Family Budget Protection Act of 2007

Bill: 110-hr-2084
Sponsor: Rep. Hensarling, Jeb [R-TX-5]
Introduced: 2007-05-01 in the House
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Appropriations
Armed Forces and National Security
Authorization
Biennial budgets
Budget deficits
Budget resolutions
Budget surpluses
Central Intelligence Agency
Civil service retirement
Coast guard
Congress
Congressional budget
Congressional committees (House)
Congressional committees (Senate)
Congressional publicity
Congressional reporting requirements
Congressional voting
Debt limit
Department of Commerce
Emergency Management
Entitlements
Expedited congressional procedure
Families
Federal advisory bodies
Federal budget process
Federal budgets
Federal employees
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreign service
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Government insurance
Government spending reductions
Government trust funds
Grants-in-aid
Health
House Budget
House of Representatives
House rules and procedure
Income tax
Indexing (Economic policy)
International Affairs
Item veto
Labor and Employment
Legislation
Members of Congress
Military dependents
Military pensions
Old age, survivors and disability insurance
Public health personnel
Rescission of appropriated funds
Retiree health benefits
Senate Budget
Senate rules and procedure
Social Welfare
Subsidies
Survivors' benefits
Tariff
Tax expenditures
Tax incentives
Tax preferences
Taxation
Veterans' medical care
Waste in government spending

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: 
Family Budget Protection Act of 2007 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to eliminate the May 15 deadline for consideration of annual appropriations measures. Requires annual joint (currently, concurrent) budget resolutions signed by the President.
 
Provides for an amendment to change the statutory limit on the public debt.
 
Requires consideration of budget-related legislation before the budget resolution becomes law. 
 
Provides for establishment of a reserve fund for emergencies.
 
Prescribes requirements for biennial budget resolutions, appropriations Acts, and government strategic and performance plans instead of annual ones if the President and Congress so agree.
 
Provides spending caps on the growth of entitlements and mandatory budget outlays. Exempts certain Social Security benefits, Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits, and Medicare benefits from required reductions under the Balanced Budget and Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), along with specified government accounts and activities. Provides other exceptions, limitations, and special rules with respect to sequestration exemptions.
 
Directs the Chairman of the House and Senate Committees on the Budget each to maintain a Budget Protection Mandatory Account and a Budget Protection Discretionary Account.
 
Amends the CBA to require: (1) an analysis of long-term unfunded obligations in the President's budget submission; and (2) long-term unfunded obligation analyses by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
 
Makes it out of order to consider legislation which, if enacted, would increase the long-term unfunded obligation under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI)) of the Social Security Act, as defined in the CBA.
 
Freezes at current levels spending authority for each unearned entitlement and high-cost discretionary spending program unless such spending authority is reauthorized after the enactment of this Act.
 
Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to propose the cancellation (line item veto) of any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, item of direct spending, limited tariff benefit, or targeted tax benefit.
 
Dedicates any cancellation only to deficit reduction or increase of a surplus.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress on abuse of proposed cancellations.
 
Amends Rule XIII (Calendars and Committee Reports) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that bills always be considered under open rules.
 
Establishes the Commission to Eliminate Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. 
 
Provides for accrual funding of: (1) the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (2) the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System; and (3) the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System.
 
Establishes in the Treasury: (1) the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Retirement Fund; (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Retirement Fund; and (3) the Coast Guard Military Retirement Fund.
 
Changes the name of the Department of Defense Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund to Uniformed Services Health Care Fund (thus, providing health care programs for all uniformed service retirees, under certain conditions). (Currently, such programs are for Department of Defense Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.)
 
Makes it out of order in the House to consider any legislation unless: (1) the required list of congressional earmarks, limited tax and tariff benefits, and the name of the requesting Member is also set forth in the text of the measure; and (2) such list is made publicly available on the Internet in a searchable format at least 48 hours before a measure's consideration.
 
Decreases the limit on the public debt from $6.4 trillion to $4.393 trillion.
 
Repeals Rule XXVII (the Gephardt Rule, relating to mandatory adjustment of the statutory limit on the public debt to conform to a budget resolution).
 
Amends the CBA to require the President's budget submission to Congress to be based upon the risk-assumed cost of federal insurance programs for accrual budgeting purposes.
 
Prohibits consideration of extraneous appropriations in omnibus appropriations measures.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: Referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: Referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: Referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: Referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: Referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: Referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2007-05-01
text: Introduced in House