II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4016 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to set responsible budget 

targets. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 6, 2022 

Mr. BRAUN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to set 

responsible budget targets. 

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 ‘‘Responsible Budget 

5 Targets Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING RESPONSIBLE BUDGET TARGETS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Congressional 

8 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART C—ESTABLISHING RESPONSIBLE BUDGET 

2 TARGETS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 441. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘In this part: 

5 ‘‘(1) PRIMARY BALANCE FACTOR.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘primary 

7 balance factor’— 

8 ‘‘(i) with respect to the first fiscal 

9 year that begins not less than 180 days 

10 after the date of enactment of this part, 

11 means 0.0 percentage point; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in subpara13 graphs (B) and (C), with respect to each 

14 fiscal year after the fiscal year described in 

15 clause (i), means the sum obtained by add16 ing— 

17 ‘‘(I) the primary balance factor 

18 for the previous fiscal year; and 

19 ‘‘(II)(aa) if primary budget au20 thority exceeded revenue for the fiscal 

21 year before the previous fiscal year, 

22 0.2 percentage point; and 

23 ‘‘(bb) if revenue exceeded pri24 mary budget authority for the fiscal 

25 year before the previous fiscal year, 

26 ¥0.2 percentage point. 


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1 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST YEAR

2 AFTER PRIMARY BALANCE.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the first fiscal 

4 year that begins after the date of a deter5 mination that, for a fiscal year beginning 

6 after the date of enactment of this part, 

7 revenue exceeded primary budget author8 ity, the term ‘primary balance factor’ 

9 means 0.0 percentage point. 

10 ‘‘(ii) SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENT.— 

11 After the first fiscal year described in 

12 clause (i), the primary balance factor shall 

13 be adjusted in accordance with subpara14 graph (A)(ii). 

15 ‘‘(C) LIMIT OF ZERO.—The primary bal16 ance factor for a fiscal year may not be less 

17 than 0.0 percentage point. 

18 ‘‘(2) PRIMARY BUDGET AUTHORITY.—The term 

19 ‘primary budget authority’ means all budget author20 ity except for net interest on the debt. 

21 ‘‘(3) SPENDING CEILING.—The term ‘spending 

22 ceiling’, with respect to a fiscal year, means the 

23 maximum amount of primary budget authority for 

24 the fiscal year, as determined under section 442. 


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1 ‘‘(4) SPENDING GROWTH FACTOR.—The term 

2 ‘spending growth factor’, with respect to a fiscal 

3 year, means the difference obtained by subtracting— 

4 ‘‘(A) the primary balance factor for the fis5 cal year; from 

6 ‘‘(B) the average annual percentage 

7 growth in the gross domestic product of the 

8 United States during the 5-fiscal-year period 

9 before the beginning of the fiscal year before 

10 such fiscal year. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 442. ESTABLISHMENT OF A SPENDING CEILING. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The maximum amount of pri13 mary budget authority for a fiscal year shall be the 

14 amount of primary budget authority for the previous fiscal 

15 year as— 

16 ‘‘(1) increased by the spending growth factor; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(2) modified by any adjustments under section 

19 444 or 445. 

20 ‘‘(b) EXCLUSION OF ADJUSTMENTS FROM BASE21 LINE.—In determining the maximum amount of primary 

22 budget authority for a fiscal year, the amount of primary 

23 budget authority for the previous fiscal year shall not in24 clude any adjustment under paragraph (1) or (3) of sec25 tion 444 or under section 445(c). 


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1 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) FOR CONGRESSIONAL PURPOSES.—The 

3 Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) include in each report under section 

5 202(e)(1) and revision of such a report an esti6 mate of the amount of the spending ceiling (in7 cluding factors necessary to produce the esti8 mate) and any adjustments under section 444 

9 for the fiscal year commencing on October 1 of 

10 the year during which the Director submits the 

11 report; and 

12 ‘‘(B) provide to the Committee on the 

13 Budget of the Senate and the Committee on the 

14 Budget of the House of Representatives up15 dates to the estimate of the spending ceiling 

16 and adjustments, as appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(2) FOR EXECUTIVE BRANCH PURPOSES.— 

18 The President shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) include in each budget of the Presi20 dent submitted under section 1105 of title 31, 

21 United States Code, an estimate by the Office 

22 of Management and Budget of the amount of 

23 the spending ceiling and any adjustments under 

24 section 444 for the fiscal year commencing on 


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1 October 1 of the year during which the Presi2 dent submits the budget; and 

3 ‘‘(B) obtain from the Office of Manage4 ment and Budget updates to the estimate of the 

5 spending ceiling and adjustments, as appro6 priate. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 443. USE OF CEILING. 

8 ‘‘(a) BY CONGRESS.—When considering legislation, 

9 the Senate and the House of Representatives shall adhere 

10 to the spending ceiling, as determined by the Director of 

11 the Congressional Budget Office under section 442(c)(1) 

12 (including any adjustments under section 444 or 445(c)). 

13 ‘‘(b) BY EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—When considering 

14 proposals with fiscal implications, the President shall ad15 here to the spending ceiling, as determined by the Director 

16 of the Office of Management and Budget under section 

17 442(c)(2) (including any adjustments under sections 444 

18 or 445(c)). 

19 ‘‘SEC. 444. ADJUSTING THE SPENDING CEILING. 

20 ‘‘When adopting a concurrent resolution on the budg21 et (including a concurrent resolution on the budget de22 scribed in section 304), Congress may adjust the spending 

23 ceiling as determined under section 442(c)(1), and when 

24 enacting a supplemental appropriations Act, Congress 


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1 may adjust the spending ceiling as determined under sec2 tion 442(c)(2), commensurate with— 

3 ‘‘(1) appropriations for an emergency, as de4 fined in section 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and 

5 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 

6 900(c)); 

7 ‘‘(2) a revision in the estimate of the gross do8 mestic product of the United States for any year to 

9 which section 441(4)(B) applies; 

10 ‘‘(3) cyclical variations due to the difference be11 tween the actual and potential amount of the gross 

12 domestic product of the United States; 

13 ‘‘(4) timing shifts of expenditures or revenues 

14 due; or 

15 ‘‘(5) enacted laws that result in a change in 

16 revenue. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 445. EMERGENCY ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENTS. 

18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF EMERGENCY ACCOUNT.— 

19 The Director of the Congressional Budget Office and the 

20 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

21 each maintain an emergency account. 

22 ‘‘(b) COMPUTATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of the emer24 gency account shall be— 


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1 ‘‘(A) increased by the amount of the ad2 justment made under section 444(1); and 

3 ‘‘(B) decreased by the difference obtained 

4 by subtracting the amount of primary budget 

5 authority provided for a fiscal year from the ad6 justed spending ceiling (excluding any adjust7 ment under section 444(1), and including the 

8 effect of adjustments under section 445(c)) for 

9 that fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(2) LIMIT OF ZERO.—The amount of the 

11 emergency account may not be less than $0. 

12 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the amount of the emer14 gency account on the last day of a fiscal year has 

15 increased, as compared to the last day of the fiscal 

16 year before such fiscal year, the amount of the 

17 spending ceiling for the second fiscal year after such 

18 fiscal year and each of the ensuing 5 fiscal years 

19 shall be reduced by the amount equal to one-sixth of 

20 the amount of the increase in the emergency ac21 count. 

22 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATION OF ADJUSTMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) FOR CONGRESSIONAL PURPOSES.— 

24 When adopting a concurrent resolution on the 

25 budget (including a concurrent resolution on 


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1 the budget described in section 304), Congress 

2 may, for purposes of applying the spending ceil3 ing in the Senate and the House of Representa4 tives— 

5 ‘‘(i) reduce the amount of the spend6 ing ceiling by the amount of the emergency 

7 account over a period shorter than 6 fiscal 

8 years; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an ongoing emer10 gency, reduce the amount of the spending 

11 ceiling by the amount of the emergency ac12 count over a period longer than 6 fiscal 

13 years. 

14 ‘‘(B) FOR EXECUTIVE BRANCH PUR15 POSES.—When enacting a supplemental appro16 priations Act, Congress may, for purposes of 

17 applying the spending ceiling in the executive 

18 branch— 

19 ‘‘(i) reduce the amount of the spend20 ing ceiling by the amount of the emergency 

21 account over a period shorter than 6 fiscal 

22 years; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an ongoing emer24 gency, reduce the amount of the spending 

25 ceiling by the amount of the emergency acVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016

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1 count over a period longer than 6 fiscal 

2 years.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Im5 poundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting 

6 after the item relating to section 428 the following: 

‘‘PART C—ESTABLISHING RESPONSIBLE BUDGET TARGETS

‘‘Sec. 441. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 442. Establishment of a spending ceiling. 

‘‘Sec. 443. Use of ceiling. 

‘‘Sec. 444. Adjusting the spending ceiling. 

‘‘Sec. 445. Emergency account adjustments.’’. 

Æ 


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