I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2352

To make various reforms in the congressional budget process.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 9, 1993

Mr. ALLARD (for himself, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr.

HOBSON, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. EWING, Mr. CUNNINGHAM,

Mr. ZELIFF, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. ZIMMER, and Mr.

RAMSTAD) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Government Operations and Rules

A BILL

To make various reforms in the congressional 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. BASELINE BASED ON PRIOR YEAR’S OUTLAYS.

4 (a) PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.—Section 1105(a)(5) of

5 title 31, United States Code, is amended to read as fol6 lows:

7 ‘‘(5) except as provided in subsection (b) of this

8 section—
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1 ‘‘(A) estimated expenditures and proposed

2 appropriations for each function and

3 subfunction in the current fiscal year;

4 ‘‘(B) estimated expenditures and proposed

5 appropriations the President decides are nec6 essary to support the Government for each

7 function and subfunction in the fiscal year for

8 which the budget is submitted; and

9 ‘‘(C) a comparison of levels of estimated

10 expenditures and proposed appropriations for

11 each function and subfunction in the current

12 fiscal year and the fiscal year for which the

13 budget is submitted, along with the proposed

14 increase or decrease of spending in percentage

15 terms for each function and subfunction;’’.

16 (b) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET.—Section 301(e) of

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

18 is amended by—

19 (1) inserting after the second sentence the fol20 lowing: ‘‘The starting point for any deliberations in

21 the Committee on the Budget of each House on the

22 concurrent resolution on the budget for the next fis23 cal year shall be the estimated level of outlays for

24 the current year in each function and subfunction.

25 Any increases or decreases in the congressional
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1 budget for the next fiscal year shall be from those

2 estimated levels.’’;

3 (2) striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and insert4 ing the following:

5 ‘‘(2) a comparison of levels for the current fis6 cal year with proposed spending for the subsequent

7 fiscal years along with the proposed increase or de8 crease of spending in percentage terms for each

9 function and subfunction;

10 ‘‘(3) information, data, and comparisons indi11 cating the manner in which and the basis on which

12 the committee determined each of the matters set

13 forth in the concurrent resolution, including infor14 mation on outlays for the current fiscal year and the

15 decisions reached to set funding for the subsequent

16 fiscal years;’’;

17 (3) striking paragraph (8);

18 (4) redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph

19 (8) and adding ‘‘and’’ at the end thereof; and

20 (5) redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph

21 (9).

22 (c) CBO REPORT TO COMMITTEES.—The first sen23 tence of section 202(f)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act

24 of 1974 is amended to read as follows: ‘‘On or before Feb25 ruary 15 of each year, the Director shall submit to the
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1 Committees on the Budget of the House of Representa2 tives and the Senate a report, for the fiscal year commenc3 ing on October 1 of that year, with respect to fiscal policy,

4 including (A) estimated budget outlays in all functions

5 and subfunctions for appropriated accounts for the cur6 rent fiscal year and estimated budget outlays under cur7 rent law for all entitlement programs for the next fiscal

8 year, (B) alternative levels of total revenues, total new

9 budget authority, and total outlays (including related sur10 pluses and deficits), and (C) the levels of tax expenditures

11 under existing law, taking into account projected economic

12 factors and any changes in such levels based on proposals

13 in the budget submitted by the President for such fiscal

14 year.’’.

15 SEC. 2. SUNSETTING OF ENTITLEMENTS.

16 (a) REAUTHORIZATION OF DISCRETIONARY PRO17 GRAMS AND UNEARNED ENTITLEMENTS.—

18 (1) FISCAL YEAR 1994.—Effective October 1,

19 1993, spending authority for each unearned entitle20 ment and high-cost discretionary spending program

21 is terminated unless such spending authority is reau22 thorized after the date of enactment of this Act.

23 (2) FISCAL YEAR 1995.—Effective October 1,

24 1994, spending authority for each discretionary

25 spending program (not including high-cost discre-
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1 tionary spending programs) is terminated unless

2 such spending authority is reauthorized after the

3 date of enactment of this Act.

4 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec5 tion—

6 (A) the term ‘‘unearned entitlement’’

7 means an entitlement not earned by service or

8 paid for in total or in part by assessments or

9 contributions such as Social Security, veterans’

10 benefits, retirement programs, and medicare;

11 and

12 (B) the term ‘‘high-cost discretionary pro13 gram’’ means the most expensive one-third of

14 discretionary program within each budget func15 tion account.

16 (b) POINT OF ORDER.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in

18 the House of Representatives or the Senate to con19 sider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or con20 ference report that includes any provision that ap21 propriates funds unless such appropriation has been

22 previously authorized by law.

23 (2) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION.—This section

24 may be waived or suspended in the House of Rep25 resentatives or the Senate only by the affirmative
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1 vote of two-thirds of the Members, duly chosen and

2 sworn.

3 (c) DECENNIAL SUNSETTING.—

4 (1) FIRST DECENNIAL CENSUS YEAR.—Effec5 tive on the first day of the fiscal year beginning in

6 the first decennial census year after the year 2000

7 and each 10 years thereafter, the spending authority

8 described in subsection (a)(1) is terminated unless

9 such spending authority is reauthorized after the

10 last date the spending authority was required to be

11 reauthorized under this section.

12 (2) FIRST DECENNIAL CENSUS YEAR.—Effec13 tive on the first day of the fiscal year beginning in

14 the year after the first decennial census year after

15 the year 2000 and each 10 years thereafter, the

16 spending authority described in subsection (a)(2) is

17 terminated unless such spending authority is reau18 thorized after the last date the spending authority

19 was required to be reauthorized under this section.

20 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF EMERGENCY SPENDING FOR PUR21 POSES OF DISCRETIONARY CAPS.

22 Section 251(b)(2)(D) of the Balanced Budget and

23 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is repealed.

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