Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2015

To cut, cap, and balance the Federal budget. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2015 I Cut 101. Modification of the Congressional Budget Act Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 631 et seq. 316. Spending limits (a) In general It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that would cause the spending limits as set forth in this section to be exceeded. (b) Limits In this section, the term spending limits (1) $2,832,215,000,000 in new budget authority; and (2) $2,884,442,000,000 in outlays. (c) Adjustments After the reporting of a bill or joint resolution relating to the global war on terrorism described in subsection (d), or the offering of an amendment thereto or the submission of a conference report thereon— (1) the chair of the House or Senate Committee on the Budget may adjust the spending limits provided in this section for purposes of congressional enforcement, the budgetary aggregates in the concurrent resolution on the budget most recently adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives, and allocations pursuant to section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 633(a) (2) following any adjustment under paragraph (1), the House or Senate Committee on Appropriations may report appropriately revised suballocations pursuant to section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 633(b) (d) Global war on terrorism If a bill or joint resolution is reported making appropriations for fiscal year 2016 that designates amounts for Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism for purposes of section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A) 317. Certain spending limits (a) In general It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that includes any provision that would cause total spending, except as excluded in subsection (b), to exceed the limits specified in section 316(b). (b) Exempt from spending limits Spending for the following functions is exempt from the limits specified in section 316 (b): (1) Social Security, function 650. (2) Medicare, function 570. (3) Veterans Benefits and Services, function 700. (4) Net Interest, function 900. (5) Military personnel accounts within subfunctional category 051. . 102. Statutory enforcement of spending caps through sequestration Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 631 et seq. 318. Enforcement of discretionary and direct spending caps (a) Implementation The sequesters shall be implemented as follows: (1) Discretionary spending implementation For the discretionary limits in section 316, pursuant to section 251(a) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 901(a) (2) Direct spending implementation (A) The sequestration to enforce this section for direct spending shall be implemented pursuant to section 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 904 (B) Section 255 of the Balanced Budget and Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 905 (b) Modification of presidential order (1) In general At any time after the Director of the Office of Management and Budget issues a sequestration report under subsection (a) and section 319(c) the provisions of section 258A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 907b (2) Point of order In the House of Representatives or Senate, it shall not be in order to consider a bill or joint resolution which waives, modifies, or in any way alters a sequestration order unless the chair of the House or Senate Committee on the Budget certifies that the measure achieves the same levels of reductions in new budget authority and outlays for the applicable year as set forth in the order. . II Cap 201. Limit on total spending (a) Definitions Section 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 900(c) (1) by striking paragraph (4); (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (21) as paragraphs (4) through (20), respectively; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (21) The term GDP . (b) Caps Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 631 et seq. 319. Enforcing GDP outlay limits (a) Enforcing GDP outlay limits In this section, the term GDP outlay limit (1) projected GDP for that fiscal year as estimated by OMB, multiplied by (2) (A) 19.9 percent for fiscal year 2016; (B) 19.52 percent for fiscal year 2017; (C) 19.14 percent for fiscal year 2018; (D) 18.76 percent for fiscal year 2019; (E) 18.38 percent for fiscal year 2020; (F) 18 percent for fiscal year 2021; (G) 18 percent for fiscal year 2021; (H) 18 percent for fiscal year 2022; (I) 18 percent for fiscal year 2023; (J) 18 percent for fiscal year 2024; and (K) 18 percent for fiscal year 2025. (b) GDP outlay limit and outlays (1) Determining the GDP outlay limit The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish in the President’s budget the GDP outlay limit for the budget year. (2) Total Federal outlays In this section, total Federal outlays shall include all on-budget and off-budget outlays. (c) Sequestration The sequestration to enforce this section shall be implemented pursuant to section 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 904 (d) Exempt programs Section 255 of the Balanced Budget and Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 905 . 202. Enforcement procedures under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (a) Enforcement Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 631 et seq. 320. Enforcement procedures It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that would cause the most recently reported current GDP outlay limits set forth in section 319 to be exceeded. . (b) Table of contents The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by adding after the item relating to section 315 the following: Sec. 316. Spending limits. Sec. 317. Certain spending limits. Sec. 318. Enforcement of discretionary and direct spending caps. Sec. 319. Enforcing GDP outlay limits. Sec. 320. Enforcement procedures. . III Balance 301. Requirement that a Balanced Budget Amendment be submitted to States (a) In general The Secretary of the Treasury shall not exercise the additional borrowing authority in subsequent legislation until the Archivist of the United States transmits to the States a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that— (1) requires that total outlays not exceed total receipts; (2) contains a spending limitation as a percentage of GDP; and (3) requires that tax increases be approved by a 2/3 (b) Point of order It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that would cause the Secretary of the Treasury to exercise additional borrowing authority described in subsection (a) until such time as the Archivist of the United States transmits to the States an amendment to the Constitution described in subsection (a). October 20, 2015 Read the second time and placed on the calendar

Summary: Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2015 This bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish FY2016 spending limits of $2.832 trillion for new budget authority and $2.884 trillion for outlays. Spending for Social Security, Medicare, Veterans Benefits and Services, Net Interest, and Military Personnel is exempt from the limits. The chairs of the congressional budget committees may make specified adjustments to the limits for legislation that designates amounts for Overseas Contingency Operations/ Global War on Terrorism. The bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to limit total annual spending for FY2016-FY2025 to a specified percentage of projected annual gross domestic product (GDP), which begins at 19.9% for FY2016 and decreases each year until it reaches 18% for FY2021-FY2025. The bill enforces the spending limits using automatic spending cuts known as sequestration and specifies exemptions. The Department of the Treasury may not exercise additional borrowing authority in subsequent legislation until a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is submitted to the states that: (1) requires that total outlays not exceed total receipts, (2) contains a spending limitation as a percentage of GDP, and (3) requires tax increases be approved by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress.