I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2041 

To reduce Federal spending in a responsible manner. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 26, 2011 

Mr. KINGSTON (for himself, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. FLAKE, and Mr. GRAVES of 

Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To reduce Federal spending in a responsible manner. 

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 ‘‘Returning to Respon5 sible Fiscal Policies Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) This Act is authorized by the United States 

9 Constitution under clause 1 of section 8 of article I, 


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1 relating to the power of the Congress to tax and 

2 spend. 

3 (2) Should an amendment to the United States 

4 Constitution be adopted and ratified by the States 

5 setting a lower limitation on outlays than provided 

6 in this Act, it is appropriate for Congress to con7 sider legislation immediately modifying maximum 

8 outlay amounts in this Act. 

9 (3) Total Federal outlays have averaged 20.6 

10 percent of gross domestic product over the past 40 

11 years. 

12 (4) Total Federal outlays in fiscal year 2010 

13 were 23.8 percent of gross domestic product. 

14 (5) Total Federal outlays in fiscal year 2020 

15 are projected to be 25.9 percent of gross domestic 

16 product according to the Congressional Budget Of17 fice’s Alternative Fiscal Scenario. 

18 (6) It is appropriate and urgently necessary to 

19 put total Federal outlays under a limitation as a 

20 percentage of gross domestic product to ensure 

21 spending is constrained sufficiently to reduce the 

22 Federal debt to much lower, sustainable levels. 

23 SEC. 3. OUTLAYS EXCEEDING THE GDP OUTLAY LIMIT. 

24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 250(c)(4) of the Bal25 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 


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1 is amended by striking paragraph (4), redesignating the 

2 succeeding paragraphs accordingly, and adding the fol3 lowing paragraphs: 

4 ‘‘(19) The term ‘GDP’, for any fiscal year, 

5 means the gross domestic product during such fiscal 

6 year consistent with Department of Commerce defi7 nitions. 

8 ‘‘(20)(A) The term ‘emergency requirement’ 

9 means any provision that provides new budget au10 thority and resulting outlays for a situation that 

11 poses a threat to life, property, or national security 

12 and is— 

13 ‘‘(i) sudden, quickly coming into being, and 

14 not building up over time; 

15 ‘‘(ii) an urgent, pressing, and compelling 

16 need requiring immediate action; 

17 ‘‘(iii) unforeseen, unpredictable, and unan18 ticipated; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) not permanent, temporary in nature. 

20 ‘‘(B) An emergency that is part of an aggregate 

21 level of anticipated emergencies, particularly when 

22 normally estimated in advance, is not unforeseen. 

23 ‘‘(21) The term ‘target fiscal year’ means the 

24 fiscal year in which a GDP outlay limit is in effect 

25 under section 253A.’’. 


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1 (b) CAPS.—The Balanced Budget and Emergency 

2 Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by inserting after 

3 section 253 the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 253A. ENFORCING GDP OUTLAY LIMITS. 

5 ‘‘(a) ENFORCING GDP OUTLAY LIMITS.—In this sec6 tion, the term ‘GDP outlay limit’ means an amount, as 

7 estimated by OMB, equal to— 

8 ‘‘(1) the average GDP for the first 5 of the 6 

9 fiscal years preceding the target fiscal year; multi10 plied by 

11 ‘‘(2) 23 percent for fiscal year 2012; 22 percent 

12 for fiscal year 2013; 21 percent for fiscal year 2014; 

13 19.5 percent for fiscal year 2015; and 18 percent for 

14 fiscal year 2016 and each subsequent fiscal year. 

15 ‘‘(b) GDP OUTLAY LIMIT AND OUTLAYS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) DETERMINING THE GDP OUTLAY LIMIT.— 

17 The Office of Management and Budget shall esti18 mate the GDP outlay limit for the target fiscal year 

19 at the outset of the previous fiscal year, on April 30, 

20 on August 20, and 15 days after the conclusion of 

21 the fiscal year. CBO shall provide advisory reports 

22 calculating the GDP outlay limit at identical times. 

23 ‘‘(2) TOTAL FEDERAL OUTLAYS.—In this sec24 tion, total Federal outlays shall include all on-budget 

25 and off-budget outlays. 


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1 ‘‘(c) SEQUESTRATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

3 ‘‘(A) EXCESS SPENDING.—Not later than 

4 45 calendar days after the beginning of a fiscal 

5 year, OMB shall conduct a sequestration to 

6 eliminate the excess outlay amount. 

7 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

8 subsection, the term ‘excess outlay amount’ 

9 means the amount by which total Federal out10 lays for a fiscal year exceed the GDP outlay 

11 limit as adjusted pursuant to paragraph (2). 

12 ‘‘(2) PREVIEW REPORT.—CBO shall submit an 

13 advisory sequestration preview report as described in 

14 section 254(c)(4) on August 10 of each year. OMB 

15 shall produce a sequestration preview report on Au16 gust 20 as described in section 254(c)(4). Fifteen 

17 days after the fiscal year begins, OMB shall issue an 

18 updated sequestration report as described in section 

19 254(e). Thirty days later, the OMB should issue its 

20 final sequestration report as described in section 

21 254(f)(3). It shall be accompanied by a Presidential 

22 order detailing the uniform spending reductions. The 

23 reductions should generally follow the process set 

24 forth in section 253 and 254, except as provided in 

25 this section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL ACTION.—If the August 

2 20 OMB report projects a sequestration, the Senate 

3 and House Budget Committees may report a resolu4 tion directing their committees to change the exist5 ing law to achieve the goals outlined in the August 

6 20 report. 

7 ‘‘(4) REDUCING NONEXEMPT BUDGETARY RE8 SOURCES BY A PROPORTIONAL PERCENTAGE.— 

9 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—OMB shall calculate 

10 the increase in outlays attributable to each of 

11 the 3 categories described in subparagraph (B) 

12 such that the outlay savings resulting from se13 questration, as calculated under this subsection, 

14 eliminate excess outlays. 

15 ‘‘(B) CATEGORIES.—The 3 categories are 

16 as follows: 

17 ‘‘(i) Direct spending (social security, 

18 medicare, and other such programs). 

19 ‘‘(ii) Discretionary security spending. 

20 ‘‘(iii) Discretionary non-security 

21 spending. 

22 ‘‘(C) REDUCTIONS PROPORTIONAL.—The 

23 percentage reductions for each category de24 scribed in subparagraph (B) shall be in proporVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:08 Jun 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2041.IH H2041

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1 tion to the growth in outlays in such category 

2 from the previous fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(D) UNIFORM REDUCTION WITHIN CAT4 EGORIES.—To achieve the percent reduction 

5 within a category under subparagraph (C), a 

6 uniform reduction will occur across all pro7 grams within that category to achieve the per8 cent reduction required for that category. 

9 ‘‘(E) PRO RATA BASIS.—If legislation 

10 funding the Government does not reflect fund11 ing amounts for the entire fiscal year, seques12 tration required by this section shall be done on 

13 a pro rata basis. If legislation funding the Gov14 ernment for the remainder of a fiscal year is 

15 enacted, the total sequestration required in a 

16 fiscal year shall total the necessary level which 

17 may be undertaken in a single step or in a se18 quence of steps. 

19 ‘‘(d) NO EXEMPT PROGRAMS.—Section 255 shall not 

20 apply to this section, except that payments for net interest 

21 (budget function 900) shall be exempt. 

22 ‘‘(e) LOOK BACK.—If, after November 15, a bill re23 sulting in outlays for the fiscal year in progress is enacted 

24 that causes excess outlays, the excess outlays for the next 


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1 fiscal year shall be increased by the amount or amounts 

2 of that breach.’’. 

3 (c) BBEDCA.—Notwithstanding section 275 of the 

4 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 

5 1985, the relevant provisions of such Act shall apply to 

6 the extent necessary to enforce this Act, including amend7 ments made by this Act. 

8 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply be9 ginning in fiscal year 2013 and beyond, including any re10 ports and calculations required for implementation in fis11 cal year 2013. 

12 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES UNDER THE CON13 GRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT OF 1974. 

14 (a) ENFORCEMENT.—Title III of the Congressional 

15 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding after section 

16 315 the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 316. ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES. 

18 ‘‘(a) GDP OUTLAY LIMITS.—It shall not be in order 

19 in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider 

20 any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report 

21 that includes any provision that would cause the most re22 cently reported, current GDP outlay limits set forth in sec23 tion 253A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

24 Control Act of 1985 to be exceeded. 

25 ‘‘(b) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN THE SENATE.—The provisions of this 

2 section may be waived or suspended in the Senate 

3 only by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 

4 Members, present and voting. 

5 ‘‘(2) IN THE HOUSE.—The provisions of this 

6 section may be waived or suspended in the House of 

7 Representatives only by a rule or order proposing 

8 only to waive such provisions by an affirmative vote 

9 of two-thirds of the Members, present and voting. 

10 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER PROTECTION.—In the House, 

11 it shall not be in order to consider a rule or order that 

12 waives the application of paragraph (2) of subsection (b). 

13 ‘‘(d) MOTION TO SUSPEND.—It shall not be in order 

14 for the Speaker to entertain a motion to suspend the appli15 cation of this section under clause 1 of rule XV.’’. 

16 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

17 section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impound18 ment Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after 

19 the item relating to section 315 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 316. Enforcement procedures.’’. 

Æ 


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