I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4649 

To amend part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

Act of 1985 to extend the discretionary spending limits. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 22, 2004 

Mr. NUSSLE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To amend part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

Deficit Control Act of 1985 to extend the discretionary 

spending limits. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Discretionary Spend5 ing Control Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS. 

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

8 251(c)(1) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

9 Control Act of 1985 (relating to fiscal year 2004) is 

10 amended— 
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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘$31,834,000,000’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘$28,052,000,000’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 ‘‘$1,462,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,436,000,000’’ 

6 and by striking ‘‘$6,629,000,000’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘$6,271,000,000’’. 

8 (2) Section 251(c)(2) of the Balanced Budget and 

9 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by in10 serting a dash after ‘‘2005’’, by redesignating the remain11 ing portion of such paragraph as subparagraph (D) and 

12 by moving it two ems to the right, and by inserting after 

13 the dash the following new subparagraphs: 

14 ‘‘(A) for the general purpose discretionary 

15 category: $817,726,000,000 in new budget au16 thority and $866,056,000,000 in outlays; 

17 ‘‘(B) for the highway category: 

18 $30,585,000,000 in outlays; and 

19 ‘‘(C) for the mass transit category: 

20 $1,554,000,000 in new budget authority and 

21 $6,787,000,000 in outlays; and’’. 

22 (3) Section 251(c)(3) of the Balanced Budget and 

23 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by in24 serting a dash after ‘‘2006’’, by redesignating the remain25 ing portion of such paragraph as subparagraph (D) and 
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1 by moving it two ems to the right, and by inserting after 

2 the dash the following new subparagraphs: 

3 ‘‘(A) for the general purpose discretionary 

4 category: $831,417,000,000 in new budget au5 thority and $846,280,000,000 in outlays; 

6 ‘‘(B) for the highway category: 

7 $33,271,000,000 in outlays; and 

8 ‘‘(C) for the mass transit category: 

9 $1,671,000,000 in new budget authority and 

10 $7,585,000,000 in outlays; and’’. 

11 (4) Section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and 

12 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by re13 designating paragraphs (4) through (9) as paragraphs (7) 

14 through (12) and inserting after paragraph (3) the fol15 lowing new paragraphs: 

16 ‘‘(4) with respect to fiscal year 2007— 

17 ‘‘(A) for the highway category: 

18 $35,248,000,000 in outlays; and 

19 ‘‘(B) for the mass transit category: 

20 $1,785,000,000 in new budget authority and 

21 $8,110,000,000 in outlays; 

22 ‘‘(5) with respect to fiscal year 2008— 

23 ‘‘(A) for the highway category: 

24 $36,587,000,000 in outlays; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) for the mass transit category: 

2 $1,890,000,000 in new budget authority and 

3 $8,517,000,000 in outlays; and 

4 ‘‘(6) with respect to fiscal year 2009— 

5 ‘‘(A) for the highway category: 

6 $37,682,000,000 in outlays; and 

7 ‘‘(B) for the mass transit category: 

8 $2,017,000,000 in new budget authority and 

9 $8,968,000,000 in outlays;’’. 

10 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 250(c)(4) of the Bal11 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (B), by— 

14 (A) striking ‘‘the Transportation Equity 

15 Act for the 21st Century and the Surface 

16 Transportation Extension Act of 2003’’ and in17 serting ‘‘the Transportation Equity Act: A Leg18 acy for Users’’; and 

19 (B) inserting before the period at the end 

20 the following new clauses: 

21 ‘‘(v) 69–8158–0–7–401 (Motor Carrier 

22 Safety Grants). 

23 ‘‘(vi) 69–8159–0–7–401 (Motor Carrier 

24 Safety Operations and Programs).’’; 

25 (2) in subparagraph (C), by— 
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1 (A) inserting ‘‘(and successor accounts)’’ 

2 after ‘‘budget accounts’’; and 

3 (B) striking ‘‘the Transportation Equity 

4 Act for the 21st Century and the Surface 

5 Transportation Extension Act of 2003 or for 

6 which appropriations are provided pursuant to 

7 authorizations contained in those Acts (except 

8 that appropriations provided pursuant to sec9 tion 5338(h) of title 49, United States Code, as 

10 amended by the Transportation Equity Act for 

11 the 21st Century, shall not be included in this 

12 category)’’ and inserting ‘‘the Transportation 

13 Equity Act: A Legacy for Users or for which 

14 appropriations are provided pursuant to author15 izations contained in that Act’’; and 

16 (3) in subparagraph (D)(ii), by striking ‘‘sec17 tion 8103 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 

18 21st Century’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8103 of the 

19 Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users’’. 

20 SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENTS TO ALIGN HIGHWAY SPENDING 

21 WITH REVENUES. 

22 Subparagraphs (B) through (E) of section 251(b)(1) 

23 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

24 Act of 1985 are amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT TO ALIGN HIGHWAY

2 SPENDING WITH REVENUES.—(i) When the 

3 President submits the budget under section 

4 1105 of title 31, United States Code, OMB 

5 shall calculate and the budget shall make ad6 justments to the highway category for the budg7 et year and each outyear as provided in clause 

8 (ii)(I)(cc). 

9 ‘‘(ii)(I)(aa) OMB shall take the actual level 

10 of highway receipts for the year before the cur11 rent year and subtract the sum of the estimated 

12 level of highway receipts in subclause (II) plus 

13 any amount previously calculated under item 

14 (bb) for that year. 

15 ‘‘(bb) OMB shall take the current estimate 

16 of highway receipts for the current year and 

17 subtract the estimated level of receipts for that 

18 year. 

19 ‘‘(cc) OMB shall add one-half of the sum 

20 of the amount calculated under items (aa) and 

21 (bb) to the obligation limitations set forth in 

22 the section 8103 of the Transportation Equity 

23 Act: A Legacy for Users and, using current es24 timates, calculate the outlay change resulting 

25 from the change in obligations for the budget 
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1 year and the first outyear and the outlays flow2 ing therefrom through subsequent fiscal years. 

3 After making the calculations under the pre4 ceding sentence, OMB shall adjust the amount 

5 of obligations set forth in that section for the 

6 budget year and the first outyear by adding 

7 one-half of the sum of the amount calculated 

8 under items (aa) and (bb) to each such year. 

9 ‘‘(II) The estimated level of highway re10 ceipts for the purposes of this clause are— 

11 ‘‘(aa) for fiscal year 2004, 

12 $30,572,000,000; 

13 ‘‘(bb) for fiscal year 2005, 

14 $34,260,000,000; 

15 ‘‘(cc) for fiscal year 2006, 

16 $35,586,000,000; 

17 ‘‘(dd) for fiscal year 2007, 

18 $36,570,000,000; 

19 ‘‘(ee) for fiscal year 2008, 

20 $37,603,000,000; and 

21 ‘‘(ff) for fiscal year 2009, 

22 $38,651,000,000. 

23 ‘‘(III) In this clause, the term ‘highway re24 ceipts’ means the governmental receipts cred-
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1 ited to the highway account of the Highway 

2 Trust Fund. 

3 ‘‘(C) In addition to the adjustment required by 

4 subparagraph (B), when the President submits the 

5 budget under section 1105 of title 31, United States 

6 Code, for fiscal year 2006, 2007, 2008, or 2009, 

7 OMB shall calculate and the budget shall include for 

8 the budget year and each outyear an adjustment to 

9 the limits on outlays for the highway category and 

10 the mass transit category equal to— 

11 ‘‘(i) the outlays for the applicable category 

12 calculated assuming obligation levels consistent 

13 with the estimates prepared pursuant to sub14 paragraph (D), as adjusted, using current tech15 nical assumptions; minus 

16 ‘‘(ii) the outlays for the applicable category 

17 set forth in the subparagraph (D) estimates, as 

18 adjusted. 

19 ‘‘(D)(i) When OMB and CBO submit their final 

20 sequester report for fiscal year 2004, that report 

21 shall include an estimate of the outlays for each of 

22 the categories that would result in fiscal years 2005 

23 through 2009 from obligations at the levels specified 

24 in section 8103 of the Transportation Equity Act: A 

25 Legacy for Users using current assumptions. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) When the President submits the budget 

2 under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, 

3 for fiscal year 2006, 2007, 2008, or 2009, OMB 

4 shall adjust the estimates made in clause (i) by the 

5 adjustments by subparagraphs (B) and (C). 

6 ‘‘(E) OMB shall consult with the Committees 

7 on the Budget and include a report on adjustments 

8 under subparagraphs (B) and (C) in the preview re9 port.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. LEVEL OF OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS. 

11 (a) HIGHWAY CATEGORY.—For the purposes of sec12 tion 251(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Def13 icit Control Act of 1985, the level of obligation limitations 

14 for the highway category is— 

15 (1) for fiscal year 2004, $34,309,000,000; 

16 (2) for fiscal year 2005, $35,671,000,000; 

17 (3) for fiscal year 2006, $36,719,000,000; 

18 (4) for fiscal year 2007, $37,800,000,000; 

19 (5) for fiscal year 2008, $38,913,000,000; and 

20 (6) for fiscal year 2009, $40,061,000,000. 

21 (b) MASS TRANSIT CATEGORY.—For the purposes of 

22 section 251(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

23 Deficit Control Act of 1985, the level of obligation limita24 tions for the mass transit category is— 

25 (1) for fiscal year 2004, $7,266,000,000; 
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1 (2) for fiscal year 2005, $7,750,000,000; 

2 (3) for fiscal year 2006, $8,266,000,000; 

3 (4) for fiscal year 2007, $8,816,000,000; 

4 (5) for fiscal year 2008, $9,403,000,000; and 

5 (6) for fiscal year 2009, $10,029,000,000. 

6 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘obligation limi7 tations’’ means the sum of budget authority and obligation 

8 limitations. 

9 SEC. 5. ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 Section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

11 Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(d) ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS.—In any of fiscal 

14 years 2005 through 2007, discretionary advance appro15 priations provided in appropriation Acts in excess of 

16 $23,558,000,000 shall be counted against the discre17 tionary spending limits for the fiscal year for which the 

18 appropriation Act containing the advance appropriation is 

19 enacted.’’. 

20 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 250(c) of the Balanced 

22 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following new para24 graphs: 
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1 ‘‘(20) The term ‘advance appropriation’ means 

2 appropriations that first become available one fiscal 

3 year or more beyond the fiscal year for which an ap4 propriation Act making such funds available is en5 acted. 

6 ‘‘(21)(A) Except as provided by subparagraph 

7 (B), the term ‘emergency requirement’ means any 

8 provision that provides new budget authority and re9 sulting outlays for a situation that poses a threat to 

10 life, property, or national security and is— 

11 ‘‘(i) sudden, quickly coming into being, and 

12 not building up over time; 

13 ‘‘(ii) an urgent, pressing, and compelling 

14 need requiring immediate action; 

15 ‘‘(iii) subject to subparagraph (B), unfore16 seen, unpredictable, and unanticipated; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) not permanent, temporary in nature. 

18 ‘‘(B) An emergency that is part of an aggregate 

19 level of anticipated emergencies, particularly when 

20 normally estimated in advance, is not unforeseen.’’. 

21 (b) FIRE SUPPRESSION; CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS

22 RELATED TO GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM.—Section 

23 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

24 Control Act of 1985 is amended by adding at the end the 

25 following new subparagraph: 
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1 ‘‘(I) FIRE SUPPRESSION.—(i) If a bill or 

2 joint resolution is enacted that provides new 

3 budget authority for wildland fire suppression 

4 for fiscal year 2005 or fiscal year 2006 that 

5 would cause the level of total new budget au6 thority for wildland fire suppression to exceed 

7 the base amount for that fiscal year, the adjust8 ment for that fiscal year shall be the additional 

9 new budget authority provided for such purpose 

10 and the additional outlays flowing from such 

11 amounts, but shall not exceed— 

12 ‘‘(I) for the Forest Service for fiscal 

13 year 2005 or fiscal year 2006 (as applica14 ble), $400,000,000; and 

15 ‘‘(II) for the Department of the Inte16 rior for fiscal year 2005 or fiscal year 

17 2006 (as applicable), $100,000,000. 

18 ‘‘(ii) For this subparagraph, the term 

19 ‘‘base amount’’ refers to the average of the obli20 gations of the 10 fiscal years preceding the cur21 rent year for wildfire suppression in the Forest 

22 Service and in the Department of the Interior, 

23 as calculated by OMB, but for fiscal year 2005 

24 the base amount is $880,000,000. 
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1 ‘‘(J) CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS RELATED

2 TO GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM.—If, for fiscal 

3 year 2005, supplemental appropriations for dis4 cretionary accounts are enacted for contingency 

5 operations related to the global war on ter6 rorism that, pursuant to this subparagraph, the 

7 President designates as a contingency operation 

8 related to the global war on terrorism and the 

9 Congress so designates in statute, the adjust10 ment shall be the total of such appropriations 

11 in discretionary accounts so designated, but not 

12 to exceed $50,000,000,000, and the outlays 

13 flowing in all fiscal years from such appropria14 tions.’’. 

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen16 tence of section 250(c)(4)(A) of the Balanced Budget and 

17 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended to 

18 read as follows: ‘‘The general purpose discretionary cat19 egory shall consist of accounts designated in the joint ex20 planatory statement of managers accompanying the con21 ference report on the Spending Control Act of 2004.’’. 

22 SEC. 7. PROJECTIONS UNDER SECTION 257. 

23 Section 257(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emer24 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by inserting 

25 after paragraph (6) the following new paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(7) EMERGENCIES.—New budgetary resources 

2 designated under section 251(b)(2)(A) or 

3 251(b)(2)(J) shall not be assumed beyond the fiscal 

4 year for which they have been enacted.’’. 

5 SEC. 8. REPORTS. 

6 Subsections (c)(2) and (f)(2)(A) of section 254 of the 

7 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 

8 1985 are amended by striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘2006 (or 2009 solely for purposes of enforcing the discre10 tionary spending limits for the highway and mass transit 

11 categories)’’. 

12 SEC. 9. EXPIRATION. 

13 Section 275(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emer14 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2006 (or 2009 solely for purposes 

16 of enforcing the discretionary spending limits for the high17 way and mass transit categories)’’. 

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