103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4604

AN ACT

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) Except as provided by paragraph (4), any pro7 posed legislative change under paragraph (2) to reduce

8 outlays may include reductions in direct spending or in

9 the discretionary spending limits under section 601 of the

10 Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

11 (4) The President’s recommendations may not con12 sist of any proposed legislative changes under the old-age,

13 survivors, and disability insurance program established

14 under title II of the Social Security Act.

15 (c) PROPOSED SPECIAL DIRECT SPENDING RESOLU16 TION.—

17 (1) PRESIDENT’S RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE

18 SUBMITTED AS DRAFT RESOLUTION.—If the Presi19 dent recommends reductions consistent with sub20 section (b)(2)(A) or (B), the special direct spending

21 message shall include the text of a special direct

22 spending resolution implementing the President’s

23 recommendations through reconciliation directives

24 instructing the appropriate committees of the House

25 of Representatives and Senate to determine and rec-
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1 ommend changes in laws within their jurisdictions to

2 reduce outlays or increase revenues by specified

3 amounts. If the President recommends no reductions

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

5 message shall include the text of a special resolution

6 concurring in the President’s recommendation of no

7 legislative action.

8 (2) RESOLUTION TO BE INTRODUCED IN

9 HOUSE.—Within 10 days after the President’s spe10 cial direct spending message is submitted, the text

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

12 concurrent resolution in the House of Representa13 tives by the chairman of the Committee on the

14 Budget of the House of Representatives without sub15 stantive revision. If the chairman fails to do so, after

16 the tenth day the resolution may be introduced by

17 any Member of the House of Representatives. A con18 current resolution introduced under this paragraph

19 shall be referred to the Committee on the Budget.

20 SEC. 5. REQUIRED RESPONSE BY CONGRESS.

21 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR SPECIAL DIRECT SPENDING

22 RESOLUTION.—Whenever the President submits a special

23 direct spending message under section 4, the Committee

24 on the Budget of the House of Representatives shall re25 port, not later than April 15, the concurrent resolution
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1 on the budget and include in it a separate title that meets

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

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

4 title of the concurrent resolution on the budget shall con5 tain reconciliation directives to the appropriate committees

6 of the House of Representatives and Senate to determine

7 and recommend changes in laws within their jurisdictions

8 to reduce outlays or increase revenues by specified

9 amounts (which in total equal or exceed the reductions

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

11 overage). If this separate title recommends that no legisla12 tive changes be made to recoup or eliminate an overage,

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

14 title.

15 (c) REQUIREMENT FOR SEPARATE VOTE TO IN16 CREASE TARGETS.—If the separate title of a concurrent

17 resolution on the budget proposes to recoup or eliminate

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

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

20 House of Representatives shall report a resolution direct21 ing the Committee on Government Operations to report

22 legislation increasing the direct spending targets for each

23 applicable year by the full amount of the overage not re24 couped or eliminated. It shall not be in order in the House

25 of Representatives to consider that concurrent resolution
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1 on the budget until the House of Representatives has

2 agreed to the resolution directing the increase in direct

3 spending targets.

4 (d) CONFERENCE REPORTS MUST FULLY ADDRESS

5 OVERAGE.—It shall not be in order in the House of Rep6 resentatives to consider a conference report on a concur7 rent resolution on the budget unless that conference report

8 fully addresses the entirety of any overage contained in

9 the applicable report of the President under section 4

10 through reconciliation directives requiring spending reduc11 tions, revenue increases, or changes in the direct spending

12 targets.

13 (e) PROCEDURE IF HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE

14 FAILS TO REPORT REQUIRED RESOLUTION.—

15 (1) AUTOMATIC DISCHARGE OF HOUSE BUDGET

16 COMMITTEE.—If a special direct spending resolution

17 is required and the Committee on the Budget of the

18 House of Representatives fails to report a resolution

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

20 by April 15, then the committee shall be automati21 cally discharged from further consideration of the

22 concurrent resolution reflecting the President’s rec23 ommendations introduced pursuant to section

24 4(c)(2) and the concurrent resolution shall be placed

25 on the appropriate calendar.
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1 (2) CONSIDERATION BY HOUSE.—Ten days

2 after the Committee on the Budget of the House of

3 Representatives has been discharged under para4 graph (1), any Member may move that the House

5 proceed to consider the resolution. Such motion shall

6 be highly privileged and not debatable.

7 (f) APPLICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

8 ACT.—To the extent that they are relevant and not incon9 sistent with this Act, the provisions of title III of the Con10 gressional Budget Act of 1974 shall apply in the House

11 of Representatives and the Senate to special direct spend12 ing resolutions, resolutions increasing targets under sub13 section (c), and reconciliation legislation reported pursu14 ant to directives contained in those resolutions.

15 (g) LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO THE SOCIAL SECU16 RITY ACT.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,

17 it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Rep18 resentatives to consider any reconciliation bill reported

19 pursuant to a concurrent resolution on the budget agreed

20 to under section 301 or 304 or reconciliation legislation

21 reported pursuant to directives contained in any special

22 direct spending resolution, or any amendment thereto or

23 conference report thereon, that contains recommendations

24 to make any legislative changes under the old-age, survi-
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1 vors, and disability insurance program established under

2 title II of the Social Security Act.

3 SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENTS TO DIRECT SPENDING TARGETS.

4 (a) REQUIRED ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS.—Prior to

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

6 years 1994 through 1997, the Director shall adjust the

7 direct spending targets in accordance with this section.

8 Any such adjustments shall be reflected in the targets

9 used in the President’s report under section 3 and mes10 sage (if any) under section 4.

11 (b) ADJUSTMENT FOR INCREASES IN BENE12 FICIARIES.—(1) The Director shall adjust the direct

13 spending targets for increases (if any) in actual or pro14 jected numbers of beneficiaries under direct spending pro15 grams for which the number of beneficiaries is a variable

16 in determining costs.

17 (2) The adjustment shall be made by —

18 (A) computing, for each program under para19 graph (1), the percentage change between (i) the an20 nual average number of beneficiaries under that pro21 gram (including actual numbers of beneficiaries for

22 the prior fiscal year and projections for the budget

23 and subsequent fiscal years) to be used in the Presi24 dent’s budget with which the adjustments will be

25 submitted, and (ii) the annual average number of
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1 beneficiaries used in the adjustments made by the

2 Director in the previous year (or, in the case of ad3 justments made in 1994, the annual average number

4 of beneficiaries used in the Director’s initial report

5 under section 2(b));

6 (B) applying the percentages computed under

7 subparagraph (A) to the projected levels of outlays

8 for each program consistent with the direct spending

9 targets in effect immediately prior to the adjust10 ment; and

11 (C) adding the results of the calculations re12 quired by subparagraph (B) to the direct spending

13 targets in effect immediately prior to the adjust14 ment.

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

16 for a fiscal year in which the percentage increase com17 puted under paragraph (2)(A) is less than or equal to

18 zero.

19 (c) ADJUSTMENTS FOR REVENUE LEGISLATION.—

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

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

22 any increase in receipts; or

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

24 any decrease in receipts,
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1 resulting from receipts legislation enacted after the date

2 of enactment of this Act, except legislation enacted under

3 section 5.

4 (d) ADJUSTMENTS TO REFLECT CONGRESSIONAL

5 DECISIONS.—Upon enactment of a reconciliation bill pur6 suant to instructions under section 5, the Director shall

7 adjust direct spending targets for the current year, the

8 budget year, and each outyear through 1997 by—

9 (1) increasing the target for the current year

10 and the budget year by the amount stated for that

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

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

13 occurred); and

14 (2) decreasing the target for the current, budg15 et, and outyears through 1997 by the amount of re16 ductions in direct spending enacted in that reconcili17 ation bill.

18 (e) DESIGNATED EMERGENCIES.—The Director shall

19 adjust the targets to reflect the costs of legislation that

20 is designated as an emergency by Congress and the Presi21 dent under section 252(b) of the Balanced Budget and

22 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
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1 SEC. 7. RELATIONSHIP TO BALANCED BUDGET AND EMER2 GENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT.

3 Reductions in outlays or increases in receipts result4 ing from legislation reported pursuant to section 5 shall

5 not be taken into account for purposes of any budget en6 forcement procedures under the Balanced Budget and

7 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

8 SEC. 8. ESTIMATING MARGIN.

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

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

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

12 not apply.

13 SEC. 9. CONSIDERATION OF APPROPRIATION BILLS.

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

15 the House of Representatives to consider any general ap16 propriation bill if the President has submitted a direct

17 spending message under section 4 until Congress has

18 adopted a concurrent resolution on the budget for the

19 budget year that meets the requirements of section 5.

20 (b) WAIVER.—The point of order established by sub21 section (a) may only be waived for all general appropria22 tion bills for that budget year through the adoption of one

23 resolution waiving that point of order.

24 SEC. 10. MEANS-TESTED PROGRAMS.

25 In making recommendations under sections 4 and 5,

26 the President and the Congress should seriously consider
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1 all other alternatives before proposing reductions in

2 means-tested programs.

3 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 This Act shall apply to direct spending targets for

5 fiscal years 1994 through 1997 and shall expire at the

6 end of fiscal year 1997.

Passed the House of Representatives July 21, 1994.

Attest:

Clerk.

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4604

AN ACT

To establish direct spending targets, and for other

purposes.