II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3095 

To reduce the deficit by establishing discretionary spending caps for nonsecurity spending. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2010 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. BARRASSO, and Mr. BURR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Budget 

A BILL 

To reduce the deficit by establishing discretionary spending 

caps for non-security spending. 

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 ‘‘Honest Expenditure 

5 Limitation Program Act of 2010’’ or the ‘‘HELP Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPIRATION. 

7 This Act shall expire at the end of fiscal year 2020. 


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1 TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL NON2 SECURITY DISCRETIONARY 

3 SPENDING LIMITS 

4 SEC. 101. NON-SECURITY DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIM5 ITS. 

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

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

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘NON-SECURITY DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS

10 ‘‘SEC. 316. (a) NON-SECURITY DISCRETIONARY

11 SPENDING LIMITS.—It shall not be in order in the House 

12 of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint 

13 resolution, amendment, or conference report that includes 

14 any provision that would cause the non-security discre15 tionary spending limits as set forth in subsection (b) to 

16 be exceeded. 

17 ‘‘(b) LIMITS.—The non-security discretionary spend18 ing limits are as follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) For fiscal years 2011 through 2015, the 

20 spending level for such spending in fiscal year 2010 

21 reduced each year thereafter on a pro rata basis so 

22 that the level for fiscal year 2015 does not exceed 

23 the level for fiscal year 2008. 

24 ‘‘(2) For fiscal years 2016 through 2020, the 

25 spending level for fiscal year 2015. 


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1 ‘‘(c) NON-SECURITY SPENDING.—In this section, the 

2 term ‘non-security discretionary spending’ means discre3 tionary spending other than spending for the Department 

4 of Defense, homeland security activities, intelligence re5 lated activities within the Department of State, the De6 partment of Veterans Affairs, and national security re7 lated activities in the Department of Energy. 

8 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON CHANGES TO THIS SEC9 TION.—It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House 

10 of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amend11 ment, or conference report that would— 

12 ‘‘(1) repeal or otherwise change this section; or 

13 ‘‘(2) exempt any new budget authority, outlays, 

14 and receipts from being counted for purposes of this 

15 section. 

16 ‘‘(e) POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—The provisions of this section 

18 shall be waived or suspended in the Senate only— 

19 ‘‘(A) by the affirmative vote of two-thirds 

20 of the Members, duly chosen and sworn; or 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of the defense budget au22 thority, if Congress declares war or authorizes 

23 the use of force. 

24 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—Appeals in the Senate from the 

25 decisions of the Chair relating to any provision of 


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1 this section shall be limited to 1 hour, to be equally 

2 divided between, and controlled by, the appellant 

3 and the manager of the measure. An affirmative 

4 vote of two-thirds of the Members of the Senate, 

5 duly chosen and sworn, shall be required to sustain 

6 an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of 

7 order raised under this section.’’. 

8 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents set 

9 forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Im10 poundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting 

11 after the item relating to section 315 the following new 

12 item: 

‘‘Sec. 316. Non-security discretionary spending limits.’’. 

13 TITLE II—STATUTORY NON-SE14 CURITY DISCRETIONARY 

15 SPENDING LIMITS 

16 Subtitle A—Definitions, 

17 Administration, and Sequestration 

18 SEC. 211. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this title: 

20 (1) ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘account’’ means— 

21 (A) for discretionary budget authority, an 

22 item for which appropriations are made in any 

23 appropriation Act; and 

24 (B) for items not provided for in appro25 priation Acts, direct spending and outlays 


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1 therefrom identified in the program and finance 

2 schedules contained in the appendix to the 

3 Budget of the United States for the current 

4 year. 

5 (2) BREACH.—The term ‘‘breach’’ means, for 

6 any fiscal year, the amount by which discretionary 

7 budget authority enacted for that year exceeds the 

8 spending limit for budget authority for that year. 

9 (3) BUDGET AUTHORITY; NEW BUDGET AU10 THORITY; AND OUTLAYS.—The terms ‘‘budget au11 thority’’, ‘‘new budget authority’’, and ‘‘outlays’’ 

12 have the meanings given to such terms in section 3 

13 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Con14 trol Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622). 

15 (4) BUDGET YEAR.—The term ‘‘budget year’’ 

16 means, with respect to a session of Congress, the fis17 cal year of the Government that starts on October 

18 1 of the calendar year in which that session begins. 

19 (5) CBO.—The term ‘‘CBO’’ means the Direc20 tor of the Congressional Budget Office. 

21 (6) CURRENT.—The term ‘‘current’’ means— 

22 (A) with respect to the Office of Manage23 ment and Budget estimates included with a 

24 budget submission under section 1105(a) of 

25 title 31, United States Code, the estimates conVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:30 Mar 10, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3095.IS S3095

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1 sistent with the economic and technical assump2 tions underlying that budget; 

3 (B) with respect to estimates made after 

4 that budget submission that are not included 

5 with it, the estimates consistent with the eco6 nomic and technical assumptions underlying the 

7 most recently submitted President’s budget; 

8 and 

9 (C) with respect to the Congressional 

10 Budget Office, estimates consistent with the 

11 economic and technical assumptions as required 

12 by section 202(e)(1) of the Congressional Budg13 et Act of 1974. 

14 (7) CURRENT YEAR.—The term ‘‘current year’’ 

15 means, with respect to a budget year, the fiscal year 

16 that immediately precedes that budget year. 

17 (8) DISCRETIONARY APPROPRIATIONS AND DIS18 CRETIONARY BUDGET AUTHORITY.—The terms ‘‘dis19 cretionary appropriations’’ and ‘‘discretionary budg20 et authority’’ shall have the meaning given such 

21 terms in section 3(4) of the Congressional Budget 

22 Act of 1974. 

23 (9) NON-SECURITY DISCRETIONARY SPENDING

24 LIMIT.—The term ‘‘non-security discretionary spendVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:30 Mar 10, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3095.IS S3095

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1 ing limit’’ shall mean the amounts specified in sec2 tion 222. 

3 (10) OMB.—The term ‘‘OMB’’ means the Di4 rector of the Office of Management and Budget. 

5 (11) SEQUESTRATION.—The term ‘‘sequestra6 tion’’ means the cancellation or reduction of budget 

7 authority (except budget authority to fund manda8 tory programs) provided in appropriation Acts. 

9 SEC. 212. ADMINISTRATION AND EFFECT OF SEQUESTRA10 TION. 

11 (a) TIMETABLE.—The timetable with respect to this 

12 title is as follows: 

On or before: Action to be completed: 

5 days before the President’s 

budget submission required 

under section 1105 of title 

31, United States Code.

CBO Discretionary Sequestration Preview 

Report. 

The President’s budget submission.OMB Discretionary Sequestration Preview 

Report. 

10 days after end of session ...... CBO Final Discretionary Sequestration Report. 

15 days after end of session ...... OMB Final Discretionary Sequestration/ 

Presidential Sequestration Order. 

13 (b) PRESIDENTIAL ORDER.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—On the date specified in sub15 section (a), if in its Final Sequestration Report, 

16 OMB estimates that any sequestration is required, 

17 the President shall issue an order fully implementing 

18 without change all sequestrations required by the 

19 OMB calculations set forth in that report. This 

20 order shall be effective on issuance. 


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1 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—If the date specified for 

2 the submission of a Presidential order under sub3 section (a) falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, such 

4 order shall be issued on the following day. 

5 (c) EFFECTS OF SEQUESTRATION.—The effects of 

6 sequestration shall be as follows: 

7 (1) Budgetary resources sequestered from any 

8 account shall be permanently cancelled, except as 

9 provided in paragraph (5). 

10 (2) Except as otherwise provided, the same per11 centage sequestration shall apply to all programs, 

12 projects, and activities within a budget account (with 

13 programs, projects, and activities as delineated in 

14 the appropriation Act or accompanying report for 

15 the relevant fiscal year covering that account). 

16 (3) Administrative regulations or similar ac17 tions implementing a sequestration shall be made 

18 within 120 days of the sequestration order. To the 

19 extent that formula allocations differ at different 

20 levels of budgetary resources within an account, pro21 gram, project, or activity, the sequestration shall be 

22 interpreted as producing a lower total appropriation, 

23 with the remaining amount of the appropriation 

24 being obligated in a manner consistent with program 

25 allocation formulas in substantive law. 


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1 (4) Except as otherwise provided in this part, 

2 obligations or budgetary resources in sequestered ac3 counts shall be reduced only in the fiscal year in 

4 which a sequester occurs. 

5 (5) Budgetary resources sequestered in special 

6 fund accounts and offsetting collections sequestered 

7 in appropriation accounts shall not be available for 

8 obligation during the fiscal year in which the seques9 tration occurs, but shall be available in subsequent 

10 years to the extent otherwise provided in law. 

11 (d) SUBMISSION AND AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.— 

12 Each report required by this section shall be submitted, 

13 in the case of CBO, to the House of Representatives, the 

14 Senate, and OMB and, in the case of OMB, to the House 

15 of Representatives, the Senate, and the President on the 

16 day it is issued. On the following day a notice of the report 

17 shall be printed in the Federal Register. 

18 Subtitle B—Non-security 

19 Discretionary Spending Limits 

20 SEC. 221. DISCRETIONARY SEQUESTRATION REPORTS. 

21 (a) DISCRETIONARY SEQUESTRATION PREVIEW RE22 PORTS.— 

23 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—On the dates 

24 specified in section 212(a), OMB shall report to the 

25 President and Congress and CBO shall report to 


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1 Congress a Discretionary Sequestration Preview Re2 port regarding discretionary sequestration based on 

3 laws enacted through those dates. 

4 (2) DISCRETIONARY.—The Discretionary Se5 questration Preview Report shall set forth estimates 

6 for the current year and each subsequent year 

7 through 2014 of the applicable discretionary spend8 ing limits and a projection of budget authority ex9 ceeding discretionary limits subject to sequester. 

10 (3) EXPLANATION OF DIFFERENCES.—The 

11 OMB reports shall explain the differences between 

12 OMB and CBO estimates for each item set forth in 

13 this subsection. 

14 (b) DISCRETIONARY SEQUESTRATION REPORTS.—On 

15 the dates specified in section 212(a), OMB and CBO shall 

16 issue Discretionary Sequestration Reports, reflecting laws 

17 enacted through those dates, containing all of the informa18 tion required in the Discretionary Sequestration Preview 

19 Reports. 

20 (c) FINAL DISCRETIONARY SEQUESTRATION RE21 PORTS.— 

22 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—On the dates 

23 specified in section 212(a), OMB and CBO shall 

24 each issue a Final Discretionary Sequestration ReVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:30 Mar 10, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3095.IS S3095

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1 port, updated to reflect laws enacted through those 

2 dates. 

3 (2) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING.—The Final 

4 Discretionary Sequestration Reports shall set forth 

5 estimates for each of the following: 

6 (A) For the current year and each subse7 quent year through 2014; the applicable discre8 tionary spending limits. 

9 (B) For the current year, if applicable, and 

10 the budget year; the new budget authority and 

11 the breach, if any. 

12 (C) The sequestration percentages nec13 essary to eliminate the breach. 

14 (D) For the budget year, for each account 

15 to be sequestered, the level of enacted, 

16 sequesterable budget authority and resulting es17 timated outlays flowing therefrom. 

18 (3) EXPLANATION OF DIFFERENCES.—The 

19 OMB report shall explain— 

20 (A) any differences between OMB and 

21 CBO estimates for the amount of any breach 

22 and for any required discretionary sequestration 

23 percentages; and 

24 (B) differences in the amount of 

25 sequesterable resources for any budget account 


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1 to be reduced if such difference is greater than 

2 $5,000,000. 

3 (d) ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL ASSUMPTIONS.—In 

4 all reports required by this section, OMB shall use the 

5 same economic and technical assumptions as used in the 

6 most recent budget submitted by the President under sec7 tion 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code. 

8 SEC. 222. LIMITS. 

9 (a) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS.—As used in 

10 this title, the term ‘‘non-security discretionary spending 

11 limit’’ shall have the same meaning as in section 316 of 

12 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

13 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

14 (1) SEQUESTRATION.—On the date specified in 

15 section 212(a), there shall be a sequestration to 

16 eliminate a budget-year breach. 

17 (2) ELIMINATING A BREACH.—Each non-secu18 rity discretionary account shall be reduced by a dol19 lar amount calculated by multiplying the enacted 

20 level of budget authority for that year in that ac21 count at that time by the uniform percentage nec22 essary to eliminate a breach of the discretionary 

23 spending limit. 

24 (3) PART-YEAR APPROPRIATIONS.—If, on the 

25 date the report is issued under paragraph (1), there 


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1 is in effect an Act making continuing appropriations 

2 for part of a fiscal year for any budget account, then 

3 the dollar sequestration calculated for that account 

4 under paragraph (2) shall be subtracted from— 

5 (A) the annualized amount otherwise avail6 able by law in that account under that or a sub7 sequent part-year appropriation; and 

8 (B) when a full-year appropriation for that 

9 account is enacted, from the amount otherwise 

10 provided by the full-year appropriation. 

11 (4) LOOK-BACK.—If, after June 30, an appro12 priation for the fiscal year in progress is enacted 

13 that causes a breach for that year (after taking into 

14 account any previous sequestration), the discre15 tionary spending limit for the next fiscal year shall 

16 be reduced by the amount of that breach. 

17 (5) WITHIN-SESSION SEQUESTRATION REPORTS

18 AND ORDER.—If an appropriation for a fiscal year 

19 in progress is enacted (after Congress adjourns to 

20 end the session for that budget year and before July 

21 1 of that fiscal year) that causes a breach, 10 days 

22 later CBO shall issue a report containing the infor23 mation required in section 221(c). Fifteen days after 

24 enactment, OMB shall issue a report containing the 

25 information required in section 221(c). On the same 


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1 day as the OMB report, the President shall issue an 

2 order fully implementing without change all seques3 trations required by the OMB calculations set forth 

4 in that report. This order shall be effective on 

5 issuance. 

6 (c) ESTIMATES.— 

7 (1) CBO ESTIMATES.—As soon as practicable 

8 after Congress completes action on any legislation 

9 providing discretionary appropriations, CBO shall 

10 provide an estimate to OMB of that legislation. 

11 (2) OMB ESTIMATES.—Not later than 7 cal12 endar days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal 

13 holidays) after the date of enactment of any discre14 tionary appropriations, OMB shall transmit a report 

15 to the Senate and to the House of Representatives 

16 containing— 

17 (A) the CBO estimate of that legislation; 

18 (B) an OMB estimate of that legislation 

19 using current economic and technical assump20 tions; and 

21 (C) an explanation of any difference be22 tween the 2 estimates. 

23 (3) DIFFERENCES.—If during the preparation 

24 of the report under paragraph (2), OMB determines 

25 that there is a difference between the OMB and 


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1 CBO estimates, OMB shall consult with the Com2 mittees on the Budget of the House of Representa3 tives and the Senate regarding that difference and 

4 that consultation, to the extent practicable, shall in5 clude written communication to such committees 

6 that affords such committees the opportunity to 

7 comment before the issuance of that report. 

8 (4) ASSUMPTIONS AND GUIDELINES.—OMB 

9 and CBO shall prepare estimates under this para10 graph in conformance with scorekeeping guidelines 

11 determined after consultation among the House and 

12 Senate Committees on the Budget, CBO, and OMB. 

Æ 


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