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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4907

[Report No. 103–688, Part I]

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

AUGUST 9, 1994

Reported from the Committee on Rules with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

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) of pro5 posed outlays and revenues for the budget year with

6 the current policy baseline projection for that year,

7 including changes (in percentage terms).’’.

8 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE REPORT TO

9 COMMITTEES.

10 (a) The first sentence of section 202(f)(1) of the Con11 gressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended to read as fol12 lows: ‘‘On or before February 15 of each year, the Direc13 tor shall submit to the Committees on the Budget of the

14 House of Representatives and the Senate a report for the

15 fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year with

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

17 total revenues, total new budget authority, and total out18 lays (including related surpluses and deficits) compared

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

20 of tax expenditures under existing law, taking into account

21 projected economic factors and any changes in such levels

22 based on proposals in the budget submitted by the Presi23 dent for such fiscal year.’’.

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

25 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the first sen-
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1 tence the following new sentence: ‘‘That report shall also

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

3 current policy baseline spending for mandatory programs

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

5 shall include changes in outlays attributable to the follow6 ing: cost-of-living adjustments; changes in the number of

7 program recipients; increases in medical care prices, utili8 zation and intensity of medical care; and residual fac9 tors.’’.

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

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

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

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

14 programs’’.

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

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

17 a comparison of those levels to comparable levels for the

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

19 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

20 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Full Budget Disclosure

21 Act of 1994’’.

22 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

23 The purpose of this Act is to require that budget docu24 ments provide the Congress with comprehensive data on

25 budget trends.
7

•HR 4907 RH

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’ means

6 the projection (described in section 257) of current7 year levels of new budget authority, outlays, receipts,

8 and the surplus or deficit into the budget year and

9 the outyears.

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

11 to the baseline as set forth in section 257 without any

12 adjustment described in section 257(c)(1) for inflation

13 other than the adjustment set forth in section

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

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sections 251, 252,

16 253, and 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Defi17 cit Control Act of 1985 are amended by inserting ‘‘current

18 policy’’ before ‘‘baseline’’ each place it appears.

19 SEC. 4. THE PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.

20 (a) Paragraph (5) of section 1105(a) of title 31, United

21 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

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

23 section, estimated expenditures and appropriations

24 for the current fiscal year and estimated expenditures

25 and proposed appropriations the President decides

26 are necessary to support the Government in the fiscal
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1 year for which the budget is submitted and the 4 fis2 cal years following that year;’’.

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

4 is amended by inserting ‘‘current fiscal year and the’’ before

5 ‘‘fiscal year’’.

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

7 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph

8 (A), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’ at the

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

10 following new subparagraph:

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

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

13 current fiscal year.’’.

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

15 is amended by adding at the end the following new para16 graphs:

17 ‘‘(30) a comparison of estimated new budget au18 thority and outlays for each function and subfunction

19 for the current fiscal year with proposed new budget

20 authority and outlays for the fiscal year for which the

21 budget is submitted, along with the proposed increase

22 or decrease of spending in percentage terms for each

23 function and subfunction.

24 ‘‘(31) a comparison for each function and

25 subfunction of the current policy baseline level of new
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1 budget authority and outlays for the year for which

2 the budget is submitted with the proposed new budget

3 authority and outlays for the year for which the budg4 et is submitted, including changes in percentage terms

5 for each function and subfunction.’’.

6 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET.

7 Section 301(e) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

8 is amended by—

9 (1) inserting after the second sentence the follow10 ing: ‘‘As soon as practicable after the President’s

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

12 United States Code, the Committee on the Budget of

13 each House shall provide to its members the estimated

14 level of outlays for the current year in each function

15 and subfunction.’’; and

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

17 by striking the period and inserting a semicolon at

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

19 the following new paragraphs:

20 ‘‘(11) a comparison (for each function) of esti21 mated outlays and revenues for the current fiscal year

22 with proposed spending and revenue levels for the

23 budget year and each outyear, including the increase

24 or decrease (in percentage terms) of spending; and
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1 ‘‘(12) a comparison (for each function) of pro2 posed outlays and revenues for the budget year with

3 the current policy baseline projection for that year,

4 including changes (in percentage terms).’’.

5 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE REPORT TO COM6 MITTEES.

7 (a) The first sentence of section 202(f)(1) of the Con8 gressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘On or before February 15 of each year, the Director shall

10 submit to the Committees on the Budget of the House of

11 Representatives and the Senate a report for the fiscal year

12 commencing on October 1 of that year with respect to fiscal

13 policy, including (A) alternative levels of total revenues,

14 total new budget authority, and total outlays (including re15 lated surpluses and deficits) compared to comparable levels

16 for the current year and (B) the levels of tax expenditures

17 under existing law, taking into account projected economic

18 factors and any changes in such levels based on proposals

19 in the budget submitted by the President for such fiscal

20 year.’’.

21 (b) Section 202(f)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act

22 of 1974 is amended by inserting after the first sentence the

23 following new sentence: ‘‘That report shall also include a

24 table on sources of growth in the estimated total current

25 policy baseline spending for mandatory programs for the
11

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1 budget year and the ensuing 4 fiscal years, which shall in2 clude changes in outlays attributable to the following: cost3 of-living adjustments; changes in the number of program

4 recipients; increases in medical care prices, utilization and

5 intensity of medical care; and residual factors.’’.

6 (c) Section 202(f)(3) of the Congressional Budget Act

7 of 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(B)’’, and

8 by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘,

9 and (C) all direct spending programs’’.

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

11 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘and shall include a

12 comparison of those levels to comparable levels for the cur13 rent fiscal year’’ before ‘‘if timely submitted’’.

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