I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1233
To improve budgetary information by requiring that the unified budget pre-
sented by the President contain an operating budget and a capital
budget, distinguish between general funds, trust funds, and enterprise
funds, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 14, 1995
Mr. WISE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Government Reform and Oversight, and in addition to the Committees
on Rules and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To improve budgetary information by requiring that the uni-
fied budget presented by the President contain an operat-
ing budget and a capital budget, distinguish between
general funds, trust funds, and enterprise funds, and
for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Capital Budgeting Act
of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF FINDING AND PURPOSE.
(a) STATEMENT OF FINDING.—The Congress finds
that the existing budget obscures the distinctions between
capital activities and operating activities, and between
general funds, trust funds, and enterprise funds, so as to
hinder identification of the resources needed to meet the
needs of the Government and the investment needs of the
economy that are necessary for sustained economic
growth.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act that the
unified budget present a capital budget and an operating
budget, and distinguish between general funds, trust
funds, and enterprise funds, in order to provide better and
more relevant information on the revenues, expenses, and
financing requirements of Government programs and
activities.
SEC. 3. CAPITAL AND OPERATING BUDGETS.
Title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after section 1105 the following new section:
‘‘§ 1105a. Capital and operating budgets
‘‘(a)(1) The budget of the United States submitted
by the President under section 1105 of this title shall be
a unified budget composed of an operating budget and a
capital budget.
‘‘(2) Operating and capital budgets shall be presented
separately for unified funds, general funds, trust funds,
and enterprise funds.
‘‘(b)(1) Actual, estimated, and proposed amounts
shall be presented for unified funds, general funds, trust
funds, and enterprise funds, and, at a minimum, shall con-
tain—
‘‘(A) for the operating budget the following: (i)
operating revenues, (ii) operating expenses, (iii) op-
erating surplus/deficit before interfund transfers,
(iv) interfund transfers, (v) operating surplus/deficit,
and (vi) Federal expenditures financing the operat-
ing expenses of State and local governments;
‘‘(B) for the capital budget the following: (i)
capital revenues, (ii) capital investments, (iii) capital
financing requirements before interfund transfers,
(iv) interfund transfers, and (v) capital financing
requirements; and
‘‘(C) unified budget financing requirements.
‘‘(2) The capital budget shall represent only the
major activities, projects, and programs which support the
acquisition, construction, alteration, and rehabilitation of
capital assets. All other activities, projects, and programs
shall be represented in the operating budget.
‘‘(c) In addition to the unified budget submitted by
the President as required by subsections (a) and (b) of
this section, the President shall present information in the
form required by subsection (b)(1) for accounts, agencies,
and functions, to the extent applicable, the capital invest-
ments by State and local governments not financed by the
Federal Government.
‘‘(d) In this section—
‘‘(1) ‘unified budget’ means a budget in which
revenues and expenses for general funds, trust
funds, and enterprise funds are consolidated to dis-
play totals for the Federal Government as a whole;
‘‘(2) ‘trust funds’ means—
‘‘(A) the Federal Old-Age and Survivors
Insurance Trust Fund,
‘‘(B) the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust
Fund,
‘‘(C) the Civil Service Retirement and Dis-
ability Fund,
‘‘(D) the Military Retirement Fund,
‘‘(E) the Federal Supplementary Medical
Insurance Trust Fund,
‘‘(F) the Unemployment Trust Fund,
‘‘(G) the Federal Disability Insurance
Trust Fund,
‘‘(H) the Highway Trust Fund,
‘‘(I) the Airport and Airway Trust Fund,
and
‘‘(J) such other funds or accounts of the
Government that the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, in consultation with
the Comptroller General, determines should be
classified as trust funds in order to fulfill the
purpose of this section;
‘‘(3) ‘enterprise funds’ means—
‘‘(A) the Postal Service,
‘‘(B) the Resolution Trust Corporation,
‘‘(C) the Federal Deposit Insurance Cor-
poration Fund,
‘‘(D) the Federal Housing Administration,
‘‘(E) the Tennessee Valley Authority
Fund,
‘‘(F) the Bonneville Power Administration
Fund,
‘‘(G) the Rural Electrification and Tele-
phone Revolving Loan Fund,
‘‘(H) the Export-Import Bank of the
United States,
‘‘(I) the Southeastern Power Administra-
tion,
‘‘(J) the Southwestern Power Administra-
tion,
‘‘(K) the Western Area Power Administra-
tion,
‘‘(L) the Alaska Power Administration,
‘‘(M) the Overseas Private Investment Cor-
poration,
‘‘(N) the St. Lawrence Seaway Develop-
ment Corporation,
‘‘(O) the Rural Telephone Bank,
‘‘(P) the Pension Benefit Guaranty Cor-
poration, and
‘‘(Q) such other funds or accounts of the
Government that the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, in consultation with
the Comptroller General, determines should be
classified as enterprise funds in order to fulfill
the purpose of this section;
‘‘(4) ‘general funds’ includes all accounts of the
Government that are not trust funds or enterprise
funds;
‘‘(5) ‘unified funds’ means general funds, trust
funds, and enterprise funds and represents the
unified budget;
‘‘(6) ‘capital assets’ means physical assets and
financial assets, but does not include consumable
inventories;
‘‘(7) ‘physical assets’ means tangible assets
(other than assets used for national defense or
security)—
‘‘(A) the ownership of which is or will be
in the public domain;
‘‘(B) that produce services or benefits for
more than 5 years;
‘‘(C) that have an initial cost equal to or
more than $500,000; and
‘‘(D) including—
‘‘(i) roadways and bridges;
‘‘(ii) airports and airway facilities;
‘‘(iii) mass transportation systems;
‘‘(iv) waste water treatment, water
distribution delivery, and related facilities;
‘‘(v) water resource projects;
‘‘(vi) medical facilities;
‘‘(vii) resource recovery facilities;
‘‘(viii) public structures;
‘‘(ix) space and communication facili-
ties; and
‘‘(x) strategic petroleum reserves and
mineral stockpiles;
‘‘(8) ‘financial assets’ means interests of the
Federal Government in, and claims of the Federal
Government against, foreign governments, States
and their political subdivisions, corporations, asso-
ciations, and individuals and their resources which
are represented by a legal instrument (such as
bonds, debentures, notes, and other securities), less
any credit subsidy costs attributable to such finan-
cial assets;
‘‘(9) ‘credit subsidy costs’ means the losses in-
curred by the Federal Government as a result of its
direct and guaranteed loans, including such costs as
interest and default;
‘‘(10) ‘consumable inventories’ means tangible
assets of the Federal Government, including stock-
piles, supplies, and inventories, which typically are
consumed within 5 years or which have an initial
price less than $500,000;
‘‘(11) ‘operating revenues’ means all receipts of
the Federal Government, other than those identified
in paragraph (17), including profits and interest
earned on financial assets;
‘‘(12) ‘operating expenses’ means all expenses
of the Federal Government, other than those identi-
fied in paragraph (18), including interest payments
on debts, asset consumption charge, and credit
subsidy costs;
‘‘(13) ‘the operating surplus/deficit before
interfund transfers’ means the difference between
operating revenues and operating expenses before
interfund transfers;
‘‘(14) ‘interfund transfers’ means the flow of
revenues between general and enterprise funds and
trust funds accounts that are expenses from the
account making the payments and revenues to the
account receiving the payments;
‘‘(15) ‘operating surplus/deficit’ means the op-
erating surplus/deficit before interfund transfers
plus or minus interfund transfers;
‘‘(16) ‘asset consumption charge’ means the
systematic and rational allocation of the cost—his-
torical, replacement, or current value—of a physical
asset (having a useful life of more than 5 years) fi-
nanced by the appropriation accounts for which the
capital budget required by this section applies;
‘‘(17) ‘capital revenues’ means receipts of the
Federal Government derived from taxes, collections,
and receipts dedicated by statute, for the rehabilita-
tion of capital assets which relate to the activities,
functions, and programs represented by the capital
budget;
‘‘(18) ‘capital investments’ means expenditures
of the Federal Government, including those under
grants, contracts, and leases, which are for the ac-
quisition, construction, and rehabilitation of capital
assets; and Federal expenditures (including tax ex-
penditures) which are for the acquisition, construc-
tion, and rehabilitation of the physical assets of
State and local governments;
‘‘(19) ‘capital financing requirements before
interfund transfers’ means the difference between
capital revenues and capital investments before
interfund transfers;
‘‘(20) ‘capital financing requirements’ means fi-
nancing requirements before interfund transfers plus
or minus interfund transfers; and
‘‘(21) ‘unified budget financing requirements’
means the total of the operating surplus/deficit and
the capital financing requirements; and
SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Section 1112 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (c)(1) by inserting ‘‘criteria,
principles, and standards for determining the con-
tents of the operating and capital budgets required
under section 1105a of this title, and’’ after ‘‘includ-
ing’’; and
(2) by adding the following subsection at the
end thereof:
‘‘(g) The Comptroller General shall review and report
to the Congress on the implementation of section 1105a
of this title as the Comptroller General deems necessary.
A review by the Comptroller General may include deter-
mining whether—
‘‘(1) the actual, estimated, and proposed appro-
priations, receipts, and investments presented in the
capital budget represent activities, functions, and
programs which support the acquisition, construc-
tion, alteration, and rehabilitation of capital assets;
and
‘‘(2) the classifications made by the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget under section
1105a(d)(2)(H) of this title further the purposes of
section 1105a.’’.
SEC. 5. REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET.
Not later than September 30, 1996, the Committee
on the Budget shall submit to the House of Representa-
tives proposed legislation which shall establish additional
deficit targets under the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 beginning in fiscal year 1997
which would require the eventual elimination of deficits
in the operating account as set forth in the amendments
made by this Act in accordance with the Committee on
the Budget’s proposed deficit targets.
SEC. 6. REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT RE-
FORM AND OVERSIGHT.
Not later than September 30, 1996, the Committee
on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of
Representatives shall report legislation directing the
Comptroller General to evaluate—
(1) on an annual basis, the value and useful-
ness of capital investments in the capital account as
set forth in the amendments made by this Act; and
(2) the value and usefulness of proposed capital
investments submitted to the House of Representa-
tives after the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 7. REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON RULES.
Not later than September 30, 1996, the Committee
on Rules of the House of Representatives shall report leg-
islation establishing rules to facilitate the enforcement of
the amendments made by this Act to title 31, United
States Code.
SEC. 8. PUBLIC WORKS FINANCING INFORMATION.
Title VII of the Public Works and Economic Develop-
ment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3211–3226) is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 717. PUBLIC WORKS FINANCING INFORMATION.
‘‘(a) TRANSPORTATION REPORTS.—Not later than
12 months after the date of enactment of the Capital
Budgeting Act of 1995, and annually thereafter, the Sec-
retary of Transportation shall report to the House Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Sen-
ate Committee on Environment and Public Works, at the
account, function, and agency levels, the actual, estimated,
and proposed appropriations, receipts, and expenditures
for capital activities and operating activities associated
with the following:
‘‘(1) roadways and bridges;
‘‘(2) airports and airway facilities; and
‘‘(3) mass transportation systems.
‘‘(b) WATER POLLUTION REPORTS.—Not later than
12 months after the date of enactment of the Capital
Budgeting Act of 1995 and annually thereafter, the Ad-
ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall
report to the House Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure and the Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works, at the account and function levels, the
actual, estimated, and proposed appropriations, receipts,
and expenditures for capital activities and operating ac-
tivities associated with waste water treatment, water dis-
tribution delivery, and related facilities.
‘‘(c) WATER RESOURCES REPORTS.—Not later than
12 months after the date of enactment of the Capital
Budgeting Act of 1995 and annually thereafter, the As-
sistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works shall report
to the House Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure and the Senate Committee on Environment and
Public Works, at the account and function levels, the ac-
tual, estimated, and proposed appropriations, receipts,
and expenditures for capital activities and operating ac-
tivities associated with water resource projects.
‘‘(d) PUBLIC BUILDINGS REPORTS.—Not later than
12 months after the date of enactment of the Capital
Budgeting Act of 1995 and annually thereafter, the Ad-
ministrator of the General Services Administration shall
report to the House Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure and the Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works, at the account and function levels, the
actual, estimated, and proposed appropriations, receipts,
and expenditures for capital activities and operating ac-
tivities associated with public buildings.’’.
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