I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3476 

To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

to provide for an increase in the discretionary spending limits for fiscal 

years 2016 and 2017, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. DELAURO, and Ms. LEE) 

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 amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to provide for an increase in the discretionary spending limits for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, 

and for other purposes. 

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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Prevent a Government Shutdown Act of 2015’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Budget Control Act of 2011 set tight 

2 discretionary spending caps and required additional 

3 deficit reduction to be accomplished either through 

4 bipartisan, bicameral negotiations or, as a fallback, 

5 through sequestration that would further cut discre6 tionary and mandatory spending levels. The threat 

7 of such draconian and arbitrary cuts was intended 

8 to encourage lawmakers to negotiate a thoughtfully 

9 designed substitute package of revenue increases and 

10 targeted spending cuts. 

11 (2) The negotiations that followed were unsuc12 cessful and the initial sequester took place in fiscal 

13 year 2013. 

14 (3) While the threat of a sequester had not led 

15 to an agreement, the reality of a sequester did. Law16 makers negotiated a two-year agreement that set 

17 higher levels of both defense and non-defense discre18 tionary (NDD) spending for fiscal years 2014 and 

19 2015. 

20 (4) A similar agreement is necessary now to 

21 avoid deep budget cuts in the new fiscal year, begin22 ning on October 1, 2015. 

23 (5) Senator John McCain and Representative 

24 Mac Thornberry, the Chairs of the Senate and 

25 House Armed Services Committees, have criticized 


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1 the level of defense spending allowed under seques2 tration: ‘‘These cuts are seriously undermining the 

3 capabilities, readiness, morale and modernization of 

4 the armed forces. The senior military leaders of the 

5 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have all 

6 testified to our committees that, with defense spend7 ing at sequestration levels, they cannot execute the 

8 National Military Strategy.’’ 

9 (6) The impact of the cuts on NDD spending 

10 is becoming increasingly clear. NDD United—an al11 liance of more than 2,500 organizations trying to 

12 protect NDD investments that benefit all Ameri13 cans—made the case that ‘‘these self-imposed cuts 

14 are dragging down our economic recovery, ham15 pering business growth and development, weakening 

16 public health preparedness and response, reducing 

17 resources for our nation’s schools and colleges, com18 promising federal oversight and fraud recovery, hin19 dering scientific discovery, eroding our infrastruc20 ture, and threatening our ability to address emer21 gencies around the world.’’ The impact can also be 

22 seen in the bills reported by the House Committee 

23 on Appropriations for fiscal year 2016. Among other 

24 things, those bills would cut the Department of Edu25 cation by $2.8 billion below the current level, take 


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1 away housing vouchers from thousands of families, 

2 and provide $1.4 billion less than the President re3 quested for the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

4 (7) The sequester—in addition to endangering 

5 our defense, reducing investments in our future, and 

6 risking harm to vulnerable Americans—will weaken 

7 the Nation’s ongoing economic recovery. A recent 

8 analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found 

9 that eliminating the sequester would increase Gross 

10 Domestic Product by 0.4 percent in 2016 and 0.2 

11 percent in 2017. It would also increase employment 

12 by 500,000 next year and 300,000 in 2017. 

13 (8) Providing relief from the sequester will also 

14 make it possible for Congress to act on appropria15 tions legislation before the start of the fiscal year, 

16 averting a Government shutdown if funding is not in 

17 place. 

18 (9) The last Government shutdown lasted for 

19 16 days in 2013. The Office of Management and 

20 Budget later found that the shutdown cost the econ21 omy about 120,000 private-sector jobs and shrunk 

22 GDP growth in that quarter by 0.2 percent to 0.6 

23 percent. The country lost 6.6 million days’ worth of 

24 work through furloughs of Federal employees; na25 tional parks lost $500 million in visitor spending; $4 


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1 billion in tax refunds were delayed; nearly 6,300 

2 children lost access to Head Start; and hundreds of 

3 food safety inspections were delayed. 

4 (10) Therefore, to prevent another Government 

5 shutdown and allow appropriations bills for fiscal 

6 year 2016 to fund vital services at necessary levels, 

7 immediate negotiations on a budget agreement are 

8 needed. An essential component of those negotia9 tions should be to raise the discretionary spending 

10 caps for defense and non-defense, eliminating the 

11 non-defense sequester and reducing the defense se12 quester by the same amount. 

13 (11) It is preferable that Congress agree to off14 set the cost of the sequester relief with deficit reduc15 tion from closing special interest tax loopholes. How16 ever, it is imperative that the sequester relief occur 

17 regardless of whether the agreement for offsetting 

18 deficit reduction is reached. 

19 SEC. 2. BIPARTISAN, BICAMERAL AGREEMENT ON SEQUES20 TER RELIEF. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—A bipartisan measure shall be ne22 gotiated, by the individuals appointed under subsection 

23 (b), that— 

24 (1) increases the discretionary spending limit 

25 for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 in section 251(c) of 


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1 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

2 Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(c)), with the increases 

3 equally applied to the revised security category and 

4 the revised nonsecurity category for each such fiscal 

5 year; and 

6 (2) includes provisions that reduce the deficit 

7 by an amount deemed appropriate. 

8 (b) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—Not later than 1 

9 day after the date of enactment of this Act— 

10 (1) the Speaker of the House of Representa11 tives shall determine the total number of individuals 

12 that shall negotiate the measure described under 

13 subsection (a); and 

14 (2) the Speaker, the Minority Leader of the 

15 House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of 

16 the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the Senate 

17 shall each appoint one quarter of the total number 

18 of individuals determined under paragraph (1). 

19 (c) APPROVAL AND CONSIDERATION OF MEASURE.— 

20 (1) APPROVAL.—The measure described in sub21 section (a) shall require the approval of a majority 

22 of the individuals appointed under subsection (b)(2). 

23 (2) CONSIDERATION.—If approved under para24 graph (1), the measure shall be considered under the 

25 procedures set forth in section 402 of the Budget 


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1 Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112–25), other 

2 than subsection (g), and except that in applying 

3 such section, ‘‘September 25, 2015’’ shall be sub4 stituted for ‘‘December 9, 2011’’ and ‘‘September 

5 30, 2015’’ shall be substituted for ‘‘December 23, 

6 2011’’ in each place it appears. 

7 SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE ADJUSTMENT TO DISCRETIONARY 

8 SPENDING LIMITS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 

9 AND 2017. 

10 (a) SECURITY AND NONSECURITY DISCRETIONARY

11 SPENDING LIMIT ADJUSTMENTS.—If the measure de12 scribed under section 2(a) is not enacted into law before 

13 October 1, 2015, effective upon October 1, 2015, the Bal14 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

15 (2 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended as follows: 

16 (1) In section 251(c)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking the 

18 dollar amount and inserting 

19 ‘‘$559,600,000,000’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking the 

21 dollar amount and inserting 

22 ‘‘$573,393,000,000’’. 

23 (2) In section 251A— 

24 (A) in paragraph (10)(A), by striking the 

25 period at the end and inserting ‘‘and for fiscal 


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1 years 2016 and 2017 by the Prevent a Govern2 ment Shutdown Act of 2015.’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (10)(B), by striking 

4 ‘‘and 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2015, 2016, and 

5 2017’’. 

6 (b) APPLICATION.—Any adjustment made to the dis7 cretionary spending limits for fiscal year 2016 in section 

8 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

9 Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(c)) by the Office of 

10 Management and Budget before the date of enactment of 

11 this Act shall have no force or effect. The preceding sen12 tence shall only apply if the measure described under sec13 tion 2(a) is not enacted into law before October 1, 2015. 

Æ 


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