I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7191 

To implement reforms to the budget and appropriations process in the House 

of Representatives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 29, 2018 

Mr. WOMACK (for himself and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to 

the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To implement reforms to the budget and appropriations 

process in the House of Representatives. 

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 ‘‘Bipartisan Budget and Appropriations Reform Act of 

6 2018’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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TITLE I—BIENNIAL BUDGET RESOLUTIONS 

Sec. 101. Purposes. 

Sec. 102. Definitions. 

Sec. 103. Revision of timetable. 

Sec. 104. Biennial concurrent resolutions on the budget. 

Sec. 105. Committee allocations. 

Sec. 106. Revision of biennial budget. 

Sec. 107. Additional amendments to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to 

effectuate biennial budgeting. 

Sec. 108. Reconciliation process. 

Sec. 109. Amendments to the Rules of the House of Representatives to effectuate biennial budgeting. 

Sec. 110. Membership of the Committee on the Budget. 

Sec. 111. Rulemaking authority. 

Sec. 112. Effective date. 

TITLE II—OTHER MATTERS 

Sec. 201. Views and estimates of committees. 

Sec. 202. Annual supplemental budget submission by the President. 

Sec. 203. Hearing on the fiscal state of the Nation. 

1 TITLE I—BIENNIAL BUDGET 

2 RESOLUTIONS 

3 SEC. 101. PURPOSES. 

4 Paragraph (2) of section 2 of the Congressional 

5 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amend6 ed to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(2) to facilitate the determination biennially of 

8 the appropriate level of Federal revenues and ex9 penditures by the Congress;’’. 

10 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

11 Section 3 of the Congressional Budget and Impound12 ment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘for a fiscal 

14 year’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘for a bi15 ennium’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraphs: 

3 ‘‘(12) The term ‘direct spending’ has the mean4 ing given to such term in section 250(c)(8) of the 

5 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

6 Act of 1985. 

7 ‘‘(13) The term ‘biennium’ means any period of 

8 2 consecutive fiscal years beginning with an even9 numbered fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(14) The term ‘budget year’ has the meaning 

11 given that term in section 250(c)(12) of the Bal12 anced Budget and Emergency Control Act of 

13 1985.’’. 

14 SEC. 103. REVISION OF TIMETABLE. 

15 Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

16 (2 U.S.C. 631) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘TIMETABLE

18 ‘‘SEC. 300. The timetable with respect to the congres19 sional budget process for any Congress is as follows: 

‘‘First Session 

On or before: Action to be completed: 

First Monday in February ........ President submits budget. 

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

to Budget Committees. 

March 1 .................................... Committees submit views and estimates to 

Budget Committees. 

April 1 ....................................... Senate Budget Committee reports biennial 

budget. 

May 1 ......................................... Congress completes action on the biennial 

budget. 

May 15 ....................................... Appropriation bills may be considered in the 

House of Representatives. 


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‘‘First Session—Continued 

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

annual appropriation bill. 

October 1 ................................... First fiscal year of the biennium begins. 

‘‘Second Session 

On or before: Action to be completed: 

First Monday in February ........ President submits budget. 

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

to Budget Committees. 

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

annual appropriation bill. 

October 1 ................................... Second fiscal year of the biennium begins.’’. 

1 SEC. 104. BIENNIAL CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS ON THE 

2 BUDGET. 

3 (a) CONTENTS OF RESOLUTION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a) of the Con5 gressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(a)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘On or before April 15’’ 

8 and all that follows through ‘‘the following:’’ 

9 and inserting the following: ‘‘On or before May 

10 1 of each odd-numbered calendar year, the Con11 gress shall complete action on a concurrent res12 olution on the budget for the biennium begin13 ning on October 1 of that calendar year. The 

14 concurrent resolution shall set forth appropriate 

15 levels for each fiscal year in the biennium and 

16 for at least each fiscal year in the next 2 

17 bienniums for the following—’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (6)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘for the fiscal year’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year in the 

3 biennium’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

5 (C) in paragraph (7)— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘for the fiscal year’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year in the 

8 biennium’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

10 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

11 (D) by adding after paragraph (7) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(8) subtotals of new budget authority and out14 lays for nondefense discretionary spending; defense 

15 discretionary spending; direct spending; and net in16 terest.’’; and 

17 (E) by adding at the end of the matter fol18 lowing paragraph (8) (as added by subpara19 graph (D)) the following: ‘‘The concurrent reso20 lution on the budget for a biennium shall in21 clude procedures for adjusting spending and 

22 revenue levels, committee allocations, and other 

23 amounts in the resolution during the second 

24 session of a Congress to reflect an updated 


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1 baseline that will be used for scoring pur2 poses.’’. 

3 (b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS IN CONCURRENT RESO4 LUTION.—Section 301(b) of the Congressional Budget Act 

5 of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘for such fis7 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘for either fiscal year in 

8 such biennium’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

10 end; 

11 (3) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

12 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(10) include total combined outlays and reve15 nues for tax expenditures.’’. 

16 (c) HEARINGS AND REPORT.—Section 301(e)(1) of 

17 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(e)) 

18 is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘bien19 nium’’. 

20 (d) GOALS FOR REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT.—Sec21 tion 301(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 

22 U.S.C. 632(f)) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ each 

23 place it appears and inserting ‘‘biennium’’. 

24 (e) ECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS.—Section 301(g)(1) of 

25 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 


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1 632(g)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘for a biennium’’. 

3 (f) SECTION HEADING.—The section heading of sec4 tion 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 

5 U.S.C. 632) is amended by striking ‘‘ANNUAL ADOPTION

6 OF’’ and inserting ‘‘ADOPTION OF BIENNIAL’’. 

7 SEC. 105. COMMITTEE ALLOCATIONS. 

8 Section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

9 (2 U.S.C. 633) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘for that period of fiscal 

12 years’’ and inserting ‘‘for all fiscal years cov13 ered by the resolution’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘only for the fiscal year of 

15 that resolution’’ and inserting ‘‘only for each 

16 fiscal year of the biennium’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (c)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and in19 serting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and in21 serting ‘‘for a budget year’’; and 

22 (C) by striking ‘‘for that fiscal year’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘for that budget year’’; 

24 (3) in subsection (f)(1)— 

25 (A) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘the first fiscal year’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘either fiscal year of the biennium of 

3 that resolution’’; and 

4 (4) in subsection (f)(2)(A), by— 

5 (A) striking ‘‘the first fiscal year’’ and in6 serting ‘‘either fiscal year of the biennium of 

7 that resolution’’; and 

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

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

10 the resolution’’. 

11 SEC. 106. REVISION OF BIENNIAL BUDGET. 

12 Section 304 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

13 (2 U.S.C. 635) is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘PERMISSIBLE REVISIONS OF CONCURRENT

15 RESOLUTIONS ON THE BUDGET

16 ‘‘SEC. 304. At any time after the concurrent resolu17 tion on the budget has been agreed to pursuant to section 

18 301 and before the end of the biennium, the two Houses 

19 may adopt a concurrent resolution that revises or reaf20 firms the most recently agreed to concurrent resolution 

21 on the budget. Any concurrent resolution that revises or 

22 reaffirms the most recently agreed to concurrent resolu23 tion on the budget shall be considered under the proce24 dures set forth in section 305.’’. 


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1 SEC. 107. ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS TO THE CONGRES2 SIONAL BUDGET ACT OF 1974 TO EFFEC3 TUATE BIENNIAL BUDGETING. 

4 (a) ENFORCEMENT OF SECTION 303.—Section 303 

5 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 634) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and in9 serting ‘‘for a biennium’’; and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘the first fiscal year cov11 ered by that resolution’’ and inserting ‘‘either 

12 fiscal year of that biennium’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘the fis14 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘the biennium’’; and 

15 (3) in subsection (c)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘for a biennium’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘for that year’’ each 

20 place it appears and inserting ‘‘for each 

21 year of that biennium’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘after 

23 the year the allocation referred to in that para24 graph is made’’ and inserting ‘‘after the years 

25 the allocations referred to in that paragraph are 

26 made’’. 


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1 (b) SECTION 305.—Subsections (a)(3) and (b)(3) of 

2 section 305 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 

3 U.S.C. 636) are amended by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’. 

4 (c) SECTION 311 POINT OF ORDER.— 

5 (1) IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

6 Section 311(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act 

7 of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 642(a)) is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’; 

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

10 place it appears and inserting ‘‘either of the 

11 first two fiscal years covered by such resolu12 tion’’; and 

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

14 inserting ‘‘either of the first two fiscal years’’. 

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

16 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 

17 642(a)(2)) is amended— 

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

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

20 of the first two fiscal years’’; and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

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

23 the first place it appears and inserting ‘‘ei24 ther of the first two fiscal years’’; 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 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

6 (2 U.S.C. 642(a)(2)) is amended by— 

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

8 inserting ‘‘for either of the first two fiscal 

9 years’’; and 

10 (B) striking ‘‘that fiscal year and the ensu11 ing fiscal years’’ and inserting ‘‘all fiscal 

12 years’’. 

13 SEC. 108. RECONCILIATION PROCESS. 

14 Section 310(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 

15 1974 (2 U.S.C. 641(a)) is amended— 

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

17 striking ‘‘A concurrent’’ and all that follows through 

18 ‘‘shall’’ and inserting ‘‘A concurrent resolution on 

19 the budget for a biennium shall, for each fiscal year 

20 of the biennium’’; 

21 (2) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘for such 

22 fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year of the 

23 biennium’’; 


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1 (3) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘such fis2 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year of the bien3 nium’’; and 

4 (4) in paragraph (1)(D), by striking ‘‘such fis5 cal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year of the bien6 nium’’. 

7 SEC. 109. AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF 

8 REPRESENTATIVES TO EFFECTUATE BIEN9 NIAL BUDGETING. 

10 (a) Clause 4(a)(4) of rule X of the Rules of the House 

11 of Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘any alloca12 tions’’ and inserting ‘‘its allocations for the budget year’’ 

13 and by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennium’’. 

14 (b) Clause 4(b)(2) of rule X of the Rules of the House 

15 of Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘for each fiscal 

16 year’’. 

17 (c) Clause 4(b) of rule X is amended by striking 

18 ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (5), by striking the pe19 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’ at the end of subparagraph (6), 

20 and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(7) use the second session of each Congress to 

22 study issues with long-term budgetary and economic 

23 implications.’’. 

24 (d) Clause 4(f) of rule X is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ the first place it 

2 appears and inserting ‘‘biennium’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘that fiscal year’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘each fiscal year in such ensuing biennium’’; and 

5 (3) in subparagraph (1) by striking ‘‘six weeks 

6 after the submission of the budget by the President’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘March 1’’. 

8 (e) Clause 3(d)(1)(A) of rule XIII is amended by 

9 striking ‘‘five’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘six’’. 

10 SEC. 110. MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE BUDG11 ET. 

12 (a) Clause 5(a)(2) of rule X of the Rules of the House 

13 of Representatives is amended— 

14 (1) by striking subdivisions (B) and (C); and 

15 (2) in subdivision (A), by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and by 

16 redesignating items (i), (ii), and (iii) as subdivisions 

17 (A), (B), and (C), respectively. 

18 (b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take 

19 effect immediately before noon, January 3, 2019. 

20 SEC. 111. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. 

21 Sections 109 and 110 are enacted by the Congress— 

22 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

23 the House of Representatives, and as such they shall 

24 be considered as part of the rules of the House and 


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1 such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex2 tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and 

3 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

4 right of the House to change such rules at any time, 

5 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

6 the case of any other rule of the House. 

7 SEC. 112. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 This title and the amendments made by this title 

9 shall take effect immediately before noon January 3, 

10 2019. 

11 TITLE II—OTHER MATTERS 

12 SEC. 201. VIEWS AND ESTIMATES OF COMMITTEES. 

13 Section 301(d) of the Congressional Budget and Im14 poundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(d)) is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(d) VIEWS AND ESTIMATES OF OTHER COMMIT17 TEES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 1 of 

19 the first session of a Congress, or upon the request 

20 of the Committee on the Budget of the House of 

21 Representatives or the Senate, each committee of 

22 the House of Representatives and the Senate having 

23 legislative jurisdiction shall submit to its respective 

24 Committee on the Budget its views and estimates 


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1 (as determined by the committee making such sub2 mission) with respect to the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) Any legislation to be considered dur4 ing that Congress that is a priority for the com5 mittee. 

6 ‘‘(B) Any legislation within the jurisdiction 

7 of the committee that would establish, amend, 

8 or reauthorize any Federal program and likely 

9 have a significant budgetary impact. 

10 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—Any committee of 

11 the House of Representatives or the Senate and any 

12 joint committee of the Congress may submit to the 

13 appropriate Committees on the Budget its views and 

14 estimates with respect to all matters set forth in 

15 subsections (a) and (b) which relate to matters with16 in its jurisdiction. 

17 ‘‘(3) JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE.—The Joint 

18 Economic Committee shall submit to the Committees 

19 on the Budget of both Houses its recommendations 

20 as to the fiscal policy appropriate to the goals of the 

21 Employment Act of 1946.’’. 

22 SEC. 202. ANNUAL SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET SUBMISSION 

23 BY THE PRESIDENT. 

24 Section 1106 of title 31, United States Code, is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) On or before December 1 of each calendar year, 

2 the President shall submit to Congress an administrative 

3 budget for the fiscal year beginning in the ensuing cal4 endar year, which shall include up-to-date estimates for 

5 current year and prior year data and credit reestimates 

6 for the current year (as included in the Federal credit sup7 plement of such budget).’’. 

8 SEC. 203. HEARING ON THE FISCAL STATE OF THE NATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days (excluding 

10 Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) after the date on which 

11 the Secretary of the Treasury submits to Congress the au12 dited financial statement required under paragraph (1) of 

13 section 331(e) of title 31, United States Code, on a date 

14 agreed upon by the chairs of the Committees on the Budg15 et of the House of Representatives and the Senate and 

16 the Comptroller General of the United States, the chairs 

17 shall conduct a hearing to receive a presentation from the 

18 Comptroller General reviewing the findings of the audit 

19 required under paragraph (2) of such section and pro20 viding, with respect to the information included by the 

21 Secretary in the report accompanying such audited finan22 cial statement, an analysis of the financial position and 

23 condition of the Federal Government, including financial 

24 measures (such as the net operating cost, income, budget 

25 deficits, or budget surpluses) and sustainability measures 


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1 (such as the long-term fiscal projection or social insurance 

2 projection) described in such report. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirement under sub4 section (a) shall apply with respect to any audited finan5 cial statement submitted on or after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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