Title: Focus on Children Act
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 may provide a warning report to Congress regarding a fiscal year in which outlays for interest on the public debt will exceed spending on children.
The CBO must also develop and maintain a public website that includes

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1780 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1780

 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 11, 2019

 Ms. Harris (for herself, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Casey) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                               the Budget

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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 `child' means an individual 
                        under 19 years of age;
                            ``(iii) the term `key indicator' includes 
                        information relating to the outlays described 
                        in subclause (I), (II), (III), or (IV) of 
                        clause (iv); and
                            ``(iv) 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; and
                                    ``(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.
                    ``(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.
                    ``(C) Annual reports on spending.--Not later than 
                15 days after the last day of each fiscal year, the 
                Director shall submit to Congress a report that 
                includes--
                            ``(i) information and data regarding 
                        spending on children under appropriation Acts, 
                        including Acts making supplemental 
                        appropriations and continuing resolutions, for 
                        that fiscal year;
                            ``(ii) information and data regarding 
                        spending on children under an entitlement 
                        authority for that fiscal year;
                            ``(iii) the share of Federal spending that 
                        constitutes spending on children under 
                        appropriation Acts, including Acts making 
                        supplemental appropriations and continuing 
                        resolutions, for that fiscal year; and
                            ``(iv) the share of Federal spending that 
                        constitutes spending on children under an 
                        entitlement authority for that fiscal year.
                    ``(D) Annual reports on the budget of the 
                president.--Not later than 15 days after the date on 
                which the President submits to Congress the budget of 
                the President for a fiscal year, the Director shall 
                submit to Congress a report on the budget of the 
                President that includes, 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--
                            ``(i) a summary of the total amount of the 
                        appropriations or new obligational authority 
                        and outlays requested for spending on children;
                            ``(ii) an estimate of the level of spending 
                        on children;
                            ``(iii) an estimate of the share of Federal 
                        spending that constitutes spending on children; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) an estimate of the date on which 
                        Federal spending on children will be less than 
                        outlays for interest on the public debt.
                    ``(E) Warning reports.--
                            ``(i) In general.--At the discretion of the 
                        Director, the Director may provide a warning 
                        report to Congress regarding a fiscal year in 
                        which outlays for interest on the public debt 
                        will exceed spending on children.
                            ``(ii) Contents of warning reports.--The 
                        Director may include in a report issued under 
                        clause (i) a list of possible budgetary 
                        options, including, if appropriate, the 
                        inclusion of reconciliation directives under 
                        section 310 in the concurrent resolution on the 
                        budget for a fiscal year, that may be used by 
                        Congress in order to prevent such an imbalance 
                        between outlays for interest on the public debt 
                        and spending on children.
                    ``(F) 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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