I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4479 

To enforce discretionary spending limits to rein in spending, reduce the 

deficit, and regain control of the Federal budget process. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 20, 2010 

Mr. FORBES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To enforce discretionary spending limits to rein in spending, 

reduce the deficit, and regain control of the Federal 

budget process. 

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 ‘‘Tighten Washington’s 

5 Belt Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 As used in this Act: 

8 (1) ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘account’’ means— 


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1 (A) for discretionary budget authority, an 

2 item for which appropriations are made in any 

3 appropriation Act; and 

4 (B) for items not provided for in appro5 priation Acts, direct spending and outlays 

6 therefrom identified in the program and finance 

7 schedules contained in the appendix to the 

8 Budget of the United States for the current 

9 year. 

10 (2) BREACH.—The term ‘‘breach’’ means, for 

11 any fiscal year, the amount by which discretionary 

12 budget authority enacted for that year exceeds the 

13 spending limit for budget authority for that year. 

14 (3) BUDGET AUTHORITY; NEW BUDGET AU15 THORITY; AND OUTLAYS.—The terms ‘‘budget au16 thority’’, ‘‘new budget authority’’, and ‘‘outlays’’ 

17 have the meanings given to such terms in section 3 

18 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Con19 trol Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622). 

20 (4) BUDGET YEAR.—The term ‘‘budget year’’ 

21 means, with respect to a session of Congress, the fis22 cal year of the Government that starts on October 

23 1 of the calendar year in which that session begins. 

24 (5) CBO.—The term ‘‘CBO’’ means the Direc25 tor of the Congressional Budget Office. 


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1 (6) CURRENT.—The term ‘‘current’’ means— 

2 (A) with respect to the Office of Manage3 ment and Budget estimates included with a 

4 budget submission under section 1105(a) of 

5 title 31, United States Code, the estimates con6 sistent with the economic and technical assump7 tions underlying that budget; 

8 (B) with respect to estimates made after 

9 that budget submission that are not included 

10 with it, the estimates consistent with the eco11 nomic and technical assumptions underlying the 

12 most recently submitted President’s budget; 

13 and 

14 (C) with respect to the Congressional 

15 Budget Office, estimates consistent with the 

16 economic and technical assumptions as required 

17 by section 202(e)(1) of the Congressional Budg18 et Act of 1974. 

19 (7) CURRENT YEAR.—The term ‘‘current year’’ 

20 means, with respect to a budget year, the fiscal year 

21 that immediately precedes that budget year. 

22 (8) DISCRETIONARY BUDGET AUTHORITY.—The 

23 term ‘‘discretionary budget authority’’ means budg24 etary authority (except to fund mandatory pro25 grams) provided in appropriation Acts. 


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1 (9) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMIT.—The 

2 term ‘‘discretionary spending limit’’ shall mean the 

3 amounts specified in section 6. 

4 (10) OMB.—The term ‘‘OMB’’ means the Di5 rector of the Office of Management and Budget. 

6 (11) SEQUESTRATION.—The term ‘‘sequestra7 tion’’ with respect to discretionary budget authority, 

8 means the cancellation or reduction of budget au9 thority (except budget authority to fund mandatory 

10 programs) provided in appropriation Acts. 

11 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION AND EFFECT OF SEQUESTRA12 TION. 

13 (a) PRESIDENTIAL ORDER.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Fifteen days after the end of 

15 session, OMB shall issue a discretionary sequestra16 tion report. If in its Sequestration Report, OMB es17 timates that any sequestration is required, the Presi18 dent shall issue an order fully implementing without 

19 change all sequestrations required by the OMB cal20 culations set forth in that report. This order shall be 

21 effective on issuance. 

22 (2) CBO.—Ten days after the end of session, 

23 CBO shall issue a discretionary sequestration report. 

24 (3) SPECIAL RULE.—If the date specified for 

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1 graph (1) falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, such 

2 order shall be issued on the following day. 

3 (b) EFFECTS OF SEQUESTRATION.—The effects of 

4 sequestration shall be as follows: 

5 (1) Budgetary resources sequestered from any 

6 account shall be permanently cancelled, except as 

7 provided in paragraph (5). 

8 (2) Except as otherwise provided, the same per9 centage sequestration shall apply to all programs, 

10 projects, and activities within a budget account (with 

11 programs, projects, and activities as delineated in 

12 the appropriation Act or accompanying report for 

13 the relevant fiscal year covering that account). 

14 (3) Administrative regulations or similar ac15 tions implementing a sequestration shall be made 

16 within 120 days of the sequestration order. To the 

17 extent that formula allocations differ at different 

18 levels of budgetary resources within an account, pro19 gram, project, or activity, the sequestration shall be 

20 interpreted as producing a lower total appropriation, 

21 with the remaining amount of the appropriation 

22 being obligated in a manner consistent with program 

23 allocation formulas in substantive law. 

24 (4) Except as otherwise provided, obligations or 

25 budgetary resources in sequestered accounts shall be 


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1 reduced only in the fiscal year in which a sequester 

2 occurs. 

3 (5) Budgetary resources sequestered in special 

4 fund accounts and offsetting collections sequestered 

5 in appropriation accounts shall not be available for 

6 obligation during the fiscal year in which the seques7 tration occurs, but shall be available in subsequent 

8 years to the extent otherwise provided in law. 

9 (c) SUBMISSION AND AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.— 

10 Each report required by this section shall be submitted, 

11 in the case of CBO, to the House of Representatives, the 

12 Senate, and OMB and, in the case of OMB, to the House 

13 of Representatives, the Senate, and the President on the 

14 day it is issued. On the following day a notice of the report 

15 shall be printed in the Federal Register. 

16 SEC. 4. GAO COMPLIANCE REPORT. 

17 Upon request of the Committee on the Budget of the 

18 House of Representatives or the Senate, the Comptroller 

19 General shall submit to the Congress and the President 

20 a report on— 

21 (1) the extent to which each order issued by the 

22 President under this Act complies with all of the re23 quirements contained in this Act, either certifying 

24 that the order fully and accurately complies with 


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1 such requirements or indicating the respects in 

2 which it does not; and 

3 (2) the extent to which each report issued by 

4 OMB or CBO under this section complies with all of 

5 the requirements contained in this Act, either certi6 fying that the report fully and accurately complies 

7 with such requirements or indicating the respects in 

8 which it does not. 

9 SEC. 5. DISCRETIONARY SEQUESTRATION REPORTS. 

10 (a) DISCRETIONARY SEQUESTRATION REPORTS.— 

11 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—On the dates 

12 specified in section 3(a), OMB and CBO shall each 

13 issue a Discretionary Sequestration Report, updated 

14 to reflect laws enacted through those dates. 

15 (2) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING.—The Discre16 tionary Sequestration Reports for each of fiscal year 

17 2011 through 2015 shall set forth estimates for each 

18 of the following: 

19 (A) The applicable discretionary spending 

20 limits. 

21 (B) The new budget authority and the 

22 breach, if any. 

23 (C) The sequestration percentages nec24 essary to eliminate the breach. 


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1 (D) For the budget year, for each account 

2 to be sequestered, the level of enacted, 

3 sequesterable budget authority and resulting es4 timated outlays to be sequestered. 

5 (3) EXPLANATION OF DIFFERENCES.—The 

6 OMB report shall explain any differences between 

7 OMB and CBO estimates for any breach and any 

8 required discretionary sequestration percentages. 

9 The OMB report shall also explain differences in the 

10 amount of sequesterable resources for any budget 

11 account to be reduced if such difference is greater 

12 than $5,000,000. 

13 (b) ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL ASSUMPTIONS.—In 

14 all reports required by this section, OMB shall use the 

15 same economic and technical assumptions as used in the 

16 most recent budget submitted by the President under sec17 tion 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code. 

18 (c) ADJUSTMENTS.—When OMB submits a report 

19 under this section for a fiscal year, OMB shall calculate, 

20 and the subsequent reports and budgets submitted by the 

21 President under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 

22 Code shall include, adjustments to discretionary spending 

23 limits (and those limits as adjusted) for the fiscal year 

24 and each succeeding year. 


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1 SEC. 6. LIMITS. 

2 (a) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS.—As used in 

3 this Act, the term ‘‘discretionary spending limit’’ means— 

4 (1) with respect to fiscal year 2011, 

5 $1,120,488,000 in new budget authority; 

6 (2) with respect to fiscal year 2012, 

7 $1,008,439,000 in new budget authority; 

8 (3) with respect to fiscal year 2013, 

9 $907,596,000 in new budget authority; 

10 (4) with respect to fiscal year 2014, 

11 $816,836,000 in new budget authority; 

12 (5) with respect to fiscal year 2015, 

13 $735,152,000 in new budget authority; and 

14 (6) with respect to fiscal years following 2015, 

15 the President shall recommend and the Congress 

16 shall consider legislation setting limits for those fis17 cal years. 

18 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

19 (1) SEQUESTRATION.—On the date specified in 

20 section 3(a), there shall be a sequestration to elimi21 nate a budget-year breach. 

22 (2) ELIMINATING A BREACH.—Each account 

23 shall be reduced by a dollar amount calculated by 

24 multiplying the enacted level of budget authority for 

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1 form percentage necessary to eliminate a breach of 

2 the discretionary spending limit. 

3 (3) PART-YEAR APPROPRIATIONS.—If, on the 

4 date the report is issued under paragraph (1), there 

5 is in effect an Act making continuing appropriations 

6 for part of a fiscal year for any budget account, then 

7 the dollar sequestration calculated for that account 

8 under paragraph (2) shall be subtracted from— 

9 (A) the annualized amount otherwise avail10 able by law in that account under that or a sub11 sequent part-year appropriation; and 

12 (B) when a full-year appropriation for that 

13 account is enacted, from the amount otherwise 

14 provided by the full-year appropriation. 

15 (4) LOOK-BACK.—If, after June 30, an appro16 priation for the fiscal year in progress is enacted 

17 that causes a breach for that year (after taking into 

18 account any previous sequestration), the discre19 tionary spending limit for the next fiscal year shall 

20 be reduced by the amount of that breach. 

21 (5) WITHIN-SESSION SEQUESTRATION REPORTS

22 AND ORDER.—If an appropriation for a fiscal year 

23 in progress is enacted (after Congress adjourns to 

24 end the session for that budget year and before July 

25 1 of that fiscal year) that causes a breach, 10 days 


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1 later CBO shall issue a report containing the infor2 mation required in section 5(c). Fifteen days after 

3 enactment, OMB shall issue a report containing the 

4 information required in section 5(c). On the same 

5 day as the OMB report, the President shall issue an 

6 order fully implementing without change all seques7 trations required by the OMB calculations set forth 

8 in that report. This order shall be effective on 

9 issuance. 

10 (c) ESTIMATES.— 

11 (1) CBO ESTIMATES.—As soon as practicable 

12 after Congress completes action on any legislation 

13 providing discretionary appropriations, CBO shall 

14 provide an estimate to OMB of that legislation. 

15 (2) OMB ESTIMATES.—Not later than 7 cal16 endar days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal 

17 holidays) after the date of enactment of any discre18 tionary appropriations, OMB shall transmit a report 

19 to the House of Representatives and to the Senate 

20 containing— 

21 (A) the CBO estimate of that legislation; 

22 (B) an OMB estimate of that legislation 

23 using current economic and technical assump24 tions; and 


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1 (C) an explanation of any difference be2 tween the 2 estimates. 

3 (3) DIFFERENCES.—If during the preparation 

4 of the report under paragraph (2), OMB determines 

5 that there is a difference between the OMB and 

6 CBO estimates, OMB shall consult with the Com7 mittees on the Budget of the House of Representa8 tives and the Senate regarding that difference and 

9 that consultation, to the extent practicable, shall in10 clude written communication to such committees 

11 that affords such committees the opportunity to 

12 comment before the issuance of that report. 

13 (4) ASSUMPTIONS AND GUIDELINES.—OMB 

14 and CBO shall prepare estimates under this para15 graph in conformance with scorekeeping guidelines 

16 determined after consultation among the House and 

17 Senate Committees on the Budget, CBO, and OMB. 

18 (5) DEFERRALS AND RESCISSIONS.—Deferrals 

19 and rescissions proposed under the Impoundment 

20 Control Act of 1974 for the budget year shall not be 

21 taken into account in determining such budget base. 

22 SEC. 7. EXEMPTIONS FROM SEQUESTRATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

24 (b), all discretionary budget authority shall be subject to 

25 the sequestration procedures under this Act. 


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1 (b) EXEMPTIONS.— 

2 (1) The following shall be exempt from reduc3 tion under any order issued under this Act: 

4 (A) Benefits and compensation provided to 

5 active duty military and to veterans defined as 

6 discretionary spending. 

7 (B) Provisions of discretionary spending 

8 legislation the President designates as an emer9 gency requirement and the Congress so des10 ignates in statute. 

11 (C) Any salaries or other expenditures that 

12 may not be reduced on account of constitutional 

13 requirements. 

14 (2) IN BUDGET.—The exemptions provided in 

15 paragraph (1) shall be the only exemptions to se16 questration procedures under this Act, unless other17 wise provided by law. 

Æ 


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