I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 127
To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to preserve all budget 
surpluses until legislation is enacted significantly extending the solvency 
of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2003
Mr. HOLT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to preserve 
all budget surpluses until legislation is enacted signifi-
cantly extending the solvency of the Social Security and 
Medicare trust funds.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security and 
Medicare Lock-box Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
It is the purpose of this Act to put social security 
and Medicare solvency first, by prohibiting the use of so-
cial security surpluses, Medicare surpluses, and any other 
government surpluses for any purpose other than paying 
down publicly held debt, until legislation is enacted signifi-
cantly extending the solvency of the social security and 
Medicare trust funds. 
SEC. 3. SURPLUSES RESERVED UNTIL SOCIAL SECURITY 
AND MEDICARE SOLVENCY LEGISLATION IS
ENACTED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 312 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) SURPLUSES RESERVED UNTIL SOCIAL SECU-
RITY AND MEDICARE SOLVENCY LEGISLATION IS EN-
ACTED.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Until there is both a social 
security solvency certification and a Medicare sol-
vency certification, it shall not be in order in the 
House of Representatives or the Senate to con-
sider—
‘‘(A) any concurrent resolution on the 
budget, or conference report thereon or amend-
ment thereto, that would use any portion of the 
baseline budget surpluses, or
‘‘(B) any bill, joint resolution, amendment, 
motion, or conference report if—
‘‘(i) the enactment of that bill or reso-
lution as reported, 
‘‘(ii) the adoption and enactment of 
that amendment, or 
‘‘(iii) the enactment of that bill or res-
olution in the form recommended in that 
conference report, 
would use any portion of the baseline budget 
surpluses. 
‘‘(2) BASELINE BUDGET SURPLUSES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘baseline budget surplus’ 
means the sum of the on- and off-budget sur-
pluses contained in the most recent baseline 
budget projections made by the Congressional 
Budget Office at the beginning of the annual 
budget cycle and no later than the month of 
March. 
‘‘(B) BASELINE
BUDGET
PROJECTION.—
For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 
‘baseline budget projection’ means the projec-
tion described in section 257 of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985 of current year levels of outlays, receipts, 
and the surplus or deficit into the budget year 
and future years; except that outlays for pro-
grams subject to discretionary appropriations 
shall be projected at the lesser of any applicable 
statutory discretionary limits or the baseline 
level otherwise defined in such section 257. For 
purposes of this subsection, the baseline budget 
projection shall include both on-budget and off-
budget outlays and receipts. 
‘‘(3) USE
OF
PORTION
OF
THE
BASELINE 
BUDGET
SURPLUSES.—For purposes of this sub-
section, a portion of the baseline budget surpluses is 
used if, relative to the baseline budget projection—
‘‘(A) in the case of legislation affecting 
revenues, any net reduction in revenues in the 
current year or the budget year, or over the 5 
or 10-year estimating periods beginning with 
the budget year, is not offset by reductions in 
direct spending, 
‘‘(B) in the case of legislation affecting di-
rect spending, any net increase in direct spend-
ing in the current year or the budget year, or 
over such 5 or 10-year periods, is not offset by 
increases in revenues, and
‘‘(C) in the case of an appropriations bill, 
there is a net increase in discretionary outlays 
in the current year or the budget year when the 
discretionary outlays from such bill are added 
to the discretionary outlays from all previously 
enacted appropriations bills. 
‘‘(4) SOCIAL
SECURITY
SOLVENCY
CERTIFI-
CATION.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 
‘social security solvency certification’ means a cer-
tification by the Board of Trustees of the Social Se-
curity Trust Funds that the Federal Old-Age and 
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal 
Disability Insurance Trust Fund are, taken to-
gether, in actuarial balance for the 75-year period 
utilized in the most recent annual report of such 
Board of Trustees pursuant to section 201(c)(2) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401(c)(2)). 
‘‘(5) MEDICARE
SOLVENCY
CERTIFICATION.—
For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘Medicare 
solvency certification’ means a certification by the 
Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance 
Trust Fund that such Trust Fund is in actuarial 
balance for the 30-year period utilized in the most 
recent annual report of such Board of Trustees pur-
suant to section 1817(b) of the Social Security Act.’’
(b) SUPER MAJORITY REQUIREMENT.—(1) Section 
904(c)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is 
amended by inserting ‘‘312(g),’’ after ‘‘310(d)(2),’’. 
(2) Section 904(d)(2) of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘312(g),’’ after 
‘‘310(d)(2),’’. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect upon the date of its enact-
ment and the amendments made by it shall apply only to 
fiscal year 2003 and subsequent fiscal years.
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