Budget Enforcement Procedures: House Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Rule
Released: 2019-08-12T00:00:00

T he House pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rule is generally intended to discourage or prevent Congress from taking certain legislative action that would increase the deficit. It prohibits the consideration of direct spending and revenue legislation that is projected to increase the deficit over either a 6-year or an 11-year period. In effect, the rule requires legislation that includes provisions projected to increase direct spending or reduce revenues to also include offsetting provisions over the two specified periods.

The House PAYGO rule was first established at the beginning of the 110 th Congress and modified in the 111 th Congress. It was replaced by the cut-as-you-go (CUTGO) rule, which applied only to direct spending legislation, at the beginning of the 112 th Congress. The PAYGO rule was reinstated, with modifications, replacing the CUTGO rule, at the beginning of the 116 th Congress.

This report explains the House PAYGO rule's features, describes its legislative history, and discusses how it compares to statutory PAYGO requirements. It updates the previous version (dated November 30, 2010), largely with information about the CUTGO rule and the PAYGO rule, as adopted in the 116 th Congress.

The full text of the House PAYGO rule is provided in the Appendix .

Features of the House PAYGO Rule

The House PAYGO rule adopted for the 116 th Congress prohibits the consideration of legislation affecting direct spending and revenues that is projected to increase the deficit, or reduce the surplus, over either of two time periods: (1) the 6-year period consisting of the current fiscal year, the budget year, and the 4 ensuing fiscal years; or (2) the 11-year period consisting of the current year, the budget year, and the ensuing 9 fiscal years.

The House PAYGO rule applies to legislation affecting direct spending and revenues . Direct spending, also referred to as mandatory spending, has two distinguishing features: (1) it is provided or controlled in authorizing legislation; and (2) it generally continues without any annual legislative action. Examples of programs funded through direct spending include Medicare, unemployment compensation, and federal retirement. Direct spending is within the jurisdiction of the respective authorizing committees.

Revenues are the funds collected from the public primarily as a result of the federal government's exercise of its sovereign taxing power. They consist of receipts from individual income taxes, payroll taxes, corporate income taxes, excise taxes, duties, gifts, and miscellaneous receipts. Revenues are within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means in the House.

The House PAYGO rule does not apply to discretionary spending , which is provided and controlled through the annual appropriations process. Discretionary spending is not counted for purposes of determining whether legislation increases the deficit under the House PAYGO rule.

The rule generally requires that each measure affecting direct spending and revenues not increase the deficit over either of the two time periods specified. That is, to comply with the rule, each measure that includes provisions projected to increase direct spending or reduce revenues must also include offsetting provisions projected to reduce direct spending, increase revenues, or both, by equivalent amounts. A projected deficit reduction resulting from a measure previously passed by the House, or one to be considered subsequently by the House, cannot be used to offset a deficit increase due to provisions in a measure currently under consideration.

The rule provides one exception to this measure-by-measure application. Under clause 10(b) of House Rule XXI, savings from a previously passed measure may be included in determining a separate measure's PAYGO compliance if a special rule provides that the two measures are to be combined upon engrossment.

The rule specifies that a determination of the effect of direct spending and revenue legislation on the deficit or surplus is to be based on estimates made by the Committee on the Budget relative to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline estimates. In producing its baseline estimates, CBO projects revenues, spending, and deficit or surplus levels under existing law (i.e., assuming no legislative changes). Under the rule, such baseline estimates are to be consistent with Section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended.

The House PAYGO rule does not apply to direct spending increases or revenue reductions that occur under existing law. That is, if direct spending increases because more individuals qualify for benefits under existing law, for example, any increase in the deficit is not counted for PAYGO purposes and is beyond the rule's control.

The House PAYGO rule exempts provisions designated as an emergency from being counted in determining compliance with the rule. Under clause 10(c) of House Rule XXI, a determination as to whether legislation increases the deficit, or reduces the surplus, shall exclude any provision "expressly designated as an emergency for the purposes of pay-as-you-go principles." If legislation contains such a designation, the chair must put the question of consideration to the full House prior to its consideration. That is, the House must vote on whether or not to consider the legislation, even though all or certain budgetary effects would be exempt from the House PAYGO rule. If the question is decided in the affirmative (by simple majority), the legislation may then be considered. Alternatively, if the question is decided in the negative, the legislation may not be considered.

The House PAYGO rule is enforced by a point of order to prevent the consideration of legislation that does not meet the requirement. If legislation brought up on the House floor violates the rule (i.e., increases the deficit, or reduces the surplus, in either of the two fiscal-year periods), a Member may raise a point of order against it. If the point of order is sustained, the legislation may not be considered (in the case of an amendment, the amendment falls). The House rule, however, is not self-enforcing: a Member must raise the point of order to enforce it. In addition, the House rule may be waived by a special rule reported by the House Rules Committee and agreed to by the House by majority vote, by considering the legislation under the suspension of the rules procedures, or by unanimous consent.

Finally, the House PAYGO rule, as part of the standing rules of the House, is effective for the current Congress for which it is adopted.

Legislative History of the House PAYGO Rule

The House PAYGO rule was first established at the beginning of the 110 th Congress. It was modified at the beginning of the 111 th Congress, as part of the opening-day rules package, and again in the second session of the 111 th Congress, as part of a special rule providing for the consideration of an unrelated measure. In addition, its application to certain legislation was modified during the first session of the 111 th Congress, as part of the FY2010 budget resolution ( S.Con.Res. 13 ). At the beginning of the 112 th Congress, it was replaced with the CUTGO rule, which focused exclusively on the mandatory spending effects of legislation, eliminating any revenue effects from the budgetary evaluation under the rule. Most recently, at the beginning of the 116 th Congress, the PAYGO rule was reinstituted, covering both mandatory spending and revenues, with certain modifications.

Actions in the 110th Congress

Even before the 110 th Congress began, the new Democratic leadership in both chambers indicated an intention to "restore" PAYGO rules. Accordingly, the House adopted its own PAYGO rule as part of its opening-day rules package.

The original House PAYGO rule generally prohibited the consideration of legislation affecting direct spending and revenues that was projected to increase the deficit or reduce the surplus over a 6-year and an 11-year period. In this original form, as it does in its current form, the rule counted on-budget and off-budget entities (such as Social Security) in determining the effect on the deficit (referred to as the unified budget deficit ). The rule also directed the Budget Committee to use the following particular baseline estimates when determining the effect of legislation on the deficit:

after the beginning of a new calendar year but before the consideration of a budget resolution, the Budget Committee was to use the most recent baseline estimates supplied by CBO; and after the consideration of the budget resolution, the Budget Committee was to use the most recent baseline estimates supplied by CBO used in considering the budget resolution.

Lastly, the original rule provided no explicit exemptions, such as adopted in the 116 th Congress.

Actions in the 111th Congress

At the beginning of the 111 th Congress, following the customary practice, the House adopted its rules by adopting the preceding Congress's rules, including the House PAYGO rule, with certain amendments.

Three changes were made to the PAYGO rule. First, the rule was modified to require the Budget Committee to use baseline estimates supplied by CBO, replacing the particular baseline estimates specified in the original rule. Second, a provision was added to the rule to allow for an exception to its measure-by-measure application. Under this exception, which is still in the rule in the 116 th Congress, the budgetary effects of a House-passed bill may be used to determine compliance with the PAYGO requirement of a separate measure if a special rule provides that the two measures are to be combined upon engrossment. Lastly, the rule was amended to exempt provisions designated as an emergency and to provide for a question of consideration for legislation containing such a designation.

Later in the 111 th Congress, during the second session, the House further amended clause 10 of Rule XXI generally to align the House PAYGO rule with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, which was enacted earlier in the year. The changes were included in Section 5 of H.Res. 1500 , a special rule providing for the consideration of an unrelated measure.

The changes largely related to scoring issuesâwhat budgetary effects would count and not count for purposes of determining if legislation increased the deficit (or reduced the surplus). First, the rule was amended to focus on the "on-budget deficit," excluding any "off-budget" effects, such as those affecting the Social Security trust funds. Second, the rule was amended to require that determinations of the budgetary effects of legislation were consistent with the Statutory PAYGO Act. Specifically, the following scoring requirements were incorporated into the House PAYGO rule.

Included in estimates:

budgetary effects resulting from "outyear modifications" of direct spending laws contained in appropriations acts.

Excluded from estimates:

budgetary effects due to "timing shifts" from inside to outside the 11-year period covered by the PAYGO rule; and budgetary effects resulting from legislation extending current policy (referred to as "adjustments for current policies"), which were scheduled by statute to expire at the time, in four areas: (1) Medicare payments to physicians; (2) the estate and gift tax; (3) the alternative minimum tax (AMT); and (4) middle-class tax cuts.

Actions in the 112th Congress

At the beginning of the 112 th Congress, in adopting the rules of the House, the new Republican majority replaced the PAYGO rule with a new Cut-As-You-Go (CUTGO) rule. In general, the CUTGO rule focused on the net effect of new legislation on mandatory spending only, excluding any effects on revenues. Specifically, the rule prohibited the consideration of any legislation that would have the net effect of increasing mandatory spending over the same 6-year and 11-year periods as the previous PAYGO rule.

Excluding the projected revenue effects had at least two implications: (1) the House could consider legislation reducing revenues, regardless of whether it would increase the projected deficit, without being vulnerable to a point of order under the rule; and (2) legislation projected to increase mandatory spending could not be offset by an increase in revenues, in order to comply with the rule.

The CUTGO rule also did not continue the "adjustments for current policies," as provided in the Statutory PAYGO Act. It is worth noting that these statutory adjustments were set to expire at the end of 2011 and were not extended beyond 2011.

Other than these changes, the CUTGO rule generally retained the procedures related to the operation of the previous PAYGO rule. For example, the budgetary effects designated as emergency requirements under the Statutory PAYGO Act were excluded and also required a vote on the question of consideration, as provided in the new PAYGO rule, as described above.

The CUTGO rule was renewed, without change, in each subsequent Congress, through the 115 th Congress (i.e., through 2018).

Actions in the 116th Congress

At the beginning of the 116 th Congress, in adopting the rules of the House, the new Democratic majority reinstituted the PAYGO rule, replacing the previous CUTGO rule. Most significantly, the PAYGO rule reincorporates the projected revenue effects of legislation into the evaluation of determining a violation. The new rule, however, is not exactly the same PAYGO rule that existed at the end of the 111 th Congress. In particular, unlike the previous PAYGO rule, it includes off-budget effects, such as those that affect the receipts and outlays of the Social Security trust funds.

In general, other than these changes, the new House PAYGO rule retains the procedures related to the operation of the former CUTGO and PAYGO rules. For example, the new PAYGO rule continues to provide for combining the budgetary effects of two measures, under particular circumstances, and for excluding budgetary effects designated as an emergency, as described in the " Features of the House PAYGO Rule ," section above.

Comparison to Statutory PAYGO Requirements

The House PAYGO rule exists alongside similar PAYGO requirements in statute. Like the House rule, the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Title I of P.L. 111-139 , 124 Stat. 8-29), enacted on February 12, 2010, is intended to discourage or prevent Congress from taking certain legislative action that would increase the on-budget deficit. It generally requires that legislation affecting direct spending or revenues not increase the deficit over the 6-year and 11-year time periods, as in the House rule. Notably, the Statutory PAYGO Act relates only to the on-budget effects of legislation, excluding any off-budget effects, such as those affecting the Social Security trust funds.

While the House PAYGO rule and the statutory requirements are similar, they are different in significant ways relating to when and how they are enforced. The House rule applies during the consideration of legislation on the House floor. That is, the House rule prohibits the consideration of the legislation on the House floor if it does not comply with the requirement. In addition, under the House PAYGO rule, each measure affecting direct spending and revenues must comply with the requirement, with the one exception of two measures combined upon engrossment, as explained above.

The Statutory PAYGO Act, in contrast, applies the requirement to legislation after it has been enacted. Moreover, instead of requiring that each enacted bill not increase the deficit, the statutory rule requires that the net effect of all bills affecting direct spending and revenues (referred to as PAYGO legislation or PAYGO acts) enacted during a session of Congress not increase the deficit. That is, under the statutory rule, the net effect of all PAYGO acts enacted during a session of Congress must not increase the deficit over either a 5-year or a 10-year period. In other words, Congress can enact legislation increasing the deficit and still comply with the statutory rule as long as separate legislation offsetting such increases in the deficit is enacted during the same year.

Reflecting the difference in when the PAYGO requirement is applied, the congressional and statutory rules also differ in how they are enforced. As noted above, the House PAYGO rule is enforced by a point of order to prevent the consideration of legislation that does not meet the requirement. In contrast, the statutory PAYGO rule is enforced by sequestrationâthe cancellation of budgetary resources provided by laws affecting direct spendingâto eliminate an increase in the deficit resulting from the enactment of legislation. The former is an internal procedure of the House, whereas the latter involves actions taken by the President and the Office of Management and Budget.

The statutory PAYGO rule provides that if the net effect of direct spending and revenue legislation enacted during a year increases the deficit (i.e., violates the PAYGO requirement), budgetary resources in certain direct spending programs are cut in order to eliminate the increase in the deficit. Specifically, the average budgetary effects (i.e., any increase or decrease in the deficit) over 5-year and 10-year periods of each PAYGO act are placed on 5-year and 10-year scorecards, respectively. The PAYGO requirement effectively is applied to the balances on each of these scorecards 14 days after Congress adjourns at the end of a session. If either scorecard shows a positive balance (referred to as a debit ) for the budget year, the President is required to issue a sequestration order cancelling budgetary resources in non-exempt direct spending programs sufficient to eliminate the balance (the larger balance if both scorecards show a positive balance).

Finally, although the House PAYGO rule must be adopted anew at the beginning of each new Congress, the Statutory PAYGO Act does not include any expiration date.

Appendix. Text of the House Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Rule: Clause 10 of House Rule XXI (116th Congress)

10. (a)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c), it shall not be in order to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report if the provisions of such measure affecting direct spending and revenues have the net effect of increasing the deficit or reducing the surplus for either the period comprisingâ

(A) the current fiscal year, the budget year, and the four fiscal years following that budget year; or

(B) the current fiscal year, the budget year, and the nine fiscal years following that budget year.

(2) The effect of such measure on the deficit or surplus shall be determined on the basis of estimates made by the Committee on the Budget relative to baseline estimates supplied by the Congressional Budget Office consistent with section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

(b) If a bill, joint resolution, or amendment is considered pursuant to a special order of the House directing the Clerk to add as new matter at the end of such measure the provisions of a separate measure as passed by the House, the provisions of such separate measure as passed by the House shall be included in the evaluation under paragraph (a) of the bill, joint resolution, or amendment.

(c)(1) Except as provided in subparagraph (2), the evaluation under paragraph (a) shall exclude a provision expressly designated as an emergency for purposes of pay-as-you-go principles in the case of a point of order under this clause against consideration ofâ

(A) a bill or joint resolution;

(B) an amendment made in order as original text by a special order of business;

(C) a conference report; or

(D) an amendment between the Houses.

(2) In the case of an amendment (other than one specified in subparagraph (1)) to a bill or joint resolution, the evaluation under paragraph (a) shall give no cognizance to any designation of emergency.

(3) If a bill, joint resolution, an amendment made in order as original text by a special order of business, a conference report, or an amendment between the Houses includes a provision expressly designated as an emergency for purposes of pay-as-you-go principles, the Chair shall put the question of consideration with respect thereto.

(d) For the purpose of this clause, the terms "budget year" and "current year" have the meanings specified in section 250 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, and the term "direct spending" has the meaning specified in such section 250 except that such term shall also include provisions in appropriations Acts that make outyear modifications to substantive law as described in section 3(4)(C) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.