II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1290 

To impose discretionary and certain mandatory spending caps and correct 

the fiscal recklessness of 2001 through 2011. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2011 

Mr. TOOMEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To impose discretionary and certain mandatory spending 

caps and correct the fiscal recklessness of 2001 through 

2011. 

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 ‘‘Spending Cap Act of 

5 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that Congress should 

8 enact comprehensive tax reform that lowers marginal 

9 rates, broadens the base, and simplifies the tax code to 


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1 increase economic growth while generating revenues that 

2 are in line with the historical average of 18% of GDP. 

3 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET 

4 ACT. 

5 Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

6 is amended by inserting at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 316. DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in the 

9 House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any 

10 bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that 

11 includes any provision that would cause the discretionary 

12 spending limits as set forth in this section to be exceeded. 

13 ‘‘(b) LIMITS.—In this section, the term ‘discretionary 

14 spending limits’ has the following meaning: 

15 ‘‘(1) For fiscal year 2012— 

16 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

17 function 050), $575,790,000,000 in budget au18 thority; and 

19 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

20 $435,000,000,000 in budget authority. 

21 ‘‘(2) For fiscal year 2013— 

22 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

23 function 050), $593,476,000,000 in budget au24 thority; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

2 $435,000,000,000 in budget authority. 

3 ‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2014— 

4 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

5 function 050), $609,549,000,000 in budget au6 thority; and 

7 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

8 $435,000,000,000 in budget authority. 

9 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2015— 

10 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

11 function 050), $621,853,000,000 in budget au12 thority; and 

13 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

14 $435,000,000,000 in budget authority. 

15 ‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2016— 

16 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

17 function 050), $634,895,000,000 in budget au18 thority; and 

19 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

20 $435,000,000,000 in budget authority. 

21 ‘‘(6) For fiscal year 2017— 

22 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

23 function 050), $646,458,000,000 in budget au24 thority; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

2 $435,000,000,000 in budget authority. 

3 ‘‘(7) For fiscal year 2018— 

4 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

5 function 050), $658,261,000,000 in budget au6 thority; and 

7 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

8 $435,000,000,000 in budget authority. 

9 ‘‘(8) For fiscal year 2019— 

10 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

11 function 050), $667,000,000,000 in budget au12 thority; and 

13 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

14 $435,000,000,000 in budget authority. 

15 ‘‘(9) For fiscal year 2020— 

16 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

17 function 050), $671,000,000,000 in budget au18 thority; and 

19 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

20 $443,500,000,000 in budget authority. 

21 ‘‘(10) For fiscal year 2021— 

22 ‘‘(A) for the defense category (budget 

23 function 050), $695,000,000,000 in budget au24 thority; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) for the non-defense category, 

2 $457,700,000,000 in budget authority. 

3 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENTS.—After the reporting of a bill or 

4 joint resolution relating to oversees deployments described 

5 in subsection (d), or the offering of an amendment thereto 

6 or the submission of a conference report thereon— 

7 ‘‘(1) the Chairman of the Senate Committee on 

8 the budget may adjust the discretionary spending 

9 limits provided in this section, the budgetary aggre10 gates in the concurrent resolution on the budget 

11 most recently adopted by the Senate and the House 

12 of Representatives, and allocations pursuant to sec13 tion 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 

14 1974, by the amount of new budget authority in 

15 that measure for that purpose and the outlays flow16 ing there from; and 

17 ‘‘(2) following any adjustment under paragraph 

18 (1), the Senate Committee on Appropriations may 

19 report appropriately revised suballocations pursuant 

20 to section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 

21 1974 to carry out this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(d) OVERSEAS DEPLOYMENTS.—If a bill or joint 

23 resolution is reported making appropriations for fiscal 

24 year 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, or 2017 that provides 

25 funding for overseas deployments and activities underVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Jun 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1290.IS S1290

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1 taken as a result of a declaration of war or Congressional 

2 authorization of force, the allowable adjustments provided 

3 for in subsection (c) shall not exceed the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) For fiscal year 2012, $126,500,000,000 in 

5 budget authority. 

6 ‘‘(2) For fiscal year 2013, $50,000,000,000 in 

7 budget authority. 

8 ‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2014, $50,000,000,000 in 

9 budget authority. 

10 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2015, $50,000,000,000 in 

11 budget authority. 

12 ‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2016, $30,800,000,000 in 

13 budget authority. 

14 ‘‘(6) For fiscal year 2017, $8,500,000,000 in 

15 budget authority. 

16 ‘‘(e) POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—The provisions of this section 

18 shall be waived or suspended in the Senate only— 

19 ‘‘(A) by the affirmative vote of two-thirds 

20 of the Members, duly chosen and sworn; or 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of defense budget author22 ity, if Congress declares war or authorizes the 

23 use of force. 

24 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—Appeals in the Senate from de25 cisions of the Chair relating to any provision of this 


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1 section shall be limited to one hour, to be equally di2 vided between, and controlled by, the appellant and 

3 the manager of the measure. An affirmative vote of 

4 two-thirds of the Members of the Senate, duly cho5 sen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an ap6 peal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order 

7 raised under this section. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 317. CERTAIN MANDATORY SPENDING LIMITS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in the 

10 House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any 

11 bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that 

12 includes any provision that would cause total on-budget 

13 mandatory spending, except as excluded in subsection (b), 

14 to exceed the limits specified in subsection (c). 

15 ‘‘(b) EXEMPT FROM SPECIFIED LIMITS.—The man16 datory components of the following functions are exempt 

17 from the limits specified in subsection (c): 

18 ‘‘(1) Social Security, function 650. 

19 ‘‘(2) Medicare, function 570. 

20 ‘‘(3) Veterans Benefits and Services, function 

21 700. 

22 ‘‘(4) Net Interest, function 900. 

23 ‘‘(c) LIMITS ON REMAINING MANDATORY SPEND24 ING.—The total combined budget authority for all mandaVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Jun 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1290.IS S1290

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1 tory spending not exempted in subsection (b) shall not ex2 ceed the following limits: 

3 ‘‘(1) For fiscal year 2012, $701,640,000,000 in 

4 budget authority. 

5 ‘‘(2) For fiscal year 2013, $648,701,000,000 in 

6 budget authority. 

7 ‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2014, $580,743,000,000 in 

8 budget authority. 

9 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2015, $575,423,000,000 in 

10 budget authority. 

11 ‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2016, $574,072,000,000 in 

12 budget authority. 

13 ‘‘(6) For fiscal year 2017, $568,519,000,000 in 

14 budget authority. 

15 ‘‘(7) For fiscal year 2018, $558,645,000,000 in 

16 budget authority. 

17 ‘‘(8) For fiscal year 2019, $558,869,000,000 in 

18 budget authority. 

19 ‘‘(9) For fiscal year 2020, $566,867,000,000 in 

20 budget authority. 

21 ‘‘(10) For fiscal year 2021, $588,162,000,000 

22 in budget authority. 

23 ‘‘(d) POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—The provisions of this section 

25 shall be waived or suspended in the Senate only by 


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1 the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, 

2 duly chosen and sworn. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—Appeals in the Senate from de4 cisions of the Chair relating to any provision of this 

5 section shall be limited to one hour, to be equally di6 vided between, and controlled by, the appellant and 

7 the manager of the measure. An affirmative vote of 

8 two-thirds of the Members of the Senate, duly cho9 sen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an ap10 peal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order 

11 raised under this section. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 318. LIMITS FOR SOCIAL SECURITY. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in the 

14 House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any 

15 bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that 

16 includes any provision that would cause total mandatory 

17 spending for Social Security (function 650) to exceed the 

18 limits specified in subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘(b) LIMITS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec21 tion the limits are as follows: 

22 ‘‘(A) For fiscal year 2012, total outlays 

23 shall be $760,356,000,000. 

24 ‘‘(B) For fiscal year 2013, total outlays 

25 shall be $798,614,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(C) For fiscal year 2014, total outlays 

2 shall be $841,440,000,000. 

3 ‘‘(D) For fiscal year 2015, total outlays 

4 shall be $887,837,000,000. 

5 ‘‘(E) For fiscal year 2016, total outlays 

6 shall be $938,547,000,000. 

7 ‘‘(F) For fiscal year 2017, total outlays 

8 shall be $995,325,000,000. 

9 ‘‘(G) For fiscal year 2018, total outlays 

10 shall be $1,057,552,000,000. 

11 ‘‘(H) For fiscal year 2019, total outlays 

12 shall be $1,123,629,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(I) For fiscal year 2020, total outlays 

14 shall be $1,193,747,000,000. 

15 ‘‘(J) For fiscal year 2021, total outlays 

16 shall be $1,265,566,000,000. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—If the Congressional Budget 

18 Office determines that projected outlays are expected 

19 to exceed the limits specified above due to changes 

20 in cost-of-living adjustments contained in present 

21 law subsection (c) shall not apply. 

22 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—The provisions of this section 

24 shall be waived or suspended in the Senate only by 


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1 the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, 

2 duly chosen and sworn. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—Appeals in the Senate from de4 cisions of the Chair relating to any provision of this 

5 section shall be limited to one hour, to be equally di6 vided between, and controlled by, the appellant and 

7 the manager of the measure. An affirmative vote of 

8 two-thirds of the Members of the Senate, duly cho9 sen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an ap10 peal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order 

11 raised under this section. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 319. LIMITS FOR MEDICARE. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in the 

14 House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any 

15 bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that 

16 includes any provision that would cause total mandatory 

17 spending for Medicare (function 570) to exceed the limits 

18 specified in subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘(b) LIMITS.—For purposes of this section the limits 

20 are as follows: 

21 ‘‘(1) For fiscal year 2012, total outlays, exclud22 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $488,060,000,000. 

23 ‘‘(2) For fiscal year 2013, total outlays, exclud24 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $530,767,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2014, total outlays, exclud2 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $560,744,000,000. 

3 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2015, total outlays, exclud4 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $585,256,000,000. 

5 ‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2016, total outlays, exclud6 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $634,769,000,000. 

7 ‘‘(6) For fiscal year 2017, total outlays, exclud8 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $657,799,000,000. 

9 ‘‘(7) For fiscal year 2018, total outlays, exclud10 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $682,951,000,000. 

11 ‘‘(8) For fiscal year 2019, total outlays, exclud12 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $745,186,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(9) For fiscal year 2020, total outlays, exclud14 ing offsetting receipts, shall be $800,853,000,000. 

15 ‘‘(10) For fiscal year 2021, total outlays, ex16 cluding offsetting receipts, shall be 

17 $858,830,000,000. 

18 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—The provisions of this section 

20 shall be waived or suspended in the Senate only by 

21 the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, 

22 duly chosen and sworn. 

23 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—Appeals in the Senate from de24 cisions of the Chair relating to any provision of this 

25 section shall be limited to one hour, to be equally diVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Jun 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1290.IS S1290

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1 vided between, and controlled by, the appellant and 

2 the manager of the measure. An affirmative vote of 

3 two-thirds of the Members of the Senate, duly cho4 sen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an ap5 peal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order 

6 raised under this section. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 320. LIMITS FOR MANDATORY FUNCTION 700 SPEND8 ING. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in the 

10 House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any 

11 bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that 

12 includes any provision that would cause total mandatory 

13 spending for Veterans Benefits and Services (function 

14 700) to exceed the limits specified in subsection (b). 

15 ‘‘(b) LIMITS.—For purposes of this section the limits 

16 are as follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) For fiscal year 2012, total outlays shall 

18 not exceed $69,400,000,000. 

19 ‘‘(2) For fiscal year 2013, total outlays shall 

20 not exceed $69,400,000,000. 

21 ‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2014, total outlays shall 

22 not exceed $71,350,000,000. 

23 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2015, total outlays shall 

24 not exceed $73,300,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2016, total outlays shall 

2 not exceed $80,500,000,000. 

3 ‘‘(6) For fiscal year 2017, total outlays shall 

4 not exceed $77,310,000,000. 

5 ‘‘(7) For fiscal year 2018, total outlays shall 

6 not exceed $74,250,000,000. 

7 ‘‘(8) For fiscal year 2019, total outlays shall 

8 not exceed $81,600,000,000. 

9 ‘‘(9) For fiscal year 2020, total outlays shall 

10 not exceed $83,830,000,000. 

11 ‘‘(10) For fiscal year 2021, total outlays shall 

12 not exceed $86,100,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—The provisions of this section 

15 shall be waived or suspended in the Senate only by 

16 the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, 

17 duly chosen and sworn. 

18 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—Appeals in the Senate from de19 cisions of the Chair relating to any provision of this 

20 section shall be limited to one hour, to be equally di21 vided between, and controlled by, the appellant and 

22 the manager of the measure. An affirmative vote of 

23 two-thirds of the Members of the Senate, duly cho24 sen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an apVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:48 Jun 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1290.IS S1290

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1 peal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order 

2 raised under this section.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. STATUTORY ENFORCEMENT OF SPENDING CAPS 

4 THROUGH SEQUESTRATION. 

5 The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

6 Act of 1985 is amended by inserting after section 253 the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 253A. ENFORCEMENT OF DISCRETIONARY AND MAN9 DATORY CAPS. 

10 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT AND SEQUESTRATION

11 ORDER.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—Not later than 30 calendar 

13 days following the start of each fiscal year, the Of14 fice of Management and Budget shall make publicly 

15 available and cause to be printed in the Federal 

16 Register an annual report containing expected budg17 et authority and outlays for the categories and limits 

18 established in sections 316 through 320 of the Con19 gressional Budget Act of 1974. 

20 ‘‘(2) ORDER.—If the annual report issued by 

21 OMB, as required by paragraph (1), shows any cat22 egory exceeding specified spending caps, OMB shall 

23 prepare and the President shall issue and include in 

24 that report a sequestration order that, upon 

25 issuance, shall reduce budgetary resources by an 


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1 amount sufficient to bring spending in line with that 

2 category’s statutory cap. 

3 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The sequestration 

4 order shall take effect no later than 60 days after 

5 completion by the OMB. 

6 ‘‘(b) CALCULATING A SEQUESTRATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—OMB shall calculate the 

8 uniform percentage each program within a category 

9 that has exceeded its spending cap shall be reduced 

10 to bring that category’s budget authority and/or out11 lays in line with the limits referred to in subsection 

12 (a)(1). 

13 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The sequesters shall 

14 be implemented as follows: 

15 ‘‘(A) For the discretionary limits in section 

16 316 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

17 pursuant to the section 251 with each category 

18 sequestered separately. 

19 ‘‘(B) For the mandatory limits in section 

20 317 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

21 pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act 

22 of 2010, except that section 7 of such Act shall 

23 not apply. 

24 ‘‘(C) For the Social Security limits in sec25 tion 318 of the Congressional Budget Act of 


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1 1974, the Social Security Administration shall 

2 modify the program so that all benefits and ad3 ministrative expenses are reduced in a uniform 

4 fashion by a percentage sufficient to allow the 

5 program to operate under its cap. 

6 ‘‘(D) For the Medicare limit in section 319 

7 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the 

8 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 

9 (CMS) shall modify the program so that all 

10 outlays are reduced by a uniform percentage 

11 sufficient to bring the program under its cap. 

12 ‘‘(E) For the Veterans Benefits and Serv13 ices limit in section 320 of the Congressional 

14 Budget Act of 1974, the Secretary of Defense 

15 and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

16 modify the program so that the program oper17 ates under its spending cap. 

18 ‘‘(c) MODIFICATION OF PRESIDENTIAL ORDER.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At any time after the Di20 rector of OMB issues a sequestration report, Con21 gress may override the order through the passage of 

22 a law that either waives or supersedes the spending 

23 limitations for that category of federal spending for 

24 that fiscal year. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SENATE.—In the Senate, any motion to 

2 move to consideration of a bill to waive, modify, or 

3 in any way alter a sequestration order shall be sub4 ject to a point of order that can only be waived 

5 through an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 

6 Members, duly chosen and sworn. This point of 

7 order shall not apply to defense spending while the 

8 nation is engaged in a conflict which has been justi9 fied through a declaration of war or a Congressional 

10 authorization of force.’’. 

Æ 


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