I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4907

To reform the concept of baseline budgeting.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 5, 1994

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

Committees on Government Operations and Rules

A BILL

To reform the concept of baseline budgeting.

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 ‘‘Full Budget Disclosure

5 Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to require that budget doc8 uments provide the Congress with comprehensive data on

9 budget trends.
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1 SEC. 3. THE BASELINE.

2 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 250(c)(5) of the Balanced

3 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is

4 amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(5)(A) The term ‘current policy baseline’

6 means the projection (described in section 257) of

7 current-year levels of new budget authority, outlays,

8 receipts, and the surplus or deficit into the budget

9 year and the outyears.

10 ‘‘(B) The term ‘current funding baseline’ refers

11 to the baseline as set forth in section 257 without

12 any adjustment described in section 257(c)(1) for in13 flation other than the adjustment set forth in section

14 257(c)(2) for expiring housing contracts.’’.

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sections 251,

16 252, 253, and 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emer17 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 are amended by insert18 ing ‘‘current policy’’ before ‘‘baseline’’ each place it ap19 pears.

20 SEC. 4. THE PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.

21 (a) Paragraph (5) of section 1105(a) of title 31,

22 United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘(5) except as provided in subsection (b) of this

24 section, estimated expenditures and appropriations

25 for the current fiscal year and estimated expendi26 tures and proposed appropriations the President de-
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1 cides are necessary to support the Government in

2 the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted and

3 the 4 fiscal years following that year;’’.

4 (b) Section 1105(a)(6) of title 31, United States

5 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘current fiscal year and

6 the’’ before ‘‘fiscal year’’.

7 (c) Section 1105(a)(12) of title 31, United States

8 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara9 graph (A), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’

10 at the end of subparagraph (B), and by adding at the end

11 the following new subparagraph:

12 ‘‘(C) the estimated amount of expenditure and

13 appropriation for the same activity, if any, in the

14 current fiscal year.’’

15 (d) Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code,

16 is amended by adding at the end the following new para17 graphs:

18 ‘‘(30) a comparison of estimated new budget

19 authority and outlays for each function and

20 subfunction for the current fiscal year with proposed

21 new budget authority and outlays for the fiscal year

22 for which the budget is submitted, along with the

23 proposed increase or decrease of spending in per24 centage terms for each function and subfunction.
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1 ‘‘(31) a comparison for each function and

2 subfunction of the current policy baseline level of

3 new budget authority and outlays for the year for

4 which the budget is submitted with the proposed

5 new budget authority and outlays for the year for

6 which the budget is submitted, including changes in

7 percentage terms for each function and

8 subfunction.’’.

9 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET.

10 Section 301(e) of the Congressional Budget Act of

11 1974 is amended by—

12 (1) inserting after the second sentence the fol13 lowing: ‘‘As soon as practicable after the President’s

14 budget submission under section 1105(a) of title 31,

15 United States Code, the Committee on the Budget

16 of each House shall provide to its members the esti17 mated level of outlays for the current year in each

18 function and subfunction.’’; and

19 (2) striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (9),

20 by striking the period and inserting a semicolon at

21 the end of paragraph (10), and by adding at the end

22 the following new paragraphs:

23 ‘‘(11) a comparison (for each function) of esti24 mated outlays and revenues for the current fiscal

25 year with proposed spending and revenue levels for
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1 the budget year and each outyear, including the in2 crease or decrease (in percentage terms) of spend3 ing; and

4 ‘‘(12) a comparison (for each function and

5 subfunction) of proposed outlays and revenues for

6 the budget year with the current policy baseline pro7 jection for that year, including changes (in percent8 age terms).’’.

9 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE REPORT TO

10 COMMITTEES.

11 (a) The first sentence of section 202(f)(1) of the Con12 gressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended to read as fol13 lows: ‘‘On or before February 15 of each year, the Direc14 tor shall submit to the Committees on the Budget of the

15 House of Representatives and the Senate a report for the

16 fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year with

17 respect to fiscal policy, including (A) alternative levels of

18 total revenues, total new budget authority, and total out19 lays (including related surpluses and deficits) compared

20 to comparable levels for the current year and (B) the levels

21 of tax expenditures under existing law, taking into account

22 projected economic factors and any changes in such levels

23 based on proposals in the budget submitted by the Presi24 dent for such fiscal year.’’.
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1 (b) Section 202(f)(1) of the Congressional Budget

2 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the first sen3 tence the following new sentence: ‘‘That report shall also

4 include a table on sources of growth in the estimated total

5 current policy baseline spending for mandatory programs

6 for the budget year and the ensuing 4 fiscal years, which

7 shall include changes in outlays attributable to the follow8 ing: cost-of-living adjustments; changes in the number of

9 program recipients; increases in medical care prices, utili10 zation and intensity of medical care; and residual fac11 tors.’’.

12 (c) Section 202(f)(3) of the Congressional Budget

13 Act of 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(B)’’

14 and inserting a comma, and by inserting before the period

15 at the end the following: ‘‘, and (C) all direct spending

16 programs’’.

17 (d) Section 308(a)(1)(C) of the Congressional Budget

18 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘, and shall include

19 a comparison of those levels to comparable levels for the

20 current fiscal year’’ before ‘‘if timely submitted’’.

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