I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4914

To reform the concept of baseline budgeting.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 5, 1994

Mr. STENHOLM (for himself, Mr. PENNY, and Mr. KASICH) 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 ‘‘Baseline Reform Act

5 of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. THE BASELINE.

7 (a) Except for purposes of adjusting the discretionary

8 spending limits set forth in section 601(a)(2) of the Con9 gressional Budget Act of 1974, section 257(c) of the Bal10 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985

11 is amended—
2

•HR 4914 IH

1 (1) in the second sentence of paragraph (1), by

2 striking ‘‘sequentially and cumulatively’’ and by

3 striking ‘‘for inflation as specified in paragraph

4 (5),’’; and

5 (2) and by redesignating paragraph (6) as

6 paragraph (5).

7 (b) Section 1109(a) of title 31, United States Code,

8 is amended by adding after the first sentence the following

9 new sentence: ‘‘These estimates shall not include an ad10 justment for inflation for programs and activities subject

11 to discretionary appropriations.’’.

12 SEC. 3. THE PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.

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

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

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

16 section, estimated expenditures and appropriations

17 for the current year and estimated expenditures and

18 proposed appropriations the President decides are

19 necessary to support the Government in the fiscal

20 year for which the budget is submitted and the 4 fis21 cal years following that year;’’.

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

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

24 the’’ before ‘‘fiscal year’’.
3

•HR 4914 IH

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

2 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara3 graph (A), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’

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

5 the following new subparagraph:

6 ‘‘(C) the estimated amount for the same activ7 ity (if any) in the current fiscal year.’’.

8 (d) Section 1105(a)(18) of title 31, United States

9 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘new budget authority

10 and’’ before ‘‘budget outlays’’.

11 (e) Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code,

12 is amended by adding at the end the following new para13 graph:

14 ‘‘(30) a comparison of levels of estimated ex15 penditures and proposed appropriations for each

16 function and subfunction in the current fiscal year

17 and the fiscal year for which the budget is submit18 ted, along with the proposed increase or decrease of

19 spending in percentage terms for each function and

20 subfunction.’’.

21 SEC. 4. THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET.

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

23 1974 is amended by—

24 (1) inserting after the second sentence the fol25 lowing: ‘‘The starting point for any deliberations in
4

•HR 4914 IH

1 the Committee on the Budget of each House on the

2 concurrent resolution on the budget for the next fis3 cal year shall be the estimated level of outlays for

4 the current year in each function and subfunction.

5 Any increases or decreases in the Congressional

6 budget for the next fiscal year shall be from such es7 timated levels.’’; and

8 (2) striking paragraph (8) and redesignating

9 paragraphs (9) and (10) as paragraphs (10) and

10 (11), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph

11 (7) the following new paragraphs:

12 ‘‘(8) a comparison of levels for the current fis13 cal year with proposed spending and revenue levels

14 for the subsequent fiscal years along with the pro15 posed increase or decrease of spending in percentage

16 terms for each function and subfunction; and

17 ‘‘(9) information, data, and comparisons indi18 cating the manner in which and the basis on which,

19 the committee determined each of the matters set

20 forth in the concurrent resolution, including infor21 mation on outlays for the current fiscal year and the

22 decisions reached to set funding for the subsequent

23 fiscal years;’’.
5

•HR 4914 IH

1 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE REPORTS TO

2 COMMITTEES.

3 (a) The first sentence of section 202(f)(1) of the Con4 gressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended to read as fol5 lows: ‘‘On or before February 15 of each year, the Direc6 tor shall submit to the Committees on the Budget of the

7 House of Representatives and the Senate a report for the

8 fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year with

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

10 total revenues, total new budget authority, and total out11 lays (including related surpluses and deficits) compared

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

13 of tax expenditures under existing law, taking into account

14 projected economic factors and any changes in such levels

15 based on proposals in the budget submitted by the Presi16 dent for such fiscal year.’’.

17 (b) Section 202(f)(1) of the Congressional Budget

18 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the first sen19 tence the following new sentence: ‘‘That report shall also

20 include a table on sources of spending growth under cur21 rent law in total mandatory spending for the budget year

22 and the ensuing 4 fiscal years, which shall include changes

23 in outlays attributable to the following: cost-of-living ad24 justments; changes in the number of program recipients;

25 increases in medical care prices, utilization and intensity

26 of medical care; and residual factors.’’.
6

•HR 4914 IH

1 (c) Section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget

2 Act of 1974 is amended—

3 (1) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘, and

4 shall include a comparison of those levels to com5 parable levels for the current fiscal year’’ before ‘‘if

6 timely submitted’’; and

7 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara8 graph (C), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘;

9 and’’ at the end of subparagraph (D), and by adding

10 at the end the following new subparagraph:

11 ‘‘(E) comparing the levels in existing pro12 grams in such measure to the estimated levels

13 for the current fiscal year.’’

14 (d) Title IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

15 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

16 ‘‘GAO REPORTS TO BUDGET COMMITTEES

17 ‘‘SEC. 408. On or before January 15 of each year,

18 the Comptroller General, after consultation with appro19 priate committees of the House of Representatives and

20 Senate, shall submit to the Congress a report listing all

21 programs and activities with permanent appropriations or

22 that fall within the definition of spending authority under

23 section 401(c)(2).’’.

24 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con25 tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget

26 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in-
7

•HR 4914 IH

1 serting after the item relating to section 407 the following

2 new item:

‘‘Sec. 408. GAO reports to budget committees.’’.

Æ