Focus on Children Act
Bill: S.2133 | Sponsor: Sen. Van Hollen, Chris (D-MD)
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance

Summary:
Focus on Children Act
This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to produce studies and reports regarding federal spending on children.
The CBO must provide
The CBO must also develop and maintain a public website that includes

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for studies 
   and reports relating to the impact of legislation on spending on 
                   children, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Focus on Children Act''.

SEC. 2. STUDIES AND REPORTS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE RELATING 
              TO THE IMPACT OF LEGISLATION ON SPENDING ON CHILDREN.

    Section 202(g) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 
602(g)) is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by inserting ``and Reports to 
        Congress'' after ``Studies''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Spending on children studies and reports.--
                    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                            ``(i) the term `budget of the President' 
                        means the budget of the President submitted to 
                        Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, 
                        United States Code;
                            ``(ii) the term `category of spending on 
                        children' means--
                                    ``(I) spending on children that is 
                                discretionary appropriations;
                                    ``(II) spending on children under 
                                an entitlement authority;
                                    ``(III) spending on children that 
                                is a tax expenditure;
                                    ``(IV) spending on children that is 
                                discretionary appropriations or under 
                                an entitlement authority; or
                                    ``(V) spending on children that is 
                                discretionary appropriations, under an 
                                entitlement authority, or a tax 
                                expenditure;
                            ``(iii) the term `child' means an 
                        individual under 19 years of age;
                            ``(iv) the term `discretionary 
                        appropriations'--
                                    ``(I) has the meaning given that 
                                term in section 250 of the Balanced 
                                Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 
                                Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900); and
                                    ``(II) includes amounts 
                                appropriated under Acts making 
                                supplemental appropriations and 
                                continuing resolutions;
                            ``(v) the term `Federal spending' includes 
                        all outlays and tax expenditures;
                            ``(vi) the term `key indicator' includes 
                        information relating to the outlays or tax 
                        expenditures described in subclause (I), (II), 
                        (III), (IV), or (V) of clause (vii); and
                            ``(vii) the term `spending on children' 
                        includes--
                                    ``(I) outlays under an entitlement 
                                authority that go directly to children;
                                    ``(II) outlays for a Federal 
                                program or initiative that, consistent 
                                with the mission of the program or 
                                initiative, delivers services 
                                exclusively to children;
                                    ``(III) outlays for a Federal 
                                program or initiative that, while not 
                                serving children directly, has as a 
                                core mission goal the improvement of 
                                the health, education, welfare, or 
                                general well-being of children;
                                    ``(IV) for a Federal program or 
                                initiative that delivers services to 
                                both children and adults, the portion 
                                of outlays under the program or 
                                initiative attributable to providing 
                                benefits for children, based on the 
                                best available data; and
                                    ``(V) tax expenditures that have, 
                                as a core goal, the improvement of the 
                                health, education, welfare, or general 
                                well-being of children.
                    ``(B) Studies.--At the request of the Chairman or 
                Ranking Member of a committee of the Senate or the 
                House of Representatives, the Director shall, to the 
                extent practicable, conduct a study of a bill, joint 
                resolution, amendment, amendment between the Houses, or 
                conference report containing changes in spending on 
                children that includes, separately for each category of 
                spending on children, information and data, including 
                the amount of the change in spending on children for 
                each category of spending on children.
                    ``(C) Annual reports on spending.--As soon as is 
                practicable after the date on which the Director 
                completes an analysis of the budget of the President, 
                the Director shall submit to Congress a report that 
                includes information and data regarding spending on 
                children separately for each category of spending on 
                children, including--
                            ``(i) the amount of spending on children 
                        for each category of spending on children; and
                            ``(ii) the share of Federal spending 
                        constituted by spending on children for each 
                        category of spending on children.
                    ``(D) Annual reports on the budget of the 
                president.--As soon as is practicable after the date on 
                which the Director completes an analysis of the budget 
                of the President, the Director shall submit to Congress 
                a report on the budget of the President that includes 
                information and data regarding spending on children 
                separately for each category of spending on children 
                for the prior fiscal year, the current fiscal year, the 
                fiscal year for which the budget of the President is 
                submitted, and the ensuing fiscal year, including--
                            ``(i) for the prior fiscal year, the amount 
                        of and share of Federal spending constituted by 
                        each category of spending on children;
                            ``(ii) for the current fiscal year, the 
                        estimated amount of and share of Federal 
                        spending constituted by each category of 
                        spending on children;
                            ``(iii) for the fiscal year for which the 
                        budget of the President is submitted, the 
                        amount of and share of Federal spending 
                        constituted by each category of spending on 
                        children under the budget of the President; and
                            ``(iv) for the fiscal year after the fiscal 
                        year described in clause (iii), the amount of 
                        and share of Federal spending constituted by 
                        each category of spending on children under the 
                        budget of the President.
                    ``(E) Open data and transparency.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Director shall 
                        publish all of the reports and studies required 
                        under this paragraph in a publicly accessible 
                        format, including through--
                                    ``(I) the dashboard described in 
                                clause (ii); and
                                    ``(II) the open data portal 
                                described in clause (iii).
                            ``(ii) Dashboard.--The Director shall 
                        develop and maintain on an internet website 
                        available to the public a tool (commonly 
                        referred to as a `dashboard') that--
                                    ``(I) highlights the key indicators 
                                identified in the reports and studies 
                                required under this paragraph; and
                                    ``(II) uses visualization tools to 
                                assist the public in understanding 
                                trends in spending on children over 
                                periods of time.
                            ``(iii) Open data portal.--The Director 
                        shall develop and maintain an internet website 
                        available to the public that--
                                    ``(I) provides raw quantitative 
                                data relating to spending on children 
                                contained in reports and studies 
                                required under this paragraph;
                                    ``(II) provides that data in a 
                                widely accessible file format that 
                                allows the public to analyze the data; 
                                and
                                    ``(III) categorizes that data by 
                                budget account.''.
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