I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5954 

To increase the long-term fiscal accountability of direct spending legislation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2010 

Ms. GIFFORDS (for herself, Mr. DJOU, Mr. TANNER, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. 

PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. COOPER, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. NYE, Mr. MURPHY of 

New York, Mr. BOYD, Mr. BOREN, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. 

BOSWELL, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. CHILDERS, Mr. MINNICK, Mr. ROSS, Mr. 

MICHAUD, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. HILL, Ms. HERSETH

SANDLIN, Mr. SHULER, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, 

Mr. KRATOVIL, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. 

MATHESON, Mr. ADLER of New Jersey, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, and Mr. KIND) 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 increase the long-term fiscal accountability of direct 

spending legislation. 

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; PURPOSE. 

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

5 ‘‘Truth in Spending Act of 2010’’. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to— 

2 (1) improve congressional control over the Fed3 eral budget process; 

4 (2) to facilitate the determination each year of 

5 the appropriate level of Federal revenues and ex6 penditures by the Congress and the President; and 

7 (3) to provide for the furnishing of information 

8 that will assist the Congress in controlling growth of 

9 direct spending programs. 

10 SEC. 2. PRESIDENTS’ BUDGET SUBMISSIONS. 

11 (a) OMB REPORT REGARDING DIFFERENCE BE12 TWEEN ACTUAL AND ESTIMATED COSTS OF DIRECT

13 SPENDING LEGISLATION.—Section 1105(a) of title 31, 

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

15 following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(37) the most recent reports of the Director of 

17 the Office of Management and Budget under sub18 sections (a) and (b) of section 3 of the Truth in 

19 Spending Act of 2010 regarding the difference be20 tween the actual costs and the estimated costs of di21 rect spending legislation, including proposed legisla22 tive language, if any, in such reports.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

24 subsection (a) shall apply to budget submissions made by 


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1 the President beginning with the submission for fiscal year 

2 2012. 

3 SEC. 3. LONG-TERM FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY OF DIRECT 

4 SPENDING LEGISLATION. 

5 (a) INITIAL FIVE-YEAR REPORT.—Not later than 

6 January 15 of calendar year 2011 and each subsequent 

7 calendar year, the Director of the Office of Management 

8 and Budget shall submit to the President for inclusion in 

9 his annual budget submission under section 1105(a) of 

10 title 31, United States Code, a report setting forth the 

11 following: 

12 (1) For all Acts affecting direct spending rel13 ative to the baseline enacted during the sixth cal14 endar year before the calendar year in which this re15 port is submitted, the total cost as estimated by the 

16 Director of the Congressional Budget Office for the 

17 then budget year and four outyears. 

18 (2) For all Acts affecting direct spending rel19 ative to the baseline enacted during the sixth cal20 endar year before the calendar year in which this re21 port is submitted, the actual total cost as computed 

22 by the Director of the Office of Management and 

23 Budget for the then budget year and four outyears. 

24 (3) For such 5 fiscal-year period, the net 

25 amount by which the actual cost of all such Acts exVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:26 Jul 31, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5954.IH H5954

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1 ceeds the estimated cost of all such Acts, or the net 

2 amount by which the estimated cost of all such Acts 

3 exceeds the actual cost of all such Acts, as the case 

4 may be. 

5 (4) If the actual total cost of all such Acts ex6 ceeds the estimated total cost, then propose legisla7 tive language to eliminate such excess cost. 

8 (5) If the actual total cost of all such Acts ex9 ceeds the estimated total cost, then a detailed state10 ment of the most likely reasons why that occurred. 

11 (b) FOLLOW-UP FIVE-YEAR REPORT.—Not later 

12 than January 15 of calendar year 2016 and each subse13 quent calendar year, the Director of the Office of Manage14 ment and Budget shall submit to the President for inclu15 sion in his annual budget submission under section 

16 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, a report setting 

17 forth the following: 

18 (1) For all Acts affecting direct spending rel19 ative to the baseline enacted during the eleventh cal20 endar year before the calendar year in which this re21 port is submitted, the total cost as estimated by the 

22 Director of the Congressional Budget Office for the 

23 5 fiscal-year period, the last fiscal year of which 

24 ends on September 30 of the preceding calendar 

25 year. 


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1 (2) For all Acts affecting direct spending rel2 ative to the baseline enacted during the eleventh cal3 endar year before the calendar year in which this re4 port is submitted, the actual total cost as computed 

5 by the Director of the Office of Management and 

6 Budget for the 5 fiscal-year period, the last fiscal 

7 year of which ends on September 30 of the pre8 ceding calendar year. 

9 (3) For such 5 fiscal-year period, the net 

10 amount by which the actual cost of all such Acts ex11 ceeds the estimated cost of all such Acts, or the net 

12 amount by which the estimated cost of all such Acts 

13 exceeds the actual cost of all such Acts, as the case 

14 may be. 

15 (4) If the actual total cost of all such Acts ex16 ceeds the estimated total cost, then propose legisla17 tive language to eliminate such excess cost. 

18 (5) If the actual total cost of all such Acts ex19 ceeds the estimated total cost, then a detailed state20 ment of the most likely reasons why that occurred. 

21 (c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

22 ‘‘direct spending’’ has the meaning given such term in sec23 tion 250(c)(8) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

24 Deficit Control Act of 1985. 


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1 SEC. 4. FAST TRACK PROCEDURE. 

2 (a) PRESIDENTIAL SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 

3 Upon receiving any report from the Director of the Office 

4 of Management and Budget pursuant to subsection (a) or 

5 (b) of section 3, the President shall, within 7 days, submit 

6 any proposed legislative language set forth in such report 

7 to the House of Representatives and to the Senate. 

8 (b) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.— 

9 (1) INTRODUCTION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—On the day on which 

11 the proposed legislative language is submitted 

12 by the President to the House of Representa13 tives and the Senate under subsection (a), it 

14 shall be introduced (by request) in the Senate 

15 by the majority leader of the Senate or by 

16 Members of the Senate designated by the ma17 jority leader of the Senate and shall be intro18 duced (by request) in the House by the major19 ity leader of the House or by Members of the 

20 House designated by the majority leader of the 

21 House. 

22 (B) NOT IN SESSION.—If either House is 

23 not in session on the day on which such legisla24 tive proposal is submitted, the legislative pro25 posal shall be introduced in that House, as proVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:26 Jul 31, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5954.IH H5954

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1 vided in subparagraph (A), on the first day 

2 thereafter on which that House is in session. 

3 (C) ANY MEMBER.—If the legislative pro4 posal is not introduced in either House within 

5 5 days on which that House is in session after 

6 the day on which the legislative proposal is sub7 mitted, then any Member of that House may 

8 introduce the legislative proposal. 

9 (D) REFERRAL.—The legislation intro10 duced under this paragraph shall be referred by 

11 the Presiding Officers of the respective Houses 

12 to the appropriate committees. 

13 (2) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION OF PRO14 POSAL.— 

15 (A) REPORTING BILL.—Not later than 

16 April 1 of any year in which a proposal is sub17 mitted by the President to Congress under this 

18 section, the applicable committees of the House 

19 of Representatives and of the Senate may re20 port the bill referred to them under paragraph 

21 (1)(D) with committee amendments, such that 

22 the bill, as amended, achieves the cost savings 

23 in the original submission. 

24 (B) DISCHARGE.—If, with respect to the 

25 House involved, the committee has not reported 


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1 the bill by the date required by subparagraph 

2 (A), the committee shall be discharged from 

3 further consideration of the proposal. 

4 (3) LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO REC5 OMMENDATIONS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order 

7 in the Senate or the House of Representatives 

8 to consider any bill, resolution, or amendment 

9 pursuant to this subsection or conference report 

10 thereon that fails to achieve the cost savings set 

11 forth in the original submission by the Presi12 dent. 

13 (B) WAIVER.—This paragraph may be 

14 waived or suspended in the Senate only by the 

15 affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members, 

16 duly chosen and sworn. 

17 (C) APPEALS.—An affirmative vote of 

18 three-fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly 

19 chosen and sworn, shall be required in the Sen20 ate to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the 

21 Chair on a point of order raised under this 

22 paragraph. 

23 (4) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE.— 


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1 (A) CONSIDERATION.—A motion to pro2 ceed to the consideration of the bill in the Sen3 ate is not debatable. 

4 (B) AMENDMENT.— 

5 (i) TIME LIMITATION.—Debate in the 

6 Senate on any amendment to a bill under 

7 this section shall be limited to 1 hour, to 

8 be equally divided between, and controlled 

9 by, the mover and the manager of the bill, 

10 and debate on any amendment to an 

11 amendment, debatable motion, or appeal 

12 shall be limited to 30 minutes, to be equal13 ly divided between, and controlled by, the 

14 mover and the manager of the bill, except 

15 that in the event the manager of the bill 

16 is in favor of any such amendment, mo17 tion, or appeal, the time in opposition 

18 thereto shall be controlled by the minority 

19 leader or such leader’s designee. 

20 (ii) GERMANE.—No amendment that 

21 is not germane to the provisions of such 

22 bill shall be received. 

23 (iii) ADDITIONAL TIME.—The leaders, 

24 or either of them, may, from the time 

25 under their control on the passage of the 


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1 bill, allot additional time to any Senator 

2 during the consideration of any amend3 ment, debatable motion, or appeal. 

4 (iv) AMENDMENT NOT IN ORDER.—It 

5 shall not be in order to consider an amend6 ment that would cause the bill to have cost 

7 savings that are less than the cost savings 

8 set forth in the original submission by the 

9 President. 

10 (v) WAIVER AND APPEALS.—This 

11 paragraph may be waived or suspended in 

12 the Senate only by the affirmative vote of 

13 three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen 

14 and sworn. An affirmative vote of three15 fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly 

16 chosen and sworn, shall be required in the 

17 Senate to sustain an appeal of the ruling 

18 of the Chair on a point of order raised 

19 under this section. 

20 (C) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER

21 HOUSE.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—The expedited pro23 cedures provided in this subsection for the 

24 consideration of a bill introduced pursuant 

25 to paragraph (1) shall not apply to such a 


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1 bill that is received by one House from the 

2 other House if such a bill was not intro3 duced in the receiving House. 

4 (ii) BEFORE PASSAGE.—If a bill that 

5 is introduced pursuant to paragraph (1) is 

6 received by one House from the other 

7 House, after introduction but before dis8 position of such a bill in the receiving 

9 House, then the following shall apply: 

10 (I) The receiving House shall 

11 consider the bill introduced in that 

12 House through all stages of consider13 ation up to, but not including, pas14 sage. 

15 (II) The question on passage 

16 shall be put on the bill of the other 

17 House as amended by the language of 

18 the receiving House. 

19 (iii) AFTER PASSAGE.—If a bill intro20 duced pursuant to paragraph (1) is re21 ceived by one House from the other House, 

22 after such a bill is passed by the receiving 

23 House, then the vote on passage of the bill 

24 that originates in the receiving House shall 

25 be considered to be the vote on passage of 


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1 the bill received from the other House as 

2 amended by the language of the receiving 

3 House. 

4 (iv) DISPOSITION.—Upon disposition 

5 of a bill introduced pursuant to paragraph 

6 (1) that is received by one House from the 

7 other House, it shall no longer be in order 

8 to consider the bill that originates in the 

9 receiving House. 

10 (v) LIMITATION.—Clauses (ii), (iii), 

11 and (iv) shall apply only to a bill received 

12 by one House from the other House if the 

13 bill would have cost savings that are not 

14 less than the cost savings set forth in the 

15 original submission by the President. 

16 (D) SENATE LIMITS ON DEBATE.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the Senate, con18 sideration of the bill and on all debatable 

19 motions and appeals in connection there20 with shall not exceed a total of 20 hours, 

21 which shall be divided equally between the 

22 majority and minority leaders or their des23 ignees. 


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1 (ii) MOTION TO FURTHER LIMIT DE2 BATE.—A motion to further limit debate 

3 on the bill is in order and is not debatable. 

4 (iii) MOTION OR APPEAL.—Any debat5 able motion or appeal is debatable for not 

6 to exceed 1 hour, to be divided equally be7 tween those favoring and those opposing 

8 the motion or appeal. 

9 (iv) FINAL DISPOSITION.—After 20 

10 hours of consideration, the Senate shall 

11 proceed, without any further debate on any 

12 question, to vote on the final disposition 

13 thereof to the exclusion of all amendments 

14 not then pending before the Senate at that 

15 time and to the exclusion of all motions, 

16 except a motion to table, or to reconsider 

17 and one quorum call on demand to estab18 lish the presence of a quorum (and mo19 tions required to establish a quorum) im20 mediately before the final vote begins. 

21 (E) CONSIDERATION IN CONFERENCE.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—Consideration in 

23 the Senate and the House of Representa24 tives on the conference report or any mes25 sages between Houses shall be limited to 


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1 10 hours, equally divided and controlled by 

2 the majority and minority leaders of the 

3 Senate or their designees and the Speaker 

4 of the House of Representatives and the 

5 minority leader of the House of Represent6 atives or their designees. 

7 (ii) TIME LIMITATION.—Debate in the 

8 Senate on any amendment under this sub9 paragraph shall be limited to 1 hour, to be 

10 equally divided between, and controlled by, 

11 the mover and the manager of the bill, and 

12 debate on any amendment to an amend13 ment, debatable motion, or appeal shall be 

14 limited to 30 minutes, to be equally divided 

15 between, and controlled by, the mover and 

16 the manager of the bill, except that in the 

17 event the manager of the bill is in favor of 

18 any such amendment, motion, or appeal, 

19 the time in opposition thereto shall be con20 trolled by the minority leader or such lead21 er’s designee. 

22 (iii) FINAL DISPOSITION.—After 10 

23 hours of consideration, the Senate shall 

24 proceed, without any further debate on any 

25 question, to vote on the final disposition 


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1 thereof to the exclusion of all motions not 

2 then pending before the Senate at that 

3 time or necessary to resolve the differences 

4 between the Houses and to the exclusion of 

5 all other motions, except a motion to table, 

6 or to reconsider and one quorum call on 

7 demand to establish the presence of a 

8 quorum (and motions required to establish 

9 a quorum) immediately before the final 

10 vote begins. 

11 (iv) LIMITATION.—Clauses (i) through 

12 (iii) shall only apply to a conference report, 

13 message or the amendments thereto if the 

14 conference report, message, or an amend15 ment thereto— 

16 (I) is related only to the program 

17 under this title; and 

18 (II) satisfies the requirements of 

19 subparagraphs (A)(i) and (C) of sub20 section (c)(2). 

21 (F) VETO.—If the President vetoes the 

22 bill, debate on a veto message in the Senate 

23 under this subsection shall be 1 hour equally di24 vided between the majority and minority leaders 

25 or their designees. 


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1 (5) RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF

2 REPRESENTATIVES.—This section is enacted by Con3 gress— 

4 (A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power 

5 of the Senate and the House of Representa6 tives, respectively, and is deemed to be part of 

7 the rules of each House, respectively, but appli8 cable only with respect to the procedure to be 

9 followed in that House in the case of a bill 

10 under this section, and it supersedes other rules 

11 only to the extent that it is inconsistent with 

12 such rules; and 

13 (B) with full recognition of the constitu14 tional right of either House to change the rules 

15 (so far as they relate to the procedure of that 

16 House) at any time, in the same manner, and 

17 to the same extent as in the case of any other 

18 rule of that House. 

Æ 


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