I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4604

To establish direct spending targets, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 21, 1994

Mr. SPRATT introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Government Operations and Rules

A BILL

To establish direct spending targets, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE.

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

5 ‘‘Budget Control Act of 1994’’.

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to create

7 a mechanism to monitor total costs of direct spending pro8 grams, and, in the event that actual or projected costs ex9 ceed targeted levels, to require the President and Congress

10 to address adjustments in direct spending.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DIRECT SPENDING TARGETS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The initial direct spending targets

3 for each of fiscal years 1994 through 1997 shall equal

4 total outlays for all direct spending except net interest and

5 deposit insurance as determined by the Director of the Of6 fice of Management and Budget (hereinafter referred to

7 in this Act as the ‘‘Director‘‘) under subsection (b).

8 (b) INITIAL REPORT BY DIRECTOR.—

9 (1) Not later than 30 days after the date of en10 actment of this Act, the Director shall submit a re11 port to Congress setting forth projected direct

12 spending targets for each of fiscal years 1994

13 through 1997.

14 (2) The Director’s projections shall be based on

15 legislation enacted as of 5 days before the report is

16 submitted under paragraph (1). To the extent fea17 sible, the Director shall use the same economic and

18 technical assumptions used in preparing the concur19 rent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1994

20 (H. Con. Res. 64, One Hundred Third Congress).

21 (c) ADJUSTMENTS.—Direct spending targets shall be

22 subsequently adjusted by the Director under section 6.

23 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REVIEW OF DIRECT SPENDING AND RE24 CEIPTS BY PRESIDENT.

25 As part of each budget submitted under section

26 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, the President
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1 shall provide an annual review of direct spending and re2 ceipts, which shall include (1) information supporting the

3 adjustment of direct spending targets pursuant to section

4 6, (2) information on total outlays for programs covered

5 by the direct spending targets, including actual outlays for

6 the prior fiscal year and projected outlays for the current

7 fiscal year and the 5 succeeding fiscal years, and (3) infor8 mation on the major categories of Federal receipts, includ9 ing a comparison between the levels of those receipts and

10 the levels projected as of the date of enactment of this

11 Act.

12 SEC. 4. SPECIAL DIRECT SPENDING MESSAGE BY PRESI13 DENT.

14 (a) TRIGGER.—In the event that the information sub15 mitted by the President under section 3 indicates —

16 (1) that actual outlays for direct spending in

17 the prior fiscal year exceeded the applicable direct

18 spending target, or

19 (2) that outlays for direct spending for the cur20 rent or budget year are projected to exceed the ap21 plicable direct spending targets,

22 the President shall include in his budget a special direct

23 spending message meeting the requirements of subsection

24 (b).
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1 (b) CONTENTS.—(1) The special direct spending

2 message shall include:

3 (A) An explanation of any adjustments to the

4 direct spending targets pursuant to section 6.

5 (B) An analysis of the variance in direct spend6 ing over the adjusted direct spending targets.

7 (C) The President’s recommendations for ad8 dressing the direct spending overages, if any, in the

9 prior, current, or budget year.

10 (2) The President’s recommendations may consist of

11 any of the following:

12 (A) Proposed legislative changes to reduce out13 lays, increase revenues, or both, in order to recoup

14 or eliminate the overage for the prior, current, and

15 budget years in the current year, the budget year,

16 and the 4 outyears.

17 (B) Proposed legislative changes to reduce out18 lays, increase revenues, or both, in order to recoup

19 or eliminate part of the overage for the prior, cur20 rent, and budget year in the current year, the budg21 et year, and the 4 outyears, accompanied by a find22 ing by the President that, because of economic con23 ditions or for other specified reasons, only some of

24 the overage should be recouped or eliminated by out25 lay reductions or revenue increases, or both.
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1 (C) A proposal to make no legislative changes

2 to recoup or eliminate any overage, accompanied by

3 a finding by the President that, because of economic

4 conditions or for other specified reasons, no legisla5 tive changes are warranted.

6 (3) Any proposed legislative change under paragraph

7 (2) to reduce outlays may include reductions in direct

8 spending or in the discretionary spending limits under sec9 tion 601 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

10 (c) PROPOSED SPECIAL DIRECT SPENDING RESOLU11 TION.—

12 (1) PRESIDENT’S RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE

13 SUBMITTED AS DRAFT RESOLUTION.—If the Presi14 dent recommends reductions consistent with sub15 section (b)(2)(A) or (B), the special direct spending

16 message shall include the text of a special direct

17 spending resolution implementing the President’s

18 recommendations through reconciliation directives

19 instructing the appropriate committees of the House

20 of Representatives and Senate to determine and rec21 ommend changes in laws within their jurisdictions to

22 reduce outlays or increase revenues by specified

23 amounts. If the President recommends no reductions

24 pursuant to (b)(2)(C), the special direct spending

25 message shall include the text of a special resolution
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1 concurring in the President’s recommendation of no

2 legislative action.

3 (2) RESOLUTION TO BE INTRODUCED IN

4 HOUSE.—Within 10 days after the President’s spe5 cial direct spending message is submitted, the text

6 required by paragraph (1) shall be introduced as a

7 concurrent resolution in the House of Representa8 tives by the chairman of the Committee on the

9 Budget of the House of Representatives without sub10 stantive revision. If the chairman fails to do so, after

11 the tenth day the resolution may be introduced by

12 any Member of the House of Representatives. A con13 current resolution introduced under this paragraph

14 shall be referred to the Committee on the Budget.

15 SEC. 5. REQUIRED RESPONSE BY CONGRESS.

16 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR SPECIAL DIRECT SPENDING

17 RESOLUTION.—Whenever the President submits a special

18 direct spending message under section 4, the Committee

19 on the Budget of the House of Representatives shall re20 port, not later than April 15, the concurrent resolution

21 on the budget and include in it a separate title that meets

22 the requirements of subsections (b) and (c).

23 (b) CONTENTS OF SEPARATE TITLE.—The separate

24 title of the concurrent resolution on the budget shall con25 tain reconciliation directives to the appropriate committees
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1 of the House of Representatives and Senate to determine

2 and recommend changes in laws within their jurisdictions

3 to reduce outlays or increase revenues by specified

4 amounts (which in total equal or exceed the reductions

5 recommended by the President, up to the amount of the

6 overage). If this separate title recommends that no legisla7 tive changes be made to recoup or eliminate an overage,

8 then a statement to that effect shall be set forth in that

9 title.

10 (c) REQUIREMENT FOR SEPARATE VOTE TO IN11 CREASE TARGETS.—If the separate title of a concurrent

12 resolution on the budget proposes to recoup or eliminate

13 less than the entire overage for the prior, current, and

14 budget years, then the Committee on the Budget of the

15 House of Representatives shall report a resolution direct16 ing the Committee on Government Operations to report

17 legislation increasing the direct spending targets for each

18 applicable year by the full amount of the overage not re19 couped or eliminated. It shall not be in order in the House

20 of Representatives to consider that concurrent resolution

21 on the budget until the House of Representatives has

22 agreed to the resolution directing the increase in direct

23 spending targets.

24 (d) CONFERENCE REPORTS MUST FULLY ADDRESS

25 OVERAGE.—It shall not be in order in the House of Rep-
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1 resentatives to consider a conference report on a concur2 rent resolution on the budget unless that conference report

3 fully addresses the entirety of any overage contained in

4 the applicable report of the President under section 4

5 through reconciliation directives requiring spending reduc6 tions, revenue increases, or changes in the direct spending

7 targets.

8 (e) PROCEDURE IF HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE

9 FAILS TO REPORT REQUIRED RESOLUTION.—

10 (1) AUTOMATIC DISCHARGE OF HOUSE BUDGET

11 COMMITTEE.—If a special direct spending resolution

12 is required and the Committee on the Budget of the

13 House of Representatives fails to report a resolution

14 meeting the requirements of subsections (b) and (c)

15 by April 15, then the committee shall be automati16 cally discharged from further consideration of the

17 concurrent resolution reflecting the President’s rec18 ommendations introduced pursuant to section

19 4(c)(2) and the concurrent resolution shall be placed

20 on the appropriate calendar.

21 (2) CONSIDERATION BY HOUSE.—Ten days

22 after the Committee on the Budget of the House of

23 Representatives has been discharged under para24 graph (1), any Member may move that the House
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1 proceed to consider the resolution. Such motion shall

2 be highly privileged and not debatable.

3 (f) APPLICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

4 ACT.—To the extent that they are relevant and not incon5 sistent with this Act, the provisions of title III of the Con6 gressional Budget Act of 1974 shall apply in the House

7 of Representatives and the Senate to special direct spend8 ing resolutions, resolutions increasing targets under sub9 section (c), and reconciliation legislation reported pursu10 ant to directives contained in those resolutions.

11 SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENTS TO DIRECT SPENDING TARGETS.

12 (a) REQUIRED ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS.—Prior to

13 the submission of the President’s budget for each of fiscal

14 years 1994 through 1997, the Director shall adjust the

15 direct spending targets in accordance with this section.

16 Any such adjustments shall be reflected in the targets

17 used in the President’s report under section 3 and mes18 sage (if any) under section 4.

19 (b) ADJUSTMENT FOR INCREASES IN BENE20 FICIARIES.—(1) The Director shall adjust the direct

21 spending targets for increases (if any) in actual or pro22 jected numbers of beneficiaries under direct spending pro23 grams for which the number of beneficiaries is a variable

24 in determining costs.

25 (2) The adjustment shall be made by —
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1 (A) computing, for each program under para2 graph (1), the percentage change between (i) the an3 nual average number of beneficiaries under that pro4 gram (including actual numbers of beneficiaries for

5 the prior fiscal year and projections for the budget

6 and subsequent fiscal years) to be used in the Presi7 dent’s budget with which the adjustments will be

8 submitted, and (ii) the annual average number of

9 beneficiaries used in the adjustments made by the

10 Director in the previous year (or, in the case of ad11 justments made in 1994, the annual average number

12 of beneficiaries used in the Director’s initial report

13 under section 2(b));

14 (B) applying the percentages computed under

15 subparagraph (A) to the projected levels of outlays

16 for each program consistent with the direct spending

17 targets in effect immediately prior to the adjust18 ment; and

19 (C) adding the results of the calculations re20 quired by subparagraph (B) to the direct spending

21 targets in effect immediately prior to the adjust22 ment.

23 (3) No adjustment shall be made for any program

24 for a fiscal year in which the percentage increase com-
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1 puted under paragraph (2)(A) is less than or equal to

2 zero.

3 (c) ADJUSTMENTS FOR REVENUE LEGISLATION.—

4 (1) The Director shall adjust the targets as follows—

5 (A) they shall be increased by the amount of

6 any increase in receipts; or

7 (B) they shall be decreased by the amount of

8 any decrease in receipts,

9 resulting from receipts legislation enacted after the date

10 of enactment of this Act, except legislation enacted under

11 section 5.

12 (d) ADJUSTMENTS TO REFLECT CONGRESSIONAL

13 DECISIONS.—Upon enactment of a reconciliation bill pur14 suant to instructions under section 5, the Director shall

15 adjust direct spending targets for the current year, the

16 budget year, and each outyear through 1997 by—

17 (1) increasing the target for the current year

18 and the budget year by the amount stated for that

19 year in that reconciliation bill (but if a separate vote

20 was required by section 5(c), only if that vote has

21 occurred); and

22 (2) decreasing the target for the current, budg23 et, and outyears through 1997 by the amount of re24 ductions in direct spending enacted in that reconcili25 ation bill.
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1 (e) DESIGNATED EMERGENCIES.—The Director shall

2 adjust the targets to reflect the costs of legislation that

3 is designated as an emergency by Congress and the Presi4 dent under section 252(b) of the Balanced Budget and

5 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

6 SEC. 7. RELATIONSHIP TO BALANCED BUDGET AND EMER7 GENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT.

8 Reductions in outlays or increases in receipts result9 ing from legislation reported pursuant to section 5 shall

10 not be taken into account for purposes of any budget en11 forcement procedures under the Balanced Budget and

12 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

13 SEC. 8. ESTIMATING MARGIN.

14 For any fiscal year for which the overage is less than

15 one-half of 1 percent of the direct spending target for that

16 year, the procedures set forth in sections 4 and 5 shall

17 not apply.

18 SEC. 9. CONSIDERATION OF APPROPRIATION BILLS.

19 (a) POINT OF ORDER.—It shall not be in order in

20 the House of Representatives to consider any general ap21 propriation bill if the President has submitted a direct

22 spending message under section 4 until Congress has

23 adopted a concurrent resolution on the budget for the

24 budget year that meets the requirements of section 5.
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1 (b) WAIVER.—The point of order established by sub2 section (a) may only be waived for all general appropria3 tion bills for that budget year through the adoption of one

4 resolution waiving that point of order.

5 SEC. 10. MEANS-TESTED PROGRAMS.

6 In making recommendations under sections 4 and 5,

7 the President and the Congress should seriously consider

8 all other alternatives before proposing reductions in

9 means-tested programs.

10 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

11 This Act shall apply to direct spending targets for

12 fiscal years 1994 through 1997 and shall expire at the

13 end of fiscal year 1997.

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