T he Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 ( H.R. 1892 ) , signed into law on February 9, 2018, creates a new joint select committee of the House and Senate. The Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans, made up of 16 Members of the House and Senate, is directed to formulate recommendations and legislative language that will "significantly improve the solvency of multiemployer pension plans and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation." Under the law, the joint select committee is to, no later than November 30, 2018, vote on a report, which, if approved, must be submitted along with legislative language to the President, the Speaker of the House, and the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate. The legislative recommendations of the joint select committee are to be introduced in the Senate by the majority leader or his designee and are subject to consideration in that chamber under expedited procedures, which differ slightly from the procedures the Senate normally uses to process most legislation. These expedited procedures are intended to allow the Senate to reach a timely vote on whether to consider legislation embodying the recommendations of the joint select committee. Under the terms of the act, the Senate is to vote on a motion to proceed to consider a joint committee bill before the conclusion of the 115 th Congress (2017-2018). The support of at least three-fifths of the Senate would be necessary to take up and approve the measure. The act does not provide any special procedures governing House consideration of such legislation. This report discusses the structure, funding, and powers of this new congressional joint committee and provides an overview of the parliamentary procedures the House and Senate may use to consider its work product. The report includes contact information for CRS policy analysts who work on policy issues related to the work of the panel. The Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans is to be made up of 16 members, with the Speaker, the Senate majority leader, and the House and Senate minority leaders each responsible for appointing four members. All appointments last for the life of the select committee, and any vacancies on the panel are to be filled in within 14 calendar days of their occurrence in the same fashion. Two members of the joint select committee are to serve as co-chairs. Within 14 calendar days after the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018—that is, by February 23, 2018—the Speaker and the Senate majority leader are to jointly appoint one co-chair, and the chamber minority leaders are to jointly appoint the second co-chair. The act states that there are authorized to be paid not more than $500,000 from the appropriations account for "Expenses of Inquiries and Investigations" of the Senate, such sums to be disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate, in accordance with Senate rules and procedures, upon vouchers signed by the joint panel's co-chairs. Authorized funds are to be available for obligation during the period beginning on February 9, 2018, the date of enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, and ending on January 2, 2019. The joint select committee may, upon the written request of its co-chairs, receive technical assistance from any federal agency, including legislative branch agencies. Employees of the legislative branch may be detailed to the joint committee "on a nonreimbursable basis, consistent with the rules and regulations of the Senate." The joint panel's co-chairs may designate one employee as its staff director. Members of the joint select committee are to comply with the ethics rules and standards of their respective chambers. The Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans is to hold its first meeting no later than 30 calendar days after the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018—that is, by March 11, 2018. The co-chairs of the panel are to provide an agenda to committee members at least 48 hours before the meeting. Nine members of the joint select committee constitute a quorum for purposes of meeting and voting. A lesser quorum—five members—may hold hearings. The joint committee is authorized to hold hearings, require the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents (it has subpoena power), take testimony, receive evidence, and administer oaths as it considers advisable. The joint committee is to hold no fewer than five total public hearings or meetings and no fewer than three public hearings, which may include field hearings. An announcement of the date, location, and subject of a hearing is to be made at least seven days in advance, unless the committee co-chairs determine that good cause exists to hold the hearing earlier. (This is the same notice requirement imposed on the standing committees of the House and Senate.) Each co-chair is entitled to select an equal number of witnesses for each hearing. (No such guarantee exists in the standing committees.) Witnesses at the hearing of the joint select committee are to file their written testimony with the panel at least two calendar days before appearing, unless this deadline is waived by the co-chairs for good cause. The law directs the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans to vote, no later than November 30, 2018, on a report that contains detailed findings, conclusions, and recommendations, as well as proposed legislative language to carry out these recommendations. It further states that, for such a report to be approved, it must be supported by a majority of the joint committee members appointed by the Speaker and majority leader of the Senate and by a majority of joint committee members appointed by the House and Senate minority leaders. Proxy voting is not permitted in the select committee. Not later than the last day of the 115 th Congress (2017-2018), the Senate is to vote on a motion to proceed to a bill containing the legislative language recommended by the joint select committee. The text of the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans report is to be made publicly available in electronic form at least 24 hours before the panel votes to approve it. Any select committee member who, at the time the joint select committee votes to approve its report, gives notice of his or her intention to file supplemental, minority, or additional views in the document will have two calendar days thereafter to do so. All properly noticed views are to be included in the final select committee report. After being approved by the requisite majorities, the joint committee is to, within 15 calendar days, submit its report along with legislative language to the President, the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate. The joint select committee must also make its full report, the accompanying legislative language, and a record of votes taken available to the public "promptly." The Bipartisan Budget Act establishes certain unique procedures for Senate consideration of any legislative language reported by the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. These procedures are intended to allow the Senate to reach a timely vote on whether to consider legislation embodying the recommendations of the joint select committee. The act does not provide any special procedures governing consideration of the bill once the Senate has agreed to take it up. The act also does not provide any special procedures governing House consideration of such legislation. When the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans has reported legislative language, and that language has been received, it is to be introduced in the Senate "by request" on the next day of session by the Senate majority leader or his designee. The term by request is used to indicate that the leader is introducing the bill as a ministerial act and may or may not support its provisions. A bill containing the legislative language reported by the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans introduced in the Senate is to be referred "jointly" to the Senate Committee on Finance and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Joint referral means that each committee has the entire bill at the same time, and each is free to act on it in any order. With certain exceptions, Congress generally does not mandate that a committee act within a specified time frame or at all on a bill referred to it. The Bipartisan Budget Act procedure, however, places a deadline by which the Finance and the HELP Committees must act, and it creates a mechanism to "discharge" (that is, remove) the joint committee bill from the committees if they do not. These expediting provisions are intended to prevent a joint committee bill from being long delayed or blocked outright in Senate committee. The committees that are referred a bill representing the legislative language reported by the joint select committee are to report the bill to the Senate without any revision no later than seven Senate session days after introduction. (A session day is any calendar day on which the Senate meets, including in pro forma session.) The committees may report the bill to the Senate with a favorable or unfavorable recommendation or without recommendation. They may not, however, report amendments to the bill. If a committee in possession of a joint select committee bill does not report by this deadline, it will be automatically discharged—that is, the bill will be taken away from them. Whether the committees have reported or been discharged, the bill is to be placed on the Senate Calendar of Business and be eligible for consideration in the full Senate. As noted above, the law directs the Senate to vote on a motion to proceed to a bill containing the legislative language recommended by the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans no later than the last day of the 115 th Congress (2017-2018). No later than two days of Senate session after a joint committee bill has been reported or discharged from the Finance and the HELP Committees, the majority leader or his designee may move to proceed to consider it.