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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5233

To establish the National Commission on Budget Concepts.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 20, 2000

Mr. RADANOVICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Budget

A BILL

To establish the National Commission on Budget Concepts.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Commission

5 on Budget Concepts Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The conceptual framework of the budget,

9 which is central to Federal planning and policy, has

10 not been comprehensively reviewed for over 30 years.

11 (2) Over those years, there has been a signifi12 cant change in the way that policy makers and
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1 economists view the role of government in the econ2 omy.

3 (3) In addition, major changes have occurred in

4 the scope of Federal activity, in the economy, in the

5 use of the budget for fiscal policy purposes, and in

6 information technology.

7 (4) Because the Federal budget is inherently

8 complex, budget concepts may need to be modified

9 to increase public understanding of the operation of

10 the Federal Government and its impact on the econ11 omy.

12 (5) Federal budget concepts should be reviewed

13 and, if appropriate, revised in light of the best cur14 rent thinking in accounting, budgeting, and econom15 ics.

16 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab17 lish the National Commission on Budget Concepts to re18 view the current structure, concepts, classifications, and

19 bases of accounting of the Federal budget and to report

20 recommendations to the President and Congress for modi21 fications that would enhance the usefulness of the budget

22 for public policy and financial planning.
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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL COMMISSION ON

2 BUDGET CONCEPTS.

3 There is established a commission to be known as the

4 National Commission on Budget Concepts (hereinafter re5 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

6 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP.

7 (a) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com8 posed of 13 members, as follows:

9 (1) The chairman of the Committee on the

10 Budget of the Senate.

11 (2) The chairman of the Committee on the

12 Budget of the House of Representatives.

13 (3) The ranking member of the Committee on

14 the Budget of the Senate.

15 (4) The ranking member of the Committee on

16 the Budget of the House of Representatives.

17 (5) The Director of the Office of Management

18 and Budget.

19 (6) The Comptroller General of the United

20 States.

21 (7) The Director of the Congressional Budget

22 Office.

23 (8) The Secretary of the Treasury.

24 (9) One member appointed by the majority

25 leader of the Senate.
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1 (10) One member appointed by the Speaker of

2 the House of Representatives.

3 (11) One member appointed by the minority

4 leader of the Senate.

5 (12) One member appointed by the minority

6 leader of the House of Representatives.

7 (13) One member appointed by the President of

8 the United States.

9 (b) QUALIFICATIONS AND TERM.—

10 (1) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members appointed to

11 the Commission pursuant to subsection (a) shall—

12 (A) have expertise and experience in the

13 fields or disciplines related to the subject areas

14 to be considered by the Commission; and

15 (B) not be Members of Congress, officers,

16 or employees of the Federal Government.

17 (2) TERM OF APPOINTMENT.—The term of an

18 appointment to the Commission shall be for the life

19 of the Commission.

20 (3) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The appointee

21 under subsection (a)(13) shall be the Chair of the

22 Commission. A Vice Chair may be elected and shall

23 assume the duties of the Chair in the Chair’s ab24 sence.
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1 (c) MEETINGS; QUORUM; VACANCIES; AND PROCE2 DURES.—

3 (1) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at

4 least once a month on a day to be decided by the

5 Commission. The Commission may meet at such

6 other times at the call of the Chair or of a majority

7 of its members. The meetings of the Commission

8 shall be open to the public, unless by public vote, the

9 Commission shall determine to close a meeting or

10 any portion of a meeting to the public.

11 (2) QUORUM.—A simple majority of the full

12 membership shall constitute a quorum of the Com13 mission, except that five members may conduct hear14 ings.

15 (d) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission shall

16 be filled in the same manner in which the original appoint17 ment was filled under subsection (a).

18 (e) PROCEDURES.—The Commission shall adopt ad19 ministrative and procedural rules that are consistent with

20 this section, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and the

21 General Service Administration guidelines thereunder.

22 (f) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.—Members of

23 the Commission shall receive no additional pay, allowance,

24 or benefits by reason of their service on the Commission.

25 Each member appointed from outside of the Federal Gov-
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1 ernment, while engaged in the performance of Commission

2 duties away from their homes, regular place of business,

3 or official duty station, may receive travel expenses, in4 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized

5 for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter

6 57 of title 5, United States Code.

7 SEC. 5. STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.

8 (a) STAFF.—With the advance approval of the Com9 mission, the executive director may appoint such personnel

10 as is appropriate. The staff of the Commission, including

11 any experts or consultants, shall be appointed without re12 gard to political affiliation and without regard to the pro13 visions of title 5, United States Code, governing appoint14 ments in the competitive service, the provision of chapter

15 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title, and

16 without regard to section 5 of title 41, United States Code

17 (relating to classifications and General Schedule).

18 (b) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Chairman shall ap19 point an executive director, who shall be paid the rate of

20 basic pay for level II of the Executive Schedule.

21 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the advance

22 approval of the Commission, the executive director may

23 procure by contract the temporary and intermittent serv24 ices of experts and consultants without regard to the pro-
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1 visions of title 5, United States Code, governing appoint2 ments in the competitive service.

3 (d) TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIST4 ANCE.—Upon the request of the Commission—

5 (1) the head of any agency, office, or establish6 ment within the Executive or Legislative Branches

7 of the United States Government shall provide, with8 out reimbursement, such technical assistance as the

9 Commission determines is necessary to carry out its

10 duties; and

11 (2) the Administrator of the General Services

12 Administration shall provide, on a reimbursable

13 basis, such administrative support services as the

14 Commission may require.

15 (e) DETAIL OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL.—Upon the

16 request of the Commission, the head of an agency, office,

17 or establishment in the Executive or Legislative branch

18 of the United States Government is authorized to detail,

19 without reimbursement, any of the personnel of that agen20 cy, office, or establishment to the Commission to assist

21 the Commission in carrying out its duties. Any such detail

22 shall not interrupt or otherwise affect the employment sta23 tus or privileges of that employee.

24 (f) FACILITIES AND SUPPORT.—The Administrator

25 of the General Services Administration shall locate suit-
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1 able office space for the operation of the Commission and

2 such facilities shall be furnished with all necessary equip3 ment and incidentals required for the proper functioning

4 of the Commission.

5 SEC. 6. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

6 (a) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.—The Commission

7 shall—

8 (1) review the 1967 Report of the President’s

9 Commission on Budget Concepts and assess the im10 plementation of the recommendations of that Re11 port;

12 (2) identify and evaluate structure, concepts,

13 classifications, and bases of accounting of the Fed14 eral budget;

15 (3) identify any applicable general accounting

16 principles and practices in the private sector and

17 evaluate their value to budget practices in the Fed18 eral sector; and

19 (4) report, in accordance with subsection (g),

20 recommendations for modifications to the structure,

21 concepts, classifications, and bases of accounting of

22 the Federal budget that would enhance the useful23 ness of the budget for public policy and financial

24 planning.

25 (b) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.—
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1 (1) CONDUCT OF BUSINESS.—The Commission

2 may hold hearings, take testimony, receive evidence,

3 undertake such other activities, as it determines nec4 essary to carry out its duties.

5 (2) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—(A) The Com6 mission is authorized to obtain directly from any

7 Federal agency information that the Commission de8 termines is necessary to carry out its duties. The

9 Federal agency requested, shall provide the informa10 tion requested, but shall notify the Commission if

11 any of the information provided is protected from

12 disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States

13 Code, or some similar statute.

14 (B) Subject to section 552 of title 5, United

15 States Code, the records, reports, transcripts, min16 utes, and other documents which were prepared by

17 the Commission shall be available for public inspec18 tion and copying in the office of the Commission.

19 Any documents made available to the Commission

20 from sources outside of the Commission, to which

21 were attached notices that the information is pro22 tected from disclosure, shall not be made available

23 by the Commission for inspection or copying.

24 (3) POSTAL SERVICE.—The Commission may

25 use the United States mails in the same manner and
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1 under the same conditions as other departments and

2 agencies of the Federal Government.

3 (4) PRINTING.—For purposes of cost relating

4 to the printing and binding, including the cost of

5 any personnel detailed from the Government Print6 ing Office, the Commission shall be deemed to be a

7 committee of the Congress.

8 SEC. 7. REPORT.

9 Not later than February 28, 2002, the Commission

10 shall submit a report to the President and the Congress

11 with recommendations for modifications to the current

12 structure, concepts, classifications, and bases of account13 ing of the Federal budget. A detailed explanation of the

14 basis of those recommendations and conclusions shall be

15 included in the report. At the request of any Commission

16 member, the report shall include that member’s dissenting

17 views or opinions.

18 SEC. 8. TERMINATION.

19 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the

20 date of submission of the report required in section 7.

21 SEC. 9. FUNDING.

22 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

23 as are necessary to carry out this Act. Sums so appro24 priated shall remain available until expended.
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1 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act shall become effective on January 31, 2001.

3 The Commission shall not be considered constituted to

4 conduct business until the earlier of the appointment of

5 all appointed members or March 31, 2001.

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