years’’;

8 (B) by striking ‘‘for that year’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘with respect to that fiscal year’’; and

10 (C) by striking ‘‘in that year’’ each place

11 it appears and inserting ‘‘in that fiscal year’’.

12 (c) ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES OF LEGISLATIVE

13 AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES.—Section 1105(b) of title 31,

14 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘each year’’

15 and inserting ‘‘each even-numbered year’’.

16 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS TO MEET ESTIMATED DE17 FICIENCIES.—Section 1105(c) of title 31, United States

18 Code, is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘fiscal year for’’ each place it

20 appears and inserting ‘‘biennium for’’;

21 (2) by inserting ‘‘or current biennium, as the

22 case may be,’’ after ‘‘current fiscal year’’; and

23 (3) by striking ‘‘that year’’ and inserting ‘‘that

24 period’’.
102

HR 2599 IH

1 (e) STATEMENT WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN

2 CHANGES.—Section 1105(d) of title 31, United States

3 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘biennium’’.

5 (f) CAPITAL INVESTMENT ANALYSIS.—Section

6 1105(e) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by

7 striking ‘‘ensuing fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennium to

8 which such budget relates’’.

9 (g) SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET ESTIMATES AND

10 CHANGES.—

11 (1) Section 1106(a) of title 31, United States

12 Code, is amended—

13 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)

14 by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘bien15 nium’’;

16 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘that fis17 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in

18 such biennium’’;

19 (C) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘4 fiscal

20 years following the fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘4

21 fiscal years following the biennium’’;

22 (D) by striking ‘‘future fiscal years’’ in

23 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘the 4 fiscal years

24 following the biennium for which the budget is

25 submitted’’; and
103

HR 2599 IH

1 (E) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ in paragraph

2 (3) and inserting ‘‘biennium’’.

3 (2) Section 1106(b) of title 31, United States

4 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the fiscal year’’ and

5 inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’.

6 (h) YEAR-AHEAD REQUESTS FOR AUTHORIZING

7 LEGISLATION.—Section 1110 of title 31, United States

8 Code, is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘bi10 ennium (beginning on or after October 1, 1997)’’;

11 and

12 (2) by striking ‘‘year before the year in which

13 the fiscal year begins’’ and inserting ‘‘second cal14 endar year preceding the calendar year in which the

15 biennium begins’’.

16 (i) BUDGET INFORMATION ON CONSULTING SERV17 ICES.—Section 1114 of title 31, United States Code, is

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘The’’ each place it appears and

20 inserting ‘‘For each biennium beginning with the bi21 ennium beginning on October 1, 1997, the ‘‘; and

22 (2) by striking ‘‘each year’’ each place it ap23 pears.
104

HR 2599 IH

1 SEC. 305. EFFECT OF CERTAIN JUDICIAL ACTIONS.

2 (a) In the event that any of the provisions of title

3 II, chapter A are invalidated, all provisions of such chap4 ter are invalidated; and

5 (b) Immediately upon a final determination invalidat6 ing chapter A of title II, chapter B of title II shall become

7 effective.

Æ

HR 2599 IH——2

HR 2599 IH——3

HR 2599 IH——4

HR 2599 IH——5

HR 2599 IH——6

HR 2599 IH——7