106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1259

AN ACT

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to

nisms.strengthened budgetary enforcement mechaprotect Social Security surpluses through
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1259

AN ACT

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to protect

Social Security surpluses through strengthened budgetary enforcement mechanisms.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security and

3 Medicare Safe Deposit Box Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

6 (1) the Congress and the President joined to7 gether to enact the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to

8 end decades of deficit spending;

9 (2) strong economic growth and fiscal discipline

10 have resulted in strong revenue growth into the

11 Treasury;

12 (3) the combination of these factors is expected

13 to enable the Government to balance its budget with14 out the Social Security surpluses;

15 (4) the Congress has chosen to allocate in this

16 Act all Social Security surpluses toward saving So17 cial Security and Medicare;

18 (5) amounts so allocated are even greater than

19 those reserved for Social Security and Medicare in

20 the President’s budget, will not require an increase

21 in the statutory debt limit, and will reduce debt held

22 by the public until Social Security and Medicare re23 form is enacted; and

24 (6) this strict enforcement is needed to lock

25 away the amounts necessary for legislation to save

26 Social Security and Medicare.
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro2 hibit the use of Social Security surpluses for any purpose

3 other than reforming Social Security and Medicare.

4 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUSES.

5 (a) POINTS OF ORDER TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECU6 RITY SURPLUSES.—Section 312 of the Congressional

7 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the

8 following new subsection:

9 ‘‘(g) POINTS OF ORDER TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECU10 RITY SURPLUSES.—

11 ‘‘(1) CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS ON THE

12 BUDGET.—It shall not be in order in the House of

13 Representatives or the Senate to consider any con14 current resolution on the budget, or conference re15 port thereon or amendment thereto, that would set

16 forth an on-budget deficit for any fiscal year.

17 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION.—It shall not

18 be in order in the House of Representatives or the

19 Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amend20 ment, motion, or conference report if—

21 ‘‘(A) the enactment of that bill or resolu22 tion as reported;

23 ‘‘(B) the adoption and enactment of that

24 amendment; or
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1 ‘‘(C) the enactment of that bill or resolu2 tion in the form recommended in that con3 ference report,

4 would cause or increase an on-budget deficit for any

5 fiscal year.

6 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—The point of order set forth

7 in paragraph (2) shall not apply to Social Security

8 reform legislation or Medicare reform legislation as

9 defined by section 5(c) of the Social Security and

10 Medicare Safe Deposit Box Act of 1999.

11 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sec12 tion, the term ‘on-budget deficit’, when applied to a

13 fiscal year, means the deficit in the budget as set

14 forth in the most recently agreed to concurrent reso15 lution on the budget pursuant to section 301(a)(3)

16 for that fiscal year.’’.

17 (b) CONTENT OF CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE

18 BUDGET.—Section 301(a) of the Congressional Budget

19 Act of 1974 is amended by redesignating paragraphs (6)

20 and (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively, and by

21 inserting after paragraph (5) the following new paragraph:

22 ‘‘(6) the receipts, outlays, and surplus or deficit

23 in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance

24 Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance
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1 Trust Fund, combined, established by title II of the

2 Social Security Act;’’.

3 (c) SUPER MAJORITY REQUIREMENT.—(1) Section

4 904(c)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is

5 amended by inserting ‘‘312(g),’’ after ‘‘310(d)(2),’’.

6 (2) Section 904(d)(2) of the Congressional Budget

7 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘312(g),’’ after

8 ‘‘310(d)(2),’’.

9 SEC. 4. REMOVING SOCIAL SECURITY FROM BUDGET PRO10 NOUNCEMENTS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any official statement issued by

12 the Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional

13 Budget Office, or any other agency or instrumentality of

14 the Federal Government of surplus or deficit totals of the

15 budget of the United States Government as submitted by

16 the President or of the surplus or deficit totals of the con17 gressional budget, and any description of, or reference to,

18 such totals in any official publication or material issued

19 by either of such Offices or any other such agency or in20 strumentality, shall exclude the outlays and receipts of the

21 old-age, survivors, and disability insurance program under

22 title II of the Social Security Act (including the Federal

23 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the

24 Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund) and the related

25 provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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1 (b) SEPARATE SOCIAL SECURITY BUDGET DOCU2 MENTS.—The excluded outlays and receipts of the old-age,

3 survivors, and disability insurance program under title II

4 of the Social Security Act shall be submitted in separate

5 Social Security budget documents.

6 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall take effect upon

8 the date of its enactment and the amendments made by

9 this Act shall apply only to fiscal year 2000 and subse10 quent fiscal years.

11 (b) EXPIRATION.—Sections 301(a)(6) and 312(g)

12 shall expire upon the enactment of Social Security reform

13 legislation and Medicare reform legislation.

14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—

15 (1) SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM LEGISLATION.—

16 The term ‘‘Social Security reform legislation’’ means

17 a bill or a joint resolution that is enacted into law

18 and includes a provision stating the following: ‘‘For

19 purposes of the Social Security and Medicare Safe

20 Deposit Box Act of 1999, this Act constitutes Social

21 Security reform legislation.’’.

22 (2) The term ‘‘Medicare reform legislation’’

23 means a bill or a joint resolution that is enacted into

24 law and includes a provision stating the following:

25 ‘‘For purposes of the Social Security and Medicare
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1 Safe Deposit Box Act of 1999, this Act constitutes

2 Medicare reform legislation.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives May 26, 1999.

Attest:

Clerk.