Budget Process Enhancement Act

To remove the discretionary inflater from the baseline and to provide that the salaries of Members of a House of Congress will be held in escrow if that House has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2022. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Budget Process Enhancement Act I Changes in the Baseline 101. Changes in the baseline Section 257(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended— (1) in the second sentence of paragraph (1), by striking everything that follows current year, excluding resources designated as an emergency requirement and any resources provided in supplemental appropriation laws. (2) by striking paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5); (3) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (2); and (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph: (3) No adjustment for inflation No adjustment shall be made for inflation or for any other factor. . II Budget Accountability of Members of Congress 201. Holding salaries of Members of Congress in escrow upon failure to agree to budget resolution (a) Holding salaries in escrow (1) In general If by April 15, 2021, a House of Congress has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2022 pursuant to section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, during the period described in paragraph (2) the payroll administrator of that House of Congress shall deposit in an escrow account all payments otherwise required to be made during such period for the compensation of Members of Congress who serve in that House of Congress, and shall release such payments to such Members only upon the expiration of such period. (2) Period described With respect to a House of Congress, the period described in this paragraph is the period which begins on April 16, 2021, and ends on the earlier of— (A) the day on which the House of Congress agrees to a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2021 pursuant to section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; or (B) the last day of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress. (3) Withholding and remittance of amounts from payments held in escrow The payroll administrator shall provide for the same withholding and remittance with respect to a payment deposited in an escrow account under paragraph (1) that would apply to the payment if the payment were not subject to paragraph (1). (4) Release of amounts at end of the Congress In order to ensure that this section is carried out in a manner that shall not vary the compensation of Senators or Representatives in violation of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the payroll administrator of a House of Congress shall release for payments to Members of that House of Congress any amounts remaining in any escrow account under this section on the last day of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress. (5) Role of Secretary of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll administrators of the Houses of Congress with such assistance as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrators to carry out this section. (b) Treatment of Delegates as Members In this section, the term Member of Congress (c) Payroll administrator defined In this section, the term payroll administrator (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this section; and (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate who is designated by the Secretary to carry out this section. 202. Determination of compliance with statutory requirement to submit the President’s budget Not later than 3 days after the President’s budget is due, the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management shall— (1) make an annual determination of whether the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the President are in compliance with section 1105 of title 31, United States Code; and (2) provide a written notification of such determination to the Chairs of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Chairs of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. 203. No pay upon failure to timely submit the President’s budget to Congress (a) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds may be appropriated or otherwise be made available from the United States Treasury for the pay of the Director of OMB, Deputy Director of OMB, and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB during any period of noncompliance determined by the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management under section 202. (b) No retroactive pay The Director of OMB, Deputy Director of OMB, and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB may not receive pay for any period of noncompliance determined by the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management under section 202 at any time after the end of that period. 204. Effective date Sections 202 and 203 shall take effect upon the date of enactment of this Act.

Summary: Budget Process Enhancement Act This bill modifies the federal budget process to withhold the salaries of Members of Congress and cancel the salaries of certain employees of the Office of Management and Budget when certain budget process requirements are not met. The bill also changes the assumptions that the Congressional Budget Office uses to calculate its baseline for discretionary spending to eliminate certain adjustments for inflation and other factors. (A baseline is a projection of federal spending and receipts during a fiscal year under current law.)