I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 948 
To reduce a portion of the annual pay of Members of Congress for the 
failure to adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget which does not 
provide for a balanced budget, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2015 
Mr. MESSER (for himself, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, and Mr. ZINKE) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on the Budget, 
Oversight and Government Reform, and Rules, 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 reduce a portion of the annual pay of Members of Con-
gress for the failure to adopt a concurrent resolution 
on the budget which does not provide for a balanced 
budget, 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; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Balanced Budget Accountability Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) 
The 
Federal 
debt 
exceeds 
$18,000,000,000,000, continues to grow rapidly, and 
is larger than the size of the United States economy. 
(2) The Federal budget has shown an annual 
deficit in 45 of the last 50 years. 
(3) Deficits and the Federal debt threaten to 
shatter confidence in the Nation’s economy, suppress 
job creation and economic growth, and leave future 
generations of Americans with a lower standard of 
living and fewer opportunities. 
(4) It is the duty of Members of Congress to 
develop and implement policies, including balancing 
the Federal budget, that encourage robust job cre-
ation and economic growth in the United States. 
(5) Members of Congress should be held ac-
countable for failing to pass annual budgets that re-
sult in a balanced budget. 
SEC. 2. REQUIRING ADOPTION OF BUDGET RESOLUTION 
PROVIDING FOR BALANCED BUDGETS. 
(a) ADOPTION
OF BUDGET RESOLUTION.—Each 
House of Congress shall adopt a concurrent resolution on 
the budget for a fiscal year which provides that, for each 
fiscal year for which a budget is provided under the resolu-
tion (beginning not later than with the budget for fiscal 
year 2025)— 
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(1) total outlays do not exceed total receipts; 
and 
(2) total outlays are not more than 18 percent 
of the gross domestic product of the United States 
(as determined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis 
of the Department of Commerce) for such fiscal 
year. 
(b) CERTIFICATION
BY CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET 
OFFICE.—Upon the adoption by a House of Congress of 
a concurrent resolution on the budget for a fiscal year, 
the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall 
transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
or the President pro tempore of the Senate (as the case 
may be) a certification as to whether or not that House 
of Congress has met the requirements of subsection (a) 
with respect to the resolution. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 
respect to the concurrent resolution on the budget for fis-
cal year 2016 and each succeeding fiscal year. 
SEC. 3. EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ADOPT RESOLUTION. 
(a) RULE FOR FISCAL YEARS 2016 AND 2017.— 
(1) FISCAL YEAR 2016.— 
(A) HOLDING
SALARIES
IN
ESCROW.—If 
the Director does not certify that a House of 
Congress has met the requirements of section 
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2(a) with respect to fiscal year 2016 before 
April 16, 2015, during the period described in 
subparagraph (B) the payroll administrator of 
that House of Congress shall deposit in an es-
crow account all payments otherwise required to 
be made during such period for the compensa-
tion of Members of Congress who serve in that 
House of Congress, and shall release such pay-
ments to such Members only upon the expira-
tion of such period. 
(B) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to 
a House of Congress, the period described in 
this subparagraph is the period that begins on 
April 16, 2015, and ends on the earlier of— 
(i) the date on which the Director cer-
tifies that the House of Congress has met 
the requirements of section 2(a) with re-
spect to fiscal year 2016; or 
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred 
Fourteenth Congress. 
(2) FISCAL YEAR 2017.— 
(A) HOLDING
SALARIES
IN
ESCROW.—If 
the Director does not certify that a House of 
Congress has met the requirements of section 
2(a) with respect to fiscal year 2017 before 
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April 16, 2016, during the period described in 
subparagraph (B) the payroll administrator of 
that House of Congress shall deposit in an es-
crow account all payments otherwise required to 
be made during such period for the compensa-
tion of Members of Congress who serve in that 
House of Congress, and shall release such pay-
ments to such Members only upon the expira-
tion of such period. 
(B) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to 
a House of Congress, the period described in 
this subparagraph is the period that begins on 
April 16, 2016, and ends on the earlier of— 
(i) the date on which the Director cer-
tifies that the House of Congress has met 
the requirements of section 2(a) with re-
spect to fiscal year 2017; or 
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred 
Fourteenth 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 pay-
ment deposited in an escrow account under para-
graph (1) or (2) that would apply to the payment if 
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the payment were not subject to paragraph (1) or 
(2). 
(4) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE 
CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this subsection 
is carried out in a manner that shall not vary the 
compensation of Senators or Representatives in vio-
lation 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 
Fourteenth Congress. 
(5) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— 
The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the pay-
roll administrators of the Houses of Congress with 
such assistance as may be necessary to enable the 
payroll administrators to carry out this subsection. 
(6) PAYROLL
ADMINISTRATOR
DEFINED.—In 
this subsection, the ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a 
House of Congress means— 
(A) in the case of the House of Represent-
atives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 
House of Representatives, or an employee of 
the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 
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who is designated by the Chief Administrative 
Officer to carry out this section; and 
(B) in the case of the Senate, the Sec-
retary of the Senate, or an employee of the Of-
fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des-
ignated by the Secretary to carry out this sec-
tion. 
(b) RULE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018 AND SUBSEQUENT 
FISCAL YEARS.—If the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Office does not certify that a House of Congress 
has met the requirements of section 2(a) with respect to 
fiscal year 2018, or any fiscal year thereafter, before April 
16 of the fiscal year before such fiscal year, during pay 
periods which occur in the same calendar year after that 
date each Member of that House shall be paid at an an-
nual rate of pay equal to $1. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office; and 
(2) the term ‘‘Member’’ includes a Delegate or 
Resident Commissioner to Congress. 
SEC. 4. SUPERMAJORITY REQUIREMENT FOR INCREASING 
REVENUE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In the Senate and the House of 
Representatives, a bill, joint resolution, amendment, con-
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ference report, or amendment between the Houses that in-
creases revenue shall only be agreed to upon an affirma-
tive vote of three-fifths of the Members of that House of 
Congress duly chosen and sworn. 
(b) RULES OF SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REP-
RESENTATIVES.—Subsection (a) is enacted by Congress— 
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, respec-
tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 
of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 
respect to the procedure to be followed in that 
House in the case of a bill, joint resolution, amend-
ment, conference report, or amendment between the 
Houses that increases revenue, and it supersedes 
other rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent 
with such rules; and 
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 
right of either House to change the rules (so far as 
relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 
in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 
the case of any other rule of that House. 
Æ 
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