II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1279 

To secure America’s future economy through reform of the Federal budget 

process. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2007 

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

referred to the Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To secure America’s future economy through reform 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Securing America’s Future Economy Budget Process Re6 form Act’’ or ‘‘SAFE Budget Process Reform Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ENFORCEMENT OF BUDGETARY DECISIONS 

Sec. 101. Extension of the discretionary spending caps. 


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Sec. 102. Extension of Pay-as-You-Go requirement and other rules. 

Sec. 103. Point of order to require compliance with the caps and Pay-as-YouGo. 

Sec. 104. Disclosure of interest costs. 

Sec. 105. Executive branch report on fiscal exposures. 

Sec. 106. Mandatory reconciliation. 

Sec. 107. Limitation on long-term spending proposals. 

Sec. 108. Application of Budget Act to unreported bills. 

TITLE II—REFORM OF BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF FEDERAL 

INSURANCE PROGRAMS 

Sec. 201. Federal insurance programs. 

TITLE III—BIENNIAL BUDGETING AND APPROPRIATIONS 

Sec. 301. Revision of timetable. 

Sec. 302. Amendments to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control 

Act of 1974. 

Sec. 303. Amendments to title 31, United States Code. 

Sec. 304. Two-year appropriations; title and style of appropriations Acts. 

Sec. 305. Multiyear authorizations. 

Sec. 306. Government plans on a biennial basis. 

Sec. 307. Biennial appropriations bills. 

Sec. 308. Report on two-year fiscal period. 

Sec. 309. Effective date. 

TITLE IV—COMMISSION ON FEDERAL BUDGET CONCEPTS 

Sec. 401. Establishment of Commission on Federal Budget Concepts. 

Sec. 402. Powers and duties of Commission. 

Sec. 403. Membership. 

Sec. 404. Staff and support services. 

Sec. 405. Report. 

Sec. 406. Termination. 

Sec. 407. Funding. 

TITLE V—RESERVE FUND FOR EMERGENCIES 

Sec. 501. Purpose. 

Sec. 502. Repeal of adjustments for emergencies. 

Sec. 503. OMB emergency criteria. 

Sec. 504. Development of guidelines for application of emergency definition. 

Sec. 505. Reserve fund for emergencies in President’s budget. 

Sec. 506. Adjustments and reserve fund for emergencies in concurrent budget 

resolutions. 

Sec. 507. Application of section 306 to emergencies in excess of amounts in reserve fund. 

Sec. 508. Up-to-date tabulations. 

Sec. 509. Prohibition on amendments to emergency reserve fund. 

Sec. 510. Effective date. 


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1 TITLE I—ENFORCEMENT OF 

2 BUDGETARY DECISIONS 

3 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF THE DISCRETIONARY SPENDING 

4 CAPS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 

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

7 following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 316. ENFORCEMENT OF DISCRETIONARY SPENDING 

9 LIMITS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN THE HOUSE.—Upon adoption by Congress 

11 of a concurrent resolution on the budget under section 301 

12 or 304 that sets forth (whether in the concurrent resolu13 tion or in a joint explanatory statement accompanying the 

14 concurrent resolution) an allocation of budget authority 

15 to the Committee on Appropriations pursuant to section 

16 302— 

17 ‘‘(1) the Clerk of the House shall prepare an 

18 engrossment of a joint resolution modifying the dis19 cretionary spending limit of section 251(c) of the 

20 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

21 Act of 1985 in the form prescribed in subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(2) Upon engrossment of the joint resolution, 

23 the vote by which the concurrent resolution on the 

24 budget was finally agreed to in the House shall also 

25 be considered as a vote on passage of the joint resoVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 lution in the House, and the joint resolution shall be 

2 considered as passed by the House and duly certified 

3 and examined. The engrossed copy shall be signed 

4 by the Clerk of the House and transmitted to the 

5 Senate for further legislative action. 

6 ‘‘(b) IN THE SENATE.—Upon receipt by the Clerk of 

7 the Senate of the joint resolution described in subsection 

8 (a), the Senate shall be deemed to have passed the joint 

9 resolution without amendment and the Clerk of the Senate 

10 shall enroll the joint resolution for presentation to the 

11 President of the United States. 

12 ‘‘(c) MATTER INCLUDED IN JOINT RESOLUTION.— 

13 The matter after the resolving clause in a joint resolution 

14 described in subsection (a) shall be as follows: ‘Section 

15 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

16 Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking all after 

17 ‘‘means’’ and inserting ‘‘, with respect to the budget year, 

18 for the discretionary category, ø$lll¿, as adjusted in 

19 strict conformance with subsection (b) of this section.’ ’’’, 

20 with the blank being filled with a dollar limitation equal 

21 to the allocation of budget authority to the Committee on 

22 Appropriations made by the concurrent resolution on the 

23 budget in force pursuant to section 302 of the Congres24 sional Budget Act of 1974.’ ’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget 

3 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in4 serting after the item relating to section 315 the following 

5 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 316. Enforcement of discretionary spending limits.’’. 

6 SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO REQUIREMENT 

7 AND OTHER RULES. 

8 (a) EXTENSION OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO REQUIRE9 MENT.—Section 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emer10 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘enacted before October 1, 2002,’’ both places it appears. 

12 (b) EXTENSION OF DEFICIT CONTROL RULES.—Sec13 tion 275 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

14 Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking subsection (b) 

15 and redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (b). 

16 (c) MODIFICATION OF BASELINE RULES.—Section 

17 257(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

18 Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking subparagraph 

19 (D). 

20 SEC. 103. POINT OF ORDER TO REQUIRE COMPLIANCE 

21 WITH THE CAPS AND PAY-AS-YOU-GO. 

22 Section 312(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 

23 1974 (2 U.S.C. 643(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(b) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING AND PAY-AS-YOU25 GO POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided in this subsection, it shall not be in order in 

3 the Senate to consider any bill or resolution or any 

4 separate provision of a bill or resolution (or amend5 ment, motion, or conference report on that bill or 

6 resolution) that would— 

7 ‘‘(A) exceed any of the discretionary spend8 ing limits in section 251(c) of the Balanced 

9 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 

10 1985; or 

11 ‘‘(B) for direct spending or revenue legisla12 tion, would cause or increase an on-budget def13 icit for any one of the following three applicable 

14 time periods— 

15 ‘‘(i) the first year covered by the most 

16 recently adopted concurrent resolution on 

17 the budget; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the period of the first 5 fiscal 

19 years covered by the most recently adopted 

20 concurrent resolution on the budget; or 

21 ‘‘(iii) the period of the 5 fiscal years 

22 following the first five fiscal years covered 

23 in the most recently adopted concurrent 

24 resolution on the budget. 


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1 ‘‘(2) POINT OF ORDER AGAINST A SPECIFIC

2 PROVISION.—If the Presiding Officer sustains a 

3 point of order under paragraph (1) with respect to 

4 any separate provision of a bill or resolution, that 

5 provision shall be stricken from the measure and 

6 may not be offered as an amendment from the floor. 

7 ‘‘(3) FORM OF THE POINT OF ORDER.—A point 

8 of order under this section may be raised by a Sen9 ator as provided in section 313(e) of the Congres10 sional Budget Act of 1974. 

11 ‘‘(4) CONFERENCE REPORTS.—If a point of 

12 order is sustained under this section against a con13 ference report the report shall be disposed of as pro14 vided in section 313(d) of the Congressional Budget 

15 Act of 1974. 

16 ‘‘(5) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 

17 apply if a declaration of war by the Congress is in 

18 effect or if a joint resolution pursuant to section 258 

19 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con20 trol Act of 1985 has been enacted.’’. 

21 SEC. 104. DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST COSTS. 

22 Section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act 

23 of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 639(a)(1)) is amended— 

24 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

25 after the semicolon; 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

2 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(D) in the case of direct spending or rev5 enue legislation, containing a projection by the 

6 Congressional Budget Office of the cost of the 

7 debt servicing that would be caused by such 

8 measure for such fiscal year (or fiscal years) 

9 and each of the 4 ensuing fiscal years.’’. 

10 SEC. 105. EXECUTIVE BRANCH REPORT ON FISCAL EXPO11 SURES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit to the 

13 Committees on Appropriations, Budget, Finance, and 

14 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen15 ate, and the Committees on Appropriations, Budget, Gov16 ernment Reform, and Ways and Means of the House of 

17 Representatives, not later than 2 weeks before the first 

18 Monday in February of each year, a report (in this section 

19 referred to as the ‘‘report’’) on the fiscal exposures of the 

20 United States Federal Government and their implications 

21 for long-term financial health. The report shall also be in22 cluded as part of the Consolidated Financial Statement 

23 of the United States Government. 

24 (b) CONTENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report shall include fis2 cal exposures for the following categories of fiscal 

3 exposures: 

4 (A) DEBT.—Debt, including— 

5 (i) total gross debt; 

6 (ii) publicly held debt; and 

7 (iii) debt held by Government ac8 counts. 

9 (B) OTHER FINANCIAL LIABILITIES.— 

10 Other financial liabilities, including— 

11 (i) civilian and military pensions; 

12 (ii) post-retirement health benefits; 

13 (iii) environmental liabilities; 

14 (iv) accounts payable; 

15 (v) loan guarantees; and 

16 (vi) Social Security benefits due and 

17 payable. 

18 (C) FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS.—Financial 

19 commitments, including— 

20 (i) undelivered orders; and 

21 (ii) long-term operating leases. 

22 (D) FINANCIAL CONTINGENCIES AND

23 OTHER EXPOSURE.—Financial contingencies 

24 and other exposures, including— 

25 (i) unadjudicated claims; 


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1 (ii) Federal insurance programs (in2 cluding both the financial contingency for 

3 and risk assumed by such programs); 

4 (iii) net future benefits under Social 

5 Security, Medicare Part A, Medicare Part 

6 B, and other social insurance programs; 

7 (iv) life cycle costs, including deferred 

8 and future maintenance and operating 

9 costs associated with operating leases and 

10 the maintenance of capital assets; 

11 (v) unfunded portions of incrementally 

12 funded capital projects; 

13 (vi) disaster relief; and 

14 (vii) others as deemed appropriate. 

15 (2) ESTIMATES.—Where available, estimates 

16 for each exposure should be included. Where reason17 able estimates are not available, a range of estimates 

18 may be appropriate. 

19 (3) OTHER EXPOSURES.—Exposures that are 

20 analogous to those specified in paragraph (1) shall 

21 also be included in the exposure categories identified 

22 in such paragraph. 

23 (c) FORMAT.—The report shall include a 1-page list 

24 of all exposures. Additional disclosures shall include de25 scriptions of exposures, the estimation methodologies and 


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1 significant assumptions used, and an analysis of the impli2 cations of the exposures for the long-term financial out3 look. Additional analysis deemed informative may be pro4 vided on subsequent pages. 

5 (d) REVIEW WITH CONGRESS.—Following the sub6 mission of the report on fiscal exposures to the Senate 

7 and the House of Representatives, the Comptroller Gen8 eral shall review and report to the committee reviewing 

9 the report on the report, discussing— 

10 (1) the extent to which all required disclosures 

11 under this section have been made; 

12 (2) the quality of the cost estimates; 

13 (3) the scope of the information; 

14 (4) the long-range financial outlook; and 

15 (5) any other matters deemed appropriate. 

16 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) LIABILITIES.—The terms ‘‘liabilities’’, 

18 ‘‘commitments’’, and ‘‘contingencies’’ shall be de19 fined in accordance with generally accepted account20 ing principles and standards of the United States 

21 Federal Government. 

22 (2) NET FUTURE BENEFIT PAYMENTS.—The 

23 term ‘‘net future benefit payments’’ means the net 

24 present value of negative cashflow. Negative 

25 cashflow is to be calculated as the current amount 


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1 of funds needed to cover projected shortfalls, exclud2 ing trust fund balances, over a 75-year period. This 

3 estimate should include births during the period and 

4 individuals below age 15 as of January 1 of the 

5 valuation year. 

6 (3) RISK ASSUMED.—The term ‘‘risk assumed’’ 

7 means the full portion of the risk premium based on 

8 the expected cost of losses inherent in the Govern9 ment’s commitment that is not charged to the in10 sured. For example, the present value of unpaid ex11 pected losses net of associated premiums, based on 

12 the risk assumed as a result of insurance coverage. 

13 SEC. 106. MANDATORY RECONCILIATION. 

14 (a) Section 301(a) of the Congressional Budget Act 

15 of 1974 is amended by: 

16 (1) striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (6); 

17 (2) striking the period at the end of paragraph 

18 (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’ in its place; and 

19 (3) adding at the end the following new para20 graph: 

21 ‘‘(8) reconciliation directives made pursuant to 

22 section 310.’’. 

23 (b) RECONCILIATION LIMITED TO DEFICIT REDUC24 TION.— 


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1 (1) IN THE SENATE.—It shall not be in order 

2 in the Senate to consider a concurrent resolution on 

3 the budget, or an amendment thereto, or a con4 ference report thereon that contains 1 or more rec5 onciliation directives pursuant to section 310 of the 

6 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that specify 

7 changes in law causing a deficit or increasing the 

8 deficit for either the period comprising the first 5 

9 fiscal years following the current fiscal year or the 

10 period comprising the second 5 years following the 

11 current fiscal year. In determining whether reconcili12 ation directives specify changes in law causing a def13 icit or increasing the deficit, the sum of the direc14 tives for each reconciliation bill (under section 310 

15 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974) envisioned 

16 by that measure shall be evaluated. 

17 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (1) shall 

18 apply only to concurrent resolutions on the budget 

19 for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, amendments thereto, 

20 and conference reports thereon. 

21 SEC. 107. LIMITATION ON LONG-TERM SPENDING PRO22 POSALS. 

23 The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended 

24 by adding the following new section— 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 407. LIMITATION ON LONG-TERM SPENDING PRO2 POSALS. 

3 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ANALYSIS OF

4 PROPOSALS.—The Director of the Congressional Budget 

5 Office shall, to the extent practicable, prepare for each bill 

6 or joint resolution reported from committee (except meas7 ures within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Appro8 priations) or placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, 

9 or amendments thereto or conference reports thereon, an 

10 estimate of whether the measure would cause, relative to 

11 current law, a net increase in direct spending in excess 

12 of $5,000,000,000 in any of the five 10-year periods be13 ginning with the budget year. 

14 ‘‘(b) POINT OF ORDER.—In the Senate, it shall not 

15 be in order to consider any bill, joint resolution, amend16 ment, motion, or conference report that would cause a net 

17 increase in direct spending in excess of $5,000,000,000 

18 in any of the five 10-year periods described in subsection 

19 (a). 

20 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.—This section may be waived or sus21 pended only by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the 

22 Members, duly chosen and sworn. 

23 ‘‘(d) APPEALS.—An affirmative vote of three-fifths of 

24 the Members, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required 

25 to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point 

26 of order raised under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(e) DETERMINATIONS OF BUDGET LEVELS.—For 

2 purposes of this section, the levels of net direct spending 

3 shall be determined on the basis of estimates provided by 

4 the Committee on the Budget of the Senate. 

5 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION TO RECONCILIATION.—This sec6 tion shall not apply to any legislation reported pursuant 

7 to reconciliation directions contained in a concurrent reso8 lution on the budget.’’. 

9 SEC. 108. APPLICATION OF BUDGET ACT TO UNREPORTED 

10 BILLS. 

11 (a) ALLOCATIONS AND AGGREGATES.—Sections 

12 302(f)(1)(A) and 311(a)(1)(A) of the Congressional 

13 Budget Act of 1974 are amended by striking ‘‘as re14 ported’’. 

15 (b) UNTIMELY BUDGET-RELATED LEGISLATION.— 

16 Section 303(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

17 is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, as re19 ported,’’ each place it appears; 

20 (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘or’’ at 

21 the end; 

22 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and in23 serting a period in its place; and 

24 (4) by striking paragraph (3). 


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1 TITLE II—REFORM OF BUDG2 ETARY TREATMENT OF FED3 ERAL INSURANCE PROGRAMS 

4 SEC. 201. FEDERAL INSURANCE PROGRAMS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Congressional Budget Act of 

6 1974 is amended by adding after title V the following new 

7 title: 

8 ‘‘TITLE VI—BUDGETARY TREAT9 MENT OF FEDERAL INSUR10 ANCE PROGRAMS 

11 ‘‘SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 

12 ‘‘This title may be cited as the ‘Federal Insurance 

13 Budgeting Act of 2005’. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 602. BUDGETARY TREATMENT. 

15 ‘‘(a) PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.—Beginning with fiscal 

16 year 2012, the budget of the Government submitted pur17 suant to section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, 

18 shall be based on the risk-assumed cost of Federal insur19 ance programs. 

20 ‘‘(b) BUDGET ACCOUNTING.—For any Federal insur21 ance program— 

22 ‘‘(1) the program account shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) pay the risk-assumed cost borne by 

24 taxpayers to the financing account; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) pay actual insurance program admin2 istrative costs; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the financing account shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) receive premiums and other income; 

5 ‘‘(B) pay all claims for insurance and re6 ceive all recoveries; and 

7 ‘‘(C) transfer to the program account on 

8 not less than an annual basis amounts nec9 essary to pay insurance program administrative 

10 costs; 

11 ‘‘(3) a negative risk-assumed cost shall be 

12 transferred from the financing account to the pro13 gram account, and shall be transferred from the pro14 gram account to the general fund; and 

15 ‘‘(4) all payments by or receipts of the financ16 ing accounts shall be treated in the budget as a 

17 means of financing. 

18 ‘‘(c) APPROPRIATIONS REQUIRED.—(1) Notwith19 standing any other provision of law, insurance commit20 ments may be made for fiscal year 2010 and thereafter 

21 only to the extent that new budget authority to cover their 

22 risk-assumed cost is provided in advance in an appropria23 tion Act. 

24 ‘‘(2) An outstanding insurance commitment shall not 

25 be modified in a manner that increases its risk-assumed 


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1 cost unless budget authority for the additional cost has 

2 been provided in advance. 

3 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to Federal insur4 ance programs that constitute entitlements. 

5 ‘‘(d) REESTIMATES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The risk-assumed cost for 

7 a fiscal year shall be reestimated in each subsequent 

8 year. Such reestimate can equal zero. In the case of 

9 a positive reestimate, the amount of the reestimate 

10 shall be paid from the program account to the fi11 nancing account. In the case of a negative reesti12 mate, the amount of the reestimate shall be paid 

13 from the financing account to the program account, 

14 and shall be transferred from the program account 

15 to the general fund. Reestimates shall be displayed 

16 as a distinct and separately identified subaccount in 

17 the program account. 

18 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are appro19 priated such sums as are necessary to fund a posi20 tive reestimate under paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—All funding for 

22 an agency’s administration of a Federal insurance pro23 gram shall be displayed as a distinct and separately identi24 fied subaccount in the program account. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 603. TIMETABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCRUAL 

2 BUDGETING FOR FEDERAL INSURANCE PRO3 GRAMS. 

4 ‘‘(a) AGENCY REQUIREMENTS.—Agencies with re5 sponsibility for Federal insurance programs shall develop 

6 models to estimate their risk-assumed cost by year 

7 through the budget horizon and shall submit those models, 

8 all relevant data, a justification for critical assumptions, 

9 and the annual projected risk-assumed costs to OMB with 

10 their budget requests each year starting with the request 

11 for fiscal year 2009. Agencies will likewise provide OMB 

12 with annual estimates of modifications, if any, and reesti13 mates of program costs. 

14 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.—When the President submits a 

15 budget of the Government pursuant to section 1105(a) of 

16 title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2009, OMB 

17 shall publish a notice in the Federal Register advising in18 terested persons of the availability of information describ19 ing the models, data (including sources), and critical as20 sumptions (including explicit or implicit discount rate as21 sumptions) that it or other executive branch entities would 

22 use to estimate the risk-assumed cost of Federal insurance 

23 programs and giving such persons an opportunity to sub24 mit comments. At the same time, the chairman of the 

25 Committee on the Budget shall publish a notice for CBO 

26 in the Federal Register advising interested persons of the 


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1 availability of information describing the models, data (in2 cluding sources), and critical assumptions (including ex3 plicit or implicit discount rate assumptions) that it would 

4 use to estimate the risk-assumed cost of Federal insurance 

5 programs and giving such interested persons an oppor6 tunity to submit comments. 

7 ‘‘(c) REVISION.—After consideration of comments 

8 pursuant to subsection (b), and in consultation with the 

9 Committees on the Budget of the House of Representa10 tives and the Senate, OMB and CBO shall revise the mod11 els, data, and major assumptions they would use to esti12 mate the risk-assumed cost of Federal insurance pro13 grams. 

14 ‘‘(d) OMB, CBO, AND GAO EVALUATIONS.—(1) Not 

15 later than 6 months after the budget submission of the 

16 President pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31, United 

17 States Code, for fiscal year 2011, OMB, CBO, and GAO 

18 shall each submit to the Committees on the Budget of the 

19 House of Representatives and the Senate a report that 

20 evaluates the advisability and appropriate implementation 

21 of this title. 

22 ‘‘(2) Each report made pursuant to paragraph (1) 

23 shall address the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) The adequacy of risk-assumed estimation 

25 models used and alternative modeling methods. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The availability and reliability of data or 

2 information necessary to carry out this title. 

3 ‘‘(C) The appropriateness of the explicit or im4 plicit discount rate used in the various risk-assumed 

5 estimation models. 

6 ‘‘(D) The advisability of specifying a statutory 

7 discount rate (such as the Treasury rate) for use in 

8 risk-assumed estimation models. 

9 ‘‘(E) The ability of OMB, CBO, or GAO, as ap10 plicable, to secure any data or information directly 

11 from any Federal agency necessary to enable it to 

12 carry out this title. 

13 ‘‘(F) The relationship between risk-assumed ac14 crual budgeting for Federal insurance programs and 

15 the specific requirements of the Balanced Budget 

16 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

17 ‘‘(G) Whether Federal budgeting is improved by 

18 the inclusion of risk-assumed cost estimates for Fed19 eral insurance programs. 

20 ‘‘(H) The advisability of including each of the 

21 programs currently estimated on a risk-assumed cost 

22 basis in the Federal budget on that basis. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 604. DEFINITIONS. 

24 ‘‘For purposes of this title: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘CBO’ means the Director of the 

2 Congressional Budget Office. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘current’ has the same meaning 

4 as in section 250(c)(9) of the Balanced Budget and 

5 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

6 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Federal insurance program’ 

7 means a program that makes insurance commit8 ments and includes the list of such programs as to 

9 be defined by the budget concepts commission, as re10 quired by title IV of the Truth in Budgeting and So11 cial Security Protection Act of 2005. 

12 ‘‘(4) The term ‘financing account’ means the 

13 nonbudget account that is associated with each pro14 gram account which receives payments from or 

15 makes payments to the program account, receives 

16 premiums and other payments from the public, pays 

17 insurance claims, and holds balances. 

18 ‘‘(5) The term ‘GAO’ means the Comptroller 

19 General of the United States. 

20 ‘‘(6) The term ‘insurance commitment’ means 

21 an agreement in advance by a Federal agency to in22 demnify a non-Federal entity against specified 

23 losses. This term does not include loan guarantees 

24 as defined in title V or benefit programs such as soVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 cial security, medicare, and similar existing social in2 surance programs. 

3 ‘‘(7) The term ‘model’ means any actuarial, fi4 nancial, econometric, probabilistic, or other method5 ology used to estimate the expected frequency and 

6 magnitude of loss-producing events, expected pre7 miums or collections from or on behalf of the in8 sured, expected recoveries, and administrative ex9 penses. 

10 ‘‘(8) The term ‘modification’ means any Gov11 ernment action that alters the risk-assumed cost of 

12 an existing insurance commitment from the current 

13 estimate of cash flows. This includes any action re14 sulting from new legislation, or from the exercise of 

15 administrative discretion under existing law, that di16 rectly or indirectly alters the estimated cost of exist17 ing insurance commitments. 

18 ‘‘(9) The term ‘OMB’ means the Director of 

19 the Office of Management and Budget. 

20 ‘‘(10) The term ‘program account’ means the 

21 budget account for the risk-assumed cost, and for 

22 paying all costs of administering the insurance pro23 gram, and is the account from which the risk-as24 sumed cost is disbursed to the financing account. 


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1 ‘‘(11)(A) The term ‘risk-assumed cost’ means 

2 the net present value of the estimated cash flows to 

3 and from the Government resulting from an insur4 ance commitment or modification thereof. 

5 ‘‘(B) The cash flows associated with an insur6 ance commitment include— 

7 ‘‘(i) expected claims payments inherent in 

8 the Government’s commitment; 

9 ‘‘(ii) net premiums (expected premium col10 lections received from or on behalf of the in11 sured less expected administrative expenses); 

12 ‘‘(iii) expected recoveries; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) expected changes in claims, pre14 miums, or recoveries resulting from the exercise 

15 by the insured of any option included in the in16 surance commitment. 

17 ‘‘(C) The cost of a modification is the difference 

18 between the current estimate of the net present 

19 value of the remaining cash flows under the terms 

20 of the insurance commitment, and the current esti21 mate of the net present value of the remaining cash 

22 flows under the terms of the insurance commitment 

23 as modified. 

24 ‘‘(D) The cost of a reestimate is the difference 

25 between the net present value of the amount curVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 rently required by the financing account to pay esti2 mated claims and other expenditures and the 

3 amount currently available in the financing account. 

4 The cost of a reestimate shall be accounted for in 

5 the current year in the budget of the Government 

6 submitted pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31, 

7 United States Code. 

8 ‘‘(E) For purposes of this definition, expected 

9 administrative expenses shall be construed as the 

10 amount estimated to be necessary for the proper ad11 ministration of the insurance program. This amount 

12 may differ from amounts actually appropriated or 

13 otherwise made available for the administration of 

14 the program. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 605. AUTHORIZATIONS TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS; 

16 ACTUARIAL COST ACCOUNT. 

17 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 is authorized to be appropriated $600,000 for each of fis19 cal years 2008 through 2013 to the Director of the Office 

20 of Management and Budget and each agency responsible 

21 for administering a Federal program to carry out this 

22 title. 

23 ‘‘(b) TREASURY TRANSACTIONS WITH THE FINANC24 ING ACCOUNTS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall bor25 row from, receive from, lend to, or pay the insurance fiVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 nancing accounts such amounts as may be appropriate. 

2 The Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe forms and 

3 denominations, maturities, and terms and conditions for 

4 the transactions described above. The authorities de5 scribed above shall not be construed to supersede or over6 ride the authority of the head of a Federal agency to ad7 minister and operate an insurance program. All the trans8 actions provided in this subsection shall be subject to the 

9 provisions of subchapter II of chapter 15 of title 31, 

10 United States Code. Cash balances of the financing ac11 counts in excess of current requirements shall be main12 tained in a form of uninvested funds, and the Secretary 

13 of the Treasury shall pay interest on these funds. 

14 ‘‘(c) APPROPRIATION OF AMOUNT NECESSARY TO

15 COVER RISK-ASSUMED COST OF INSURANCE COMMIT16 MENTS AT TRANSITION DATE.—(1) A financing account 

17 is established on September 30, 2011, for each Federal 

18 insurance program. 

19 ‘‘(2) These financing accounts shall be used in imple20 menting the budget accounting required by this title. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 606. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—This title shall take effect imme23 diately and shall expire on September 30, 2013. 

24 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—If this title is not reauthorized 

25 by September 30, 2013, then the accounting structure and 


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1 budgetary treatment of Federal insurance programs shall 

2 revert to the accounting structure and budgetary treat3 ment in effect immediately before the date of enactment 

4 of this title.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con6 tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget 

7 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in8 serting after the item relating to section 507 the following 

9 new items: 

‘‘TITLE VI—BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF FEDERAL INSURANCE 

PROGRAMS 

‘‘Sec. 601. Short title. 

‘‘Sec. 602. Budgetary treatment. 

‘‘Sec. 603. Timetable for implementation of accrual budgeting for Federal insurance programs. 

‘‘Sec. 604. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 605. Authorizations to enter into contracts; actuarial cost account. 

‘‘Sec. 606. Effective date.’’. 

10 TITLE III—BIENNIAL BUDG11 ETING AND APPROPRIATIONS 

12 SEC. 301. REVISION OF TIMETABLE. 

13 Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

14 (2 U.S.C. 631) is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘TIMETABLE

16 ‘‘SEC. 300. (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 

17 subsection (b), the timetable with respect to the congres18 sional budget process for any Congress (beginning with 

19 the 111th Congress) is as follows: 


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‘‘ First Session

On or before: Action to be completed: 

First Monday in February.President submits budget recommendations.

February 15 ................ Congressional Budget Office submits report to Budget 

Committees.

Not later than 6 weeks 

after budget submission. 

Committees submit views and estimates to Budget 

Committees.

April 1 ......................... Budget Committees report concurrent resolution on 

the biennial budget.

May 15 ........................ Congress completes action on concurrent resolution on 

the biennial budget.

May 15 ........................ Biennial appropriation bills may be considered in the 

House.

June 10 ....................... House Appropriations Committee reports last biennial 

appropriation bill.

June 30 ....................... House completes action on biennial appropriation 

bills.

August 1 ...................... Congress completes action on reconciliation legislation.

October 1 ..................... Biennium begins.

Second Session

On or before: Action to be completed: 

February 15 ................ President submits budget review.

Not later than 6 weeks 

after President submits budget review. 

Congressional Budget Office submits report to Budget 

Committees.

The last day of the session. Congress completes action on bills and resolutions authorizing new budget authority for the succeeding 

biennium. 

1 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of any first session 

2 of Congress that begins in any year immediately following 

3 a leap year and during which the term of a President (ex4 cept a President who succeeds himself) begins, the folVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 lowing dates shall supersede those set forth in subsection 

2 (a): 

‘‘ First Session

On or before: Action to be completed: 

First Monday in April President submits budget recommendations.

April 20 ....................... Committees submit views and estimates to Budget 

Committees.

May 15 ........................ Budget Committees report concurrent resolution on 

the biennial budget.

June 1 ......................... Congress completes action on concurrent resolution on 

the biennial budget.

July 1 .......................... Biennial appropriation bills may be considered in the 

House.

July 20 ........................ House completes action on biennial appropriation bills.

August 1 ...................... Congress completes action on reconciliation legislation.

October 1 ..................... Biennium begins.’’. 

3 SEC. 302. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET 

4 AND IMPOUNDMENT CONTROL ACT OF 1974. 

5 (a) DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.—Section 2(2) of the 

6 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 

7 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘each 

8 year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennially’’. 

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.— 

10 (1) BUDGET RESOLUTION.—Section 3(4) of 

11 such Act (2 U.S.C. 622(4)) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘fiscal year’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘bi13 ennium’’. 


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1 (2) BIENNIUM.—Section 3 of such Act (2 

2 U.S.C. 622) is further amended by adding at the 

3 end the following new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(11) The term ‘biennium’ means the period of 

5 2 consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of 

6 any odd-numbered year.’’. 

7 (c) BIENNIAL CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE

8 BUDGET.— 

9 (1) CONTENTS OF RESOLUTION.—Section 

10 301(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(a)) is amended— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) 

12 by— 

13 (i) striking ‘‘April 15 of each year’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘May 15 of each odd-num15 bered year’’; 

16 (ii) striking ‘‘the fiscal year beginning 

17 on October 1 of such year’’ the first place 

18 it appears and inserting ‘‘the biennium be19 ginning on October 1 of such year’’; and 

20 (iii) striking ‘‘the fiscal year beginning 

21 on October 1 of such year’’ the second 

22 place it appears and inserting ‘‘each fiscal 

23 year in such period’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘for the 

2 fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year 

3 in the biennium’’; and 

4 (C) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘for the 

5 first fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal 

6 year in the biennium’’. 

7 (2) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—Section 301(b)(3) 

8 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(b)) is amended by strik9 ing ‘‘for such fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘for either 

10 fiscal year in such biennium’’. 

11 (3) VIEWS OF OTHER COMMITTEES.—Section 

12 301(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(d)) is amended by 

13 inserting ‘‘(or, if applicable, as provided by section 

14 300(b))’’ after ‘‘United States Code’’. 

15 (4) HEARINGS.—Section 301(e)(1) of such Act 

16 (2 U.S.C. 632(e)) is amended by— 

17 (A) striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘biennium’’; and 

19 (B) inserting after the second sentence the 

20 following: ‘‘On or before April 1 of each odd21 numbered year (or, if applicable, as provided by 

22 section 300(b)), the Committee on the Budget 

23 of each House shall report to its House the con24 current resolution on the budget referred to in 


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1 subsection (a) for the biennium beginning on 

2 October 1 of that year.’’. 

3 (5) GOALS FOR REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT.— 

4 Section 301(f) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(f)) is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ each place it ap6 pears and inserting ‘‘biennium’’. 

7 (6) ECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS.—Section 

8 301(g)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(g)(1)) is 

9 amended by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘for a biennium’’. 

11 (7) SECTION HEADING.—The section heading of 

12 section 301 of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘AN13 NUAL’’ and inserting ‘‘BIENNIAL’’. 

14 (8) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The item relating 

15 to section 301 in the table of contents set forth in 

16 section 1(b) of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘An17 nual’’ and inserting ‘‘Biennial’’. 

18 (d) COMMITTEE ALLOCATIONS.—Section 302 of such 

19 Act (2 U.S.C. 633) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by— 

21 (A) striking ‘‘for the first fiscal year of the 

22 resolution,’’ and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year 

23 in the biennium,’’; 


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1 (B) striking ‘‘for that period of fiscal 

2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘for all fiscal years cov3 ered by the resolution’’; and 

4 (C) striking ‘‘for the fiscal year of that 

5 resolution’’ and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year 

6 in the biennium’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘for a fiscal 

8 year’’ and inserting ‘‘for a biennium’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘first fiscal 

10 year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year of the bien11 nium’’; 

12 (4) in subsection (f)(2)(A), by— 

13 (A) striking ‘‘first fiscal year’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘each fiscal year of the biennium’’; and 

15 (B) striking ‘‘the total of fiscal years’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘the total of all fiscal years covered by 

17 the resolution’’; and 

18 (5) in subsection (g)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘April’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘May’’. 

20 (e) SECTION 303 POINT OF ORDER.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(a) of such Act 

22 (2 U.S.C. 634(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘first fis23 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year of the bien24 nium’’. 


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1 (2) EXCEPTIONS IN THE HOUSE.—Section 

2 303(b)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 634(b)) is amend3 ed— 

4 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘the 

5 budget year’’ and inserting ‘‘the biennium’’; 

6 and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘the 

8 fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘the biennium’’. 

9 (3) APPLICATION TO THE SENATE.—Section 

10 303(c)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 634(c)) is amended 

11 by— 

12 (A) striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘biennium’’; and 

14 (B) striking ‘‘that year’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘each fiscal year of that biennium’’. 

16 (f) PERMISSIBLE REVISIONS OF CONCURRENT RESO17 LUTIONS ON THE BUDGET.—Section 304(a) of such Act 

18 (2 U.S.C. 635) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ the first 2 places 

20 it appears and inserting ‘‘biennium’’; 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘for such fiscal year’’; and 

22 (3) by inserting before the period ‘‘for such bi23 ennium’’. 

24 (g) PROCEDURES FOR CONSIDERATION OF BUDGET

25 RESOLUTIONS.—Section 305(a)(3) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 


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1 636(b)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and in2 serting ‘‘biennium’’. 

3 (h) COMPLETION OF HOUSE ACTION ON APPROPRIA4 TION BILLS.—Section 307 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 638) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘each year’’ and inserting ‘‘each 

7 odd-numbered year’’; 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘annual’’ and inserting ‘‘bien9 nial’’; 

10 (3) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘bi11 ennium’’; and 

12 (4) by striking ‘‘that year’’ and inserting ‘‘each 

13 odd-numbered year’’. 

14 (i) COMPLETION OF ACTION ON REGULAR APPRO15 PRIATION BILLS.—Section 309 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

16 640) is amended— 

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘of any odd-numbered calendar 

18 year’’ after ‘‘July’’; 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘annual’’ and inserting ‘‘bien20 nial’’; and 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘bi22 ennium’’. 

23 (j) RECONCILIATION PROCESS.—Section 310(a) of 

24 such Act (2 U.S.C. 641(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

2 striking ‘‘any fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘any bien3 nium’’; and 

4 (2) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘such fiscal 

5 year’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘any fiscal 

6 year covered by such resolution’’. 

7 (k) SECTION 311 POINT OF ORDER.— 

8 (1) IN THE HOUSE.—Section 311(a)(1) of such 

9 Act (2 U.S.C. 642(a)) is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and in11 serting ‘‘for a biennium’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘the first fiscal year’’ each 

13 place it appears and inserting ‘‘either fiscal 

14 year of the biennium’’; and 

15 (C) by striking ‘‘that first fiscal year’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’. 

17 (2) IN THE SENATE.—Section 311(a)(2) of 

18 such Act is amended— 

19 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘for 

20 the first fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘for either 

21 fiscal year of the biennium’’; and 

22 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘that first fiscal year’’ 

24 the first place it appears and inserting 

25 ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘that first fiscal year 

2 and the ensuing fiscal years’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘all fiscal years’’. 

4 (3) SOCIAL SECURITY LEVELS.—Section 

5 311(a)(3) of such Act is amended by— 

6 (A) striking ‘‘for the first fiscal year’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’; 

8 and 

9 (B) striking ‘‘that fiscal year and the ensu10 ing fiscal years’’ and inserting ‘‘all fiscal 

11 years’’. 

12 (l) MDA POINT OF ORDER.—Section 312(c) of the 

13 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 643) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘for a biennium’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘first fiscal 

18 year’’ and inserting ‘‘either fiscal year in the bien19 nium’’; 

20 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘that fiscal 

21 year’’ and inserting ‘‘either fiscal year in the bien22 nium’’; and 

23 (4) in the matter following paragraph (2), by 

24 striking ‘‘that fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘the appli25 cable fiscal year’’. 


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1 SEC. 303. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 31, UNITED STATES 

2 CODE. 

3 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 1101 of title 31, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the 

5 following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(3) ‘biennium’ has the meaning given to such 

7 term in paragraph (11) of section 3 of the Congres8 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 

9 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622(11)).’’. 

10 (b) BUDGET CONTENTS AND SUBMISSION TO CON11 GRESS.— 

12 (1) SCHEDULE.—The matter preceding para13 graph (1) in section 1105(a) of title 31, United 

14 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(a) On or before the first Monday in February of 

16 each odd-numbered year (or, if applicable, as provided by 

17 section 300(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974), 

18 beginning with the 111th Congress, the President shall 

19 transmit to Congress, the budget for the biennium begin20 ning on October 1 of such calendar year. The budget 

21 transmitted under this subsection shall include a budget 

22 message and summary and supporting information. The 

23 President shall include in each budget the following:’’. 

24 (2) EXPENDITURES.—Section 1105(a)(5) of 

25 title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking 

26 ‘‘the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted 


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1 and the 4 fiscal years after that year’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium for which the 

3 budget is submitted and in the succeeding 4 years’’. 

4 (3) RECEIPTS.—Section 1105(a)(6) of title 31, 

5 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the fis6 cal year for which the budget is submitted and the 

7 4 fiscal years after that year’’ and inserting ‘‘each 

8 fiscal year in the biennium for which the budget is 

9 submitted and in the succeeding 4 years’’. 

10 (4) BALANCE STATEMENTS.—Section 

11 1105(a)(9)(C) of title 31, United States Code, is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘the fiscal year’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’. 

14 (5) FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES.—Section 

15 1105(a)(12) of title 31, United States Code, is 

16 amended in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘the fis17 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the bien18 nium’’. 

19 (6) ALLOWANCES.—Section 1105(a)(13) of title 

20 31, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the 

21 fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the bi22 ennium’’. 

23 (7) ALLOWANCES FOR UNCONTROLLED EX24 PENDITURES.—Section 1105(a)(14) of title 31, 

25 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘that 


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1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the bien2 nium for which the budget is submitted’’. 

3 (8) TAX EXPENDITURES.—Section 1105(a)(16) 

4 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by strik5 ing ‘‘the fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year 

6 in the biennium’’. 

7 (9) FUTURE YEARS.—Section 1105(a)(17) of 

8 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘the fiscal year following 

10 the fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year 

11 in the biennium following the biennium’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘that following fiscal year’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘each such fiscal year’’; and 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘fiscal year before the fis15 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennium before the bi16 ennium’’. 

17 (10) PRIOR YEAR OUTLAYS.—Section 

18 1105(a)(18) of title 31, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘the prior fiscal year’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘each of the 2 most recently com22 pleted fiscal years,’’; 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘for that year’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘with respect to those fiscal years’’; and 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘in that year’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘in those fiscal years’’. 

3 (11) PRIOR YEAR RECEIPTS.—Section 

4 1105(a)(19) of title 31, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘the prior fiscal year’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘each of the 2 most recently com8 pleted fiscal years’’; 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘for that year’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘with respect to those fiscal years’’; and 

11 (C) by striking ‘‘in that year’’ each place 

12 it appears and inserting ‘‘in those fiscal years’’. 

13 (c) ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES OF LEGISLATIVE

14 AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES.—Section 1105(b) of title 31, 

15 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘each year’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘each even-numbered year’’. 

17 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS TO MEET ESTIMATED DE18 FICIENCIES.—Section 1105(c) of title 31, United States 

19 Code, is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘the fiscal year for’’ the first 

21 place it appears and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in 

22 the biennium for’’; 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘the fiscal year for’’ the second 

24 place it appears and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year of 

25 the biennium, as the case may be,’’; and 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘that year’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

2 each year of the biennium’’. 

3 (e) CAPITAL INVESTMENT ANALYSIS.—Section 

4 1105(e)(1) of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

5 by striking ‘‘ensuing fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennium 

6 to which such budget relates’’. 

7 (f) SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET ESTIMATES AND

8 CHANGES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1106(a) of title 31, 

10 United States Code, is amended— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

12 by— 

13 (i) striking ‘‘Before July 16 of each 

14 year,’’ and inserting ‘‘Before February 15 

15 of each even numbered year,’’; and 

16 (ii) striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘biennium’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘that fis19 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in 

20 such biennium’’; 

21 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘4 fiscal 

22 years following the fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘4 

23 fiscal years following the biennium’’; and 

24 (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

25 year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennium’’. 


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1 (2) CHANGES.—Section 1106(b) of title 31, 

2 United States Code, is amended by— 

3 (A) striking ‘‘the fiscal year’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’; 

5 (B) striking ‘‘April 11 and July 16 of each 

6 year’’ and inserting ‘‘February 15 of each even7 numbered year’’; and 

8 (C) striking ‘‘July 16’’ and inserting ‘‘Feb9 ruary 15 of each even-numbered year.’’. 

10 (g) CURRENT PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES ESTI11 MATES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1109(a) of title 31, 

13 United States Code, is amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘On or before the first 

15 Monday after January 3 of each year (on or be16 fore February 5 in 1986)’’ and inserting ‘‘At 

17 the same time the budget required by section 

18 1105 is submitted for a biennium’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘the following fiscal year’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year of such period’’. 

21 (2) JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE.—Section 

22 1109(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

23 by striking ‘‘March 1 of each year’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘within 6 weeks of the President’s budget submis25 sion for each odd-numbered year (or, if applicable, 


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•S 1279 IS

1 as provided by section 300(b) of the Congressional 

2 Budget Act of 1974)’’. 

3 (h) YEAR-AHEAD REQUESTS FOR AUTHORIZING

4 LEGISLATION.—Section 1110 of title 31, United States 

5 Code, is amended by— 

6 (1) striking ‘‘May 16’’ and inserting ‘‘March 

7 31’’; and 

8 (2) striking ‘‘year before the year in which the 

9 fiscal year begins’’ and inserting ‘‘calendar year pre10 ceding the calendar year in which the biennium be11 gins’’. 

12 SEC. 304. TWO-YEAR APPROPRIATIONS; TITLE AND STYLE 

13 OF APPROPRIATIONS ACTS. 

14 Section 105 of title 1, United States Code, is amend15 ed to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘§ 105. Title and style of appropriations Acts 

17 ‘‘(a) The style and title of all Acts making appropria18 tions for the support of the Government shall be as fol19 lows: ‘An Act making appropriations (here insert the ob20 ject) for each fiscal year in the biennium of fiscal years 

21 (here insert the fiscal years of the biennium).’. 

22 ‘‘(b) All Acts making regular appropriations for the 

23 support of the Government shall be enacted for a biennium 

24 and shall specify the amount of appropriations provided 

25 for each fiscal year in such period. 


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1 ‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘biennium’ 

2 has the same meaning as in section 3(11) of the Congres3 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 

4 U.S.C. 622(11)).’’. 

5 SEC. 305. MULTIYEAR AUTHORIZATIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 

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

8 following new section: 

9 ‘‘AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS

10 ‘‘SEC. 319. (a) POINT OF ORDER.—It shall not be 

11 in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate 

12 to consider— 

13 ‘‘(1) any bill, joint resolution, amendment, mo14 tion, or conference report that authorizes appropria15 tions for a period of less than 2 fiscal years, unless 

16 the program, project, or activity for which the ap17 propriations are authorized will require no further 

18 appropriations and will be completed or terminated 

19 after the appropriations have been expended; and 

20 ‘‘(2) in any odd-numbered year, any authoriza21 tion or revenue bill or joint resolution until Congress 

22 completes action on the biennial budget resolution, 

23 all regular biennial appropriations bills, and all rec24 onciliation bills. 

25 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.—In the Senate, subsection (a) 

26 shall not apply to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) any measure that is privileged for consid2 eration pursuant to a rule or statute; 

3 ‘‘(2) any matter considered in Executive Ses4 sion; or 

5 ‘‘(3) an appropriations measure or reconcili6 ation bill.’’. 

7 (b) AMENDMENT TO TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The 

8 table of contents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congres9 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is 

10 amended by adding after the item relating to section 318 

11 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 319. Authorizations of appropriations.’’. 

12 SEC. 306. GOVERNMENT PLANS ON A BIENNIAL BASIS. 

13 (a) STRATEGIC PLANS.—Section 306 of title 5, 

14 United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘September 

16 30, 1997’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2009’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (b)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘at least every three years’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘at least every four years’’; and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘five years forward’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘six years forward’’; and 

22 (3) in subsection (c), by inserting a comma 

23 after ‘‘section’’ the second place it appears and add24 ing ‘‘including a strategic plan submitted by SepVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 tember 30, 2009 meeting the requirements of sub2 section (a)’’. 

3 (b) BUDGET CONTENTS AND SUBMISSION TO CON4 GRESS.—Paragraph (28) of section 1105(a) of title 31, 

5 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘beginning 

6 with fiscal year 1999, a’’ and inserting ‘‘beginning with 

7 fiscal year 2010, a biennial’’. 

8 (c) PERFORMANCE PLANS.—Section 1115 of title 31, 

9 United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) in the matter before paragraph (1)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘section 1105(a)(29)’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘section 1105(a)(28)’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘an annual’’ and in15 serting ‘‘a biennial’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting after 

17 ‘‘program activity’’ the following: ‘‘for both 

18 years 1 and 2 of the biennial plan’’; 

19 (C) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

20 after the semicolon; 

21 (D) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe22 riod and inserting a semicolon; and inserting 

23 ‘‘and’’ after the inserted semicolon; and 

24 (E) by adding after paragraph (6) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(7) cover a 2-year period beginning with the 

2 first fiscal year of the next biennial budget cycle.’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘annual’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘biennial’’; and 

5 (3) in paragraph (6) of subsection (f), by strik6 ing ‘‘annual’’ and inserting ‘‘biennial’’. 

7 (d) MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND FLEXI8 BILITY.—Section 9703 of title 31, United States Code, re9 lating to managerial accountability, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘an12 nual’’; and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘section 1105(a)(29)’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘section 1105(a)(28)’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (e)— 

16 (A) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘one 

17 or’’ before ‘‘years’’; 

18 (B) in the second sentence by striking ‘‘a 

19 subsequent year’’ and inserting ‘‘for a subse20 quent 2-year period’’; and 

21 (C) in the third sentence by striking 

22 ‘‘three’’ and inserting ‘‘four’’. 

23 (e) PILOT PROJECTS FOR PERFORMANCE BUDG24 ETING.—Section 1119 of title 31, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1) of subsection (d), by strik2 ing ‘‘annual’’ and inserting ‘‘biennial’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘annual’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘biennial’’. 

5 (f) STRATEGIC PLANS.—Section 2802 of title 39, 

6 United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘September 

8 30, 1997’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2009’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘at least every 

10 three years’’ and inserting ‘‘at least every 4 years’’; 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘five years forward’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘six years forward’’; and 

13 (4) in subsection (c), by inserting a comma 

14 after ‘‘section’’ the second place it appears and in15 serting ‘‘including a strategic plan submitted by 

16 September 30, 2009 meeting the requirements of 

17 subsection (a)’’. 

18 (g) PERFORMANCE PLANS.—Section 2803(a) of title 

19 39, United States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) in the matter before paragraph (1), by 

21 striking ‘‘an annual’’ and inserting ‘‘a biennial’’; 

22 (2) in paragraph (1), by inserting after ‘‘pro23 gram activity’’ the following: ‘‘for both years 1 and 

24 2 of the biennial plan’’; 


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1 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

2 the semicolon; 

3 (4) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 

4 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (5) by adding after paragraph (6) the following: 

6 ‘‘(7) cover a 2-year period beginning with the 

7 first fiscal year of the next biennial budget cycle.’’. 

8 (h) COMMITTEE VIEWS OF PLANS AND REPORTS.— 

9 Section 301(d) of the Congressional Budget Act (2 U.S.C. 

10 632(d)) is amended by adding at the end ‘‘Each committee 

11 of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall review 

12 the strategic plans, performance plans, and performance 

13 reports, required under section 306 of title 5, United 

14 States Code, and sections 1115 and 1116 of title 31, 

15 United States Code, of all agencies under the jurisdiction 

16 of the committee. Each committee may provide its views 

17 on such plans or reports to the Committee on the Budget 

18 of the applicable House.’’. 

19 (i) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall take effect on March 1, 2009. 

22 (2) AGENCY ACTIONS.—Effective on and after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act, each agency shall 

24 take such actions as necessary to prepare and subVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 mit any plan or report in accordance with the 

2 amendments made by this Act. 

3 SEC. 307. BIENNIAL APPROPRIATIONS BILLS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 

5 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘CONSIDERATION OF BIENNIAL APPROPRIATIONS BILLS

8 ‘‘SEC. 320. It shall not be in order in the House of 

9 Representatives or the Senate in any odd-numbered year 

10 to consider any regular bill providing new budget authority 

11 or a limitation on obligations under the jurisdiction of any 

12 of the subcommittees of the Committees on Appropria13 tions for only the first fiscal year of a biennium, unless 

14 the program, project, or activity for which the new budget 

15 authority or obligation limitation is provided will require 

16 no additional authority beyond 1 year and will be com17 pleted or terminated after the amount provided has been 

18 expended.’’. 

19 (b) AMENDMENT TO TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The 

20 table of contents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congres21 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is 

22 amended by adding after the item relating to section 319 

23 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 320. Consideration of biennial appropriations bills.’’. 


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1 SEC. 308. REPORT ON TWO-YEAR FISCAL PERIOD. 

2 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

3 of this subpart, the Director of OMB shall— 

4 (1) determine the impact and feasibility of 

5 changing the definition of a fiscal year and the 

6 budget process based on that definition to a 2-year 

7 fiscal period with a biennial budget process based on 

8 the 2-year period; and 

9 (2) report the findings of the study to the Com10 mittees on the Budget of the House of Representa11 tives and the Senate. 

12 SEC. 309. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sections 

14 306 and 308 and subsection (b), this title and the amend15 ments made by this title shall take effect on January 1, 

16 2009, and shall apply to budget resolutions and appropria17 tions for the biennium beginning with fiscal year 2010. 

18 (b) AUTHORIZATIONS FOR THE BIENNIUM.—For 

19 purposes of authorizations for the biennium beginning 

20 with fiscal year 2010, the provisions of this title and the 

21 amendments made by this title relating to 2-year author22 izations shall take effect January 1, 2009. 


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1 TITLE IV—COMMISSION ON 

2 FEDERAL BUDGET CONCEPTS 

3 SEC. 401. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION ON FEDERAL 

4 BUDGET CONCEPTS. 

5 There is established a commission to be known as the 

6 Commission on Federal Budget Concepts (referred to in 

7 this title as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

8 SEC. 402. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 

9 (a) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the Commis11 sion shall include— 

12 (A) a review of the 1967 report of the 

13 President’s Commission on Budget Concepts 

14 and assessment of the implementation of the 

15 recommendations of that report; 

16 (B) identification and evaluation of the 

17 structure, concepts, classifications, and bases of 

18 accounting of the Federal budget; 

19 (C) identification of any applicable general 

20 accounting principles and practices in the pri21 vate sector and evaluation of their value to 

22 budget practices in the Federal sector; and 

23 (D) a report that shall include rec24 ommendations for modifications to the struc25 ture, concepts, classifications, and bases of acVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 counting of the Federal budget that would en2 hance the usefulness of the budget for public 

3 policy and financial planning. 

4 (2) SPECIFIC AREAS OF CONSIDERATION.—Spe5 cific areas for consideration by the Commission shall 

6 include the following: 

7 (A) Should part ownership by the Govern8 ment be sufficient to make an entity Federal 

9 and to include it in the budget? 

10 (B) When is Federal control of an entity, 

11 including control exercised through Federal reg12 ulations, sufficient to cause it to be included in 

13 the budget? 

14 (C) Are privately owned assets under long15 term leases to the Federal Government effec16 tively purchased by the Government during the 

17 lease period? 

18 (D) Should there be an ‘‘off-budget’’ sec19 tion of the budget? How should the Federal 

20 Government differentiate between spending and 

21 receipts? 

22 (E) Should the total costs of refundable 

23 tax credits belong on the spending side of the 

24 budget? 


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1 (F) When should Federal Reserve earnings 

2 be reported as receipts or offsetting receipts 

3 (negative spending) in the net interest portion 

4 of the budget? 

5 (G) What is a ‘‘user fee’’ and under what 

6 circumstances is it properly an offset to spend7 ing or a governmental receipt? What uses do 

8 trust funds have? 

9 (H) Do trust fund balances provide mis10 leading information? Do the roughly 200 trust 

11 funds add clarity or confusion to the budget 

12 process? 

13 (I) Are there better ways than trust fund 

14 accounting to identify long-term liabilities? 

15 (J) Should accrual budgetary accounting 

16 be adopted for Federal retirement, military re17 tirement, or Social Security and other entitle18 ments? 

19 (K) Are off-budget accounts suitable for 

20 capturing accruals in the budget? 

21 (L) What is the appropriate budgetary 

22 treatment of— 

23 (i) purchases and sales of financial as24 sets, including equities, bonds, and foreign 

25 currencies; 


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1 (ii) emergency spending; 

2 (iii) the cost of holding fixed assets 

3 (cost of capital); 

4 (iv) sales of physical assets; and 

5 (v) seigniorage on coins and currency? 

6 (M) When policy changes have strong but 

7 indirect feedback effects on revenues and other 

8 aggregates, should they be reported in budget 

9 estimates? 

10 (N) How should the policies that are one11 sided bets on economic events (probabilistic 

12 scoring) be represented in the budget? 

13 (b) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

14 (1) CONDUCT OF BUSINESS.—The Commission 

15 may hold hearings, take testimony, receive evidence, 

16 and undertake such other activities necessary to 

17 carry out its duties. 

18 (2) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Commis19 sion may secure directly from any department or 

20 agency of the United States information necessary 

21 to carry out its duties. Upon request of the Chair of 

22 the Commission, the head of that department or 

23 agency shall furnish that information to the Com24 mission. 


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1 (3) POSTAL SERVICE.—The Commission may 

2 use the United States mails in the same manner and 

3 under the same conditions as other departments and 

4 agencies of the United States. 

5 SEC. 403. MEMBERSHIP. 

6 (a) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com7 posed of 12 members as follows: 

8 (1) Three members appointed by the chairman 

9 of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate. 

10 (2) Three members appointed by the chairman 

11 of the Committee on the Budget of the House of 

12 Representatives. 

13 (3) Three members appointed by the ranking 

14 member of the Committee on the Budget of the Sen15 ate. 

16 (4) Three members appointed by the ranking 

17 member of the Committee on the Budget of the 

18 House of Representatives. 

19 (b) QUALIFICATIONS AND TERM.— 

20 (1) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members appointed to 

21 the Commission pursuant to subsection (a) shall— 

22 (A) have expertise and experience in the 

23 fields or disciplines related to the subject areas 

24 to be considered by the Commission; and 

25 (B) not be Members of Congress. 


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1 (2) TERM OF APPOINTMENT.—The term of an 

2 appointment to the Commission shall be for the life 

3 of the Commission. 

4 (3) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Chair and 

5 Vice Chair may be elected from among the members 

6 of the Commission. The Vice Chair shall assume the 

7 duties of the Chair in the Chair’s absence. 

8 (c) MEETINGS; QUORUM; AND VACANCIES.— 

9 (1) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

10 least once a month on a day to be decided by the 

11 Commission. The Commission may meet at such 

12 other times at the call of the Chair or of a majority 

13 of its voting members. The meetings of the Commis14 sion shall be open to the public, unless by public 

15 vote, the Commission shall determine to close a 

16 meeting or any portion of a meeting to the public. 

17 (2) QUORUM.—A majority of the voting mem18 bership shall constitute a quorum of the Commis19 sion, except that 3 or more voting members may 

20 conduct hearings. 

21 (3) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 

22 shall be filled in the same manner in which the origi23 nal appointment was filled under subsection (a). 

24 (d) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.—Members of 

25 the Commission shall serve without pay for their service 


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1 on the Commission, but may receive travel expenses, in2 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized 

3 for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 

4 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

5 SEC. 404. STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES. 

6 (a) STAFF.—With the advance approval of the Com7 mission, the executive director may appoint such personnel 

8 as is appropriate. The staff of the Commission shall be 

9 appointed without regard to political affiliation and with10 out regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 

11 governing appointments in the competitive service, and 

12 may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter 

13 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating 

14 to classifications and General Schedule pay rates. 

15 (b) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Chairman shall ap16 point an executive director, who shall be paid the rate of 

17 basic pay for level II of the Executive Schedule. 

18 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the advance 

19 approval of the Commission, the executive director may 

20 procure temporary and intermittent services under section 

21 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

22 (d) TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIST23 ANCE.—Upon the request of the Commission— 

24 (1) the head of any agency, office, or establish25 ment within the executive or legislative branches of 


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1 the United States shall provide, without reimburse2 ment, such technical assistance as the Commission 

3 determines is necessary to carry out its duties; and 

4 (2) the Administrator of General Services shall 

5 provide, on a reimbursable basis, such administrative 

6 support services as the Commission may require. 

7 (e) DETAIL OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL.—Upon the 

8 request of the Commission, the head of an agency, office, 

9 or establishment in the executive or legislative branch of 

10 the United States is authorized to detail, without reim11 bursement, any of the personnel of that agency, office, or 

12 establishment to the Commission to assist the Commission 

13 in carrying out its duties. Any such detail shall not inter14 rupt or otherwise affect the employment status or privi15 leges of that employee. 

16 (f) CBO.—The Director of the Congressional Budget 

17 Office shall provide the Commission with its latest re18 search on the accuracy of its past budget and economic 

19 projections as compared to those of the Office of Manage20 ment and Budget and, if possible, those of private sector 

21 forecasters. The Commission shall work with the Directors 

22 of the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Man23 agement and Budget in their efforts to explain the factors 

24 affecting the accuracy of budget projections. 


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1 SEC. 405. REPORT. 

2 Not later than July 1, 2008, the Commission shall 

3 transmit a report to the President and to each House of 

4 Congress. The report shall contain a detailed statement 

5 of the findings and conclusions of the Commission, to6 gether with its recommendations for such legislative or ad7 ministrative actions as it considers appropriate. No find8 ing, conclusion, or recommendation may be made by the 

9 Commission unless approved by a majority of those voting, 

10 a quorum being present. At the request of any Commis11 sion member, the report shall include that member’s dis12 senting findings, conclusions, or recommendations. 

13 SEC. 406. TERMINATION. 

14 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the 

15 date of transmission of the report required in section 405. 

16 SEC. 407. FUNDING. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated not more 

18 than $1,000,000 to carry out this title. Sums so appro19 priated shall remain available until expended. 

20 TITLE V—RESERVE FUND FOR 

21 EMERGENCIES 

øsee title II of H.R. 853, 106th Cong.¿ 

22 SEC. 501. PURPOSE. 

23 The purposes of this title are to— 


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1 (1) develop budgetary and fiscal procedures for 

2 emergencies; 

3 (2) subject spending for emergencies to budg4 etary procedures and controls; and 

5 (3) establish criteria for determining compliance 

6 with emergency requirements. 

7 SEC. 502. REPEAL OF ADJUSTMENTS FOR EMERGENCIES. 

8 (a) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS.—(1) Section 

9 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

10 Deficit Control Act of 1985 is repealed. 

11 (2) Such section 251(b)(2) is further amended by re12 designating subparagraphs (B) through (G) as subpara13 graphs (A) through (F). 

14 (b) DIRECT SPENDING.—Sections 252(e) and 

15 252(d)(4)(B) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

16 Deficit Control Act of 1985 are repealed. 

17 (c) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—Clause 2 of rule 

18 XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 

19 amended by repealing paragraph (e) and by redesignating 

20 paragraph (f) as paragraph (e). 

21 (d) AMOUNT OF ADJUSTMENTS.—Section 314(b) of 

22 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by 

23 striking paragraph (1) and by redesignating paragraphs 

24 (2) through (6) as paragraphs (1) through (5), respec25 tively. 


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1 SEC. 503. OMB EMERGENCY CRITERIA. 

2 Section 3 of the Congressional Budget and Impound3 ment Control Act of 1974 is further amended by adding 

4 at the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(12)(A) The term ‘emergency’ means a situa6 tion that— 

7 ‘‘(i) requires new budget authority 

8 and outlays (or new budget authority and 

9 the outlays flowing therefrom) for the pre10 vention or mitigation of, or response to, 

11 loss of life or property, or a threat to na12 tional security; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) is unanticipated. 

14 ‘‘(B) As used in subparagraph (A), the 

15 term ‘unanticipated’ means that the situation 

16 is— 

17 ‘‘(i) sudden, which means quickly 

18 coming into being or not building up over 

19 time; 

20 ‘‘(ii) urgent, which means a pressing 

21 and compelling need requiring immediate 

22 action; 

23 ‘‘(iii) unforeseen, which means not 

24 predicted or anticipated as an emerging 

25 need; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) temporary, which means not of a 

2 permanent duration.’’. 

3 SEC. 504. DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES FOR APPLICA4 TION OF EMERGENCY DEFINITION. 

5 Not later than 5 months after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, the chairmen of the Committees on the Budget 

7 (in consultation with the President) shall, after consulting 

8 with the chairmen of the Committees on Appropriations 

9 and applicable authorizing committees of their respective 

10 Houses and the Directors of the Congressional Budget Of11 fice and the Office of Management and Budget, jointly 

12 publish in the Congressional Record guidelines for applica13 tion of the definition of emergency set forth in section 

14 3(12) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 

15 Control Act of 1974. 

16 SEC. 505. RESERVE FUND FOR EMERGENCIES IN PRESI17 DENT’S BUDGET. 

18 Section 1105(f) of title 31, United States Code is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new sen20 tences: ‘‘Such budget submission shall also comply with 

21 the requirements of section 317(b) of the Congressional 

22 Budget Act of 1974 and, in the case of any budget author23 ity requested for an emergency, such submission shall in24 clude a detailed justification of why such emergency is an 


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1 emergency within the meaning of section 3(12) of the Con2 gressional Budget Act of 1974.’’. 

3 SEC. 506. ADJUSTMENTS AND RESERVE FUND FOR EMER4 GENCIES IN BUDGET RESOLUTIONS. 

5 (a) EMERGENCIES.—Title III of the Congressional 

6 Budget Act of 1974 is further amended by adding at the 

7 end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘EMERGENCIES

9 ‘‘SEC. 317. (a) ADJUSTMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After the reporting of a bill 

11 or joint resolution or the submission of a conference 

12 report thereon that provides budget authority for 

13 any emergency as identified pursuant to subsection 

14 (d)— 

15 ‘‘(A) the chairman of the Committee on 

16 the Budget of the House of Representatives or 

17 the Senate shall determine and certify, pursu18 ant to the guidelines referred to in section 504 

19 of the SAFE Budget Process Reform Act of 

20 2007, the portion (if any) of the amount so 

21 specified that is for an emergency within the 

22 meaning of section 3(12); and 

23 ‘‘(B) such chairman shall make the adjust24 ment set forth in paragraph (2) for the amount 

25 of new budget authority (or outlays) in that 


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1 measure and the outlays flowing from that 

2 budget authority. 

3 ‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE ADJUSTED.—The adjust4 ments referred to in paragraph (1) are to be made 

5 to the allocations made pursuant to the appropriate 

6 concurrent resolution on the budget pursuant to sec7 tion 302(a) and shall be in an amount not to exceed 

8 the amount reserved for emergencies pursuant to the 

9 requirements of subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(b) RESERVE FUND FOR EMERGENCIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) AMOUNTS.—The amount set forth in the 

12 reserve fund for emergencies for budget authority 

13 and outlays for a fiscal year pursuant to section 

14 301(a)(4) shall equal— 

15 ‘‘(A) the average of the enacted levels of 

16 budget authority for emergencies in the 5 fiscal 

17 years preceding the current year; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the average of the levels of outlays 

19 for emergencies in the 5 fiscal years preceding 

20 the current year flowing from the budget au21 thority referred to in subparagraph (A), but 

22 only in the fiscal year for which such budget 

23 authority first becomes available for obligation. 

24 ‘‘(2) AVERAGE LEVELS.—For purposes of para25 graph (1), the amount used for a fiscal year to calVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 culate the average of the enacted levels when one or 

2 more of such 5 preceding fiscal years is any of fiscal 

3 years 2002 through 2006 is as follows: the amount 

4 of enacted levels of budget authority and the amount 

5 of new outlays flowing therefrom for emergencies, 

6 but only in the fiscal year for which such budget au7 thority first becomes available for obligation for each 

8 of such 5 fiscal years, which shall be determined by 

9 the Committees on the Budget of the Senate and the 

10 House of Representatives after receipt of a report on 

11 such matter transmitted to such committees by the 

12 Director of the Congressional Budget Office 6 

13 months after the date of enactment of this section 

14 and thereafter in February of each calendar year. 

15 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR OVERSEAS CONTIN16 GENCY OPERATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—This paragraph shall 

18 apply in lieu of paragraph (1) in the case of a 

19 bill or joint resolution reported by the Com20 mittee on Appropriations that provides budget 

21 authority for any emergency that is a threat to 

22 national security and the funding of which car23 ries out a military operation authorized by a 

24 declaration of war or a joint resolution author25 izing the use of military force (or economic asVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1279.IS S1279

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1 sistance funding in furtherance of such oper2 ation). 

3 ‘‘(B) AMOUNTS.—The amount set forth in 

4 the reserve fund for operations described in 

5 subparagraph (A) for budget authority and out6 lays for a fiscal year pursuant to section 

7 301(a)(4) shall equal the amount requested for 

8 such operations by the budget submission re9 quired by section 1105 of title 31 for that fiscal 

10 year. 

11 ‘‘(c) EMERGENCIES IN EXCESS OF AMOUNTS IN RE12 SERVE FUND.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A bill or joint resolution re14 ported by the Committee on Appropriations or any 

15 other committee that provides budget authority for 

16 any emergency and is accompanied by a report, pur17 suant to subsection (d), that identifies any provision 

18 that increases outlays or provides budget authority 

19 (and the outlays flowing therefrom) for such emer20 gency shall be subject to paragraph (2) if the enact21 ment of the bill or joint resolution which would 

22 cause— 

23 ‘‘(A) in the case of the Committee on Ap24 propriations, the total amount of budget au25 thority or outlays provided for emergencies for 


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1 the budget year in the concurrent resolution on 

2 the budget (pursuant to section 301(a)(4)) to 

3 be exceeded; or 

4 ‘‘(B) in the case of any other committee, 

5 the total amount of budget authority or outlays 

6 provided for emergencies for the budget year or 

7 the total of the fiscal years in the concurrent 

8 resolution on the budget (pursuant to section 

9 301(a)(4)) to be exceeded. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—The conditions referred to 

11 in paragraph (1) are as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) Such bill or joint resolution shall be 

13 referred to the Committee on the Budget of the 

14 House or the Senate, as the case may be, with 

15 instructions to report it without amendment, 

16 other than that specified in subparagraph (B), 

17 within 5 legislative days of the day in which it 

18 is reported from the originating committee. If 

19 the Committee on the Budget of either House 

20 fails to report a bill or joint resolution referred 

21 to it under this subparagraph within such 5-day 

22 period, the committee shall be automatically 

23 discharged from further consideration of such 

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1 olution shall be placed on the appropriate cal2 endar. 

3 ‘‘(B) An amendment to such a bill or joint 

4 resolution referred to in this subsection shall 

5 only consist of an exemption from section 251 

6 or 252 (as applicable) of the Balanced Budget 

7 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 of 

8 all or any part of the provisions that provide 

9 budget authority (and the outlays flowing there10 from) for such emergency if the committee de11 termines, pursuant to the guidelines referred to 

12 in section 504 of the SAFE Budget Process Re13 form Act of 2007, that such budget authority 

14 is for an emergency within the meaning of sec15 tion 3(12). 

16 ‘‘(C) If such a bill or joint resolution is re17 ported with an amendment specified in sub18 paragraph (B) by the Committee on the Budget 

19 of the Senate or the House of Representatives, 

20 then the budget authority and resulting outlays 

21 that are the subject of such amendment shall 

22 not be included in any determinations under 

23 section 302(f) or 311(a) for any bill, joint reso24 lution, amendment, motion, or conference re25 port. 


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1 ‘‘(d) COMMITTEE NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY

2 LEGISLATION.—Whenever the Committee on Appropria3 tions or any other committee of either House (including 

4 a committee of conference) reports any bill or joint resolu5 tion that provides budget authority for any emergency, the 

6 report accompanying that bill or joint resolution (or the 

7 joint explanatory statement of managers in the case of a 

8 conference report on any such bill or joint resolution) shall 

9 identify all provisions that provide budget authority and 

10 the outlays flowing therefrom for such emergency and in11 clude a statement of the reasons why such budget author12 ity meets the definition of an emergency pursuant to the 

13 guidelines referred to in section 504 of the SAFE Budget 

14 Process Reform Act of 2007.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con16 tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget 

17 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in18 serting after the item relating to section 316 the following 

19 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 317. Emergencies.’’. 

20 SEC. 507. APPLICATION OF SECTION 306 TO EMERGENCIES 

21 IN EXCESS OF AMOUNTS IN RESERVE FUND. 

22 Section 306 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

23 is amended by inserting at the end the following new sen24 tence: ‘‘No amendment reported by the Committee on the 

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1 mittee has been discharged) pursuant to section 317(c) 

2 may be amended.’’. 

3 SEC. 508. UP-TO-DATE TABULATIONS. 

4 Section 308(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act 

5 of 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub6 paragraph (B), by striking the period at the end of sub7 paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at 

8 the end the following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(D) shall include an up-to-date tabulation 

10 of amounts remaining in the reserve fund for 

11 emergencies.’’. 

12 SEC. 509. PROHIBITION ON AMENDMENTS TO EMERGENCY 

13 RESERVE FUND. 

14 (a) POINT OF ORDER.—Section 305 of the Congres15 sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the 

16 end the following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(e) POINT OF ORDER REGARDING EMERGENCY RE18 SERVE FUND.—It shall not be in order in the Senate or 

19 in the House of Representatives to consider an amend20 ment to a concurrent resolution on the budget which 

21 changes the amount of budget authority and outlays set 

22 forth in section 301(a)(4) for emergency reserve fund.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—(1) Section 904(c)(1) 

24 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by 

25 inserting ‘‘305(e),’’ after ‘‘305(c)(4),’’. 


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

2 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘305(e),’’ after 

3 ‘‘305(c)(4),’’. 

4 SEC. 510. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

5 The amendments made by this title shall apply to fis6 cal year 2008 and subsequent fiscal years, but such 

7 amendments shall take effect only after the enactment of 

8 legislation changing or extending for any fiscal year the 

9 discretionary spending limits set forth in section 251 of 

10 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 

11 of 1985 or legislation reducing the amount of any seques12 tration under section 252 of such Act by the amount of 

13 any reserve for any emergencies. 

Æ 


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