zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), whenever it transmits to a congressional committee any revenue estimates provided to it by the Joint Committee on Taxation for any bill or joint resolution to which this Act applies, also to transmit a revenue estimate incorporating the macroeconomic effects of the policy being analyzed.

Requires a written statement to accompany any such macroeconomic impact statement which discloses fully the economic, technical, and behavioral assumptions made in producing the estimate.

Applies this requirement to any bill or joint resolution: (1) that the Joint Committee determines has a revenue impact exceeding $5 billion in the fiscal year in which the measure becomes effective, or in any of the four ensuing fiscal years; or (2) for which the chair or ranking member of either congressional budget committee requests such an estimate.

Date: 2013-04-10
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Member of Congress Pay Sequestration and Fairness Act - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to include any item for the pay of Members of Congress within the definition of accounts subject to budget enforcement through sequestration.

Date: 2013-04-10
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Buffett Rule Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to donate an amount (not less than $1), in addition to any tax owed, which shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury and transferred to an account used to reduce the public debt.  Requires such donation to be designated on a taxpayer's income tax return at the time such return is filed.

Date: 2013-04-15
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Taxation
Security Clearance Protection Act of 2013 - Requires the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to ensure that any financial hardship incurred by a DOD civilian employee due to a furlough required by sequestration will not affect such employee's: (1) eligibility for continued suitability for employment at DOD, (2) access to classified information, or (3) suitability to hold a position critical to national security.

Date: 2013-04-18
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Employee Hardship Financial Relief Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit federal employees who are furloughed due to sequestration to make penalty-free distributions from their Thrift Savings Account Fund but only to the extent that such distributions do not exceed the aggregate reduction in compensation of such employees resulting from such furlough.

Date: 2013-04-18
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Taxation
Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act of 2013 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require: (1) biennial (instead of annual) budget resolutions, (2) biennial appropriations Acts, and (3) biennial government strategic and performance plans.

Makes conforming amendments to the Rules of the House of Representatives.

Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year.

Requires: (1) a federal agency, upon request by a congressional committee, to provide appropriate information regarding its appropriations requests and program administration; (2) the Comptroller General to furnish to such committee summaries of any audits or reviews of such program which the Comptroller General has completed during the preceding six years; and (3) the Comptroller General, Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to furnish such committee appropriate information, studies, analyses, and reports.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine and report to Congress on the impact and feasibility of changing the definition of a fiscal year, and the budget process based on that definition, to a two-year fiscal period with a biennial budget process based on such period.

Requires the President's budget submission for FY2016 to include: (1) an identification of the budget accounts for which an appropriation should be made for each fiscal year of the FY2016-FY2017 biennium, and (2) budget authority that should be provided for each such fiscal year for the budget accounts.

Directs: (1) the House and Senate committees, during the first session of the 114th Congress, to work with the Comptroller General to develop plans to transition program authorizations to a multi-year schedule; and (2) the Comptroller General, during such Congress, to continue to provide assistance to Congress with respect to programmatic oversight, and in particular to assist the congressional committees in designing and conforming programmatic oversight procedures for FY2016-FY2017 biennium.

Requires a vote of at least three-fifths of the Members in each chamber for passage of any bill or joint resolution, amendment, or conference report making supplemental appropriations.

Date: 2013-04-25
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Safe and Reliable Air Travel Act of 2013 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to exempt from reduction, under any sequestration ordered by the President, funds made available for the operation of: (1) air traffic control towers by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including compensation paid to FAA air traffic control personnel; and (2) contract air traffic control towers.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Legally Binding Budget Act of 2013 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require joint budget resolutions signed by the President instead of the concurrent resolutions now required (which do not have to be signed by the President). Revises accordingly the congressional procedures for considering joint budget resolutions.

Prohibits the consideration of budget-related legislation before the joint budget resolution becomes law.

Requires the joint budget resolution to set forth appropriate levels for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year and for at least each of the four ensuing fiscal years for the public debt limit for display purposes only.

Permits revisions of joint budget resolutions already enacted.

Makes a conforming amendment to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

Makes it out of order in both chambers to consider any joint budget resolution, amendment, or conference report that contains certain matter prohibited by the CBA, particularly inclusion in the surplus or deficit totals of any outlays and revenue totals of the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program under title II of the Social Security Act.

Considers the joint budget resolution as enforceable upon enactment or 15 days following presentment to the President, whichever occurs earlier. (Thus creates an automatic standing order upon a presidential veto of a joint budget resolution.)

Makes conforming amendments to: (1) the Rules of the House of Representatives, and (2) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).

Date: 2013-05-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2013 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (CBICA) to authorize the President to propose the rescission (line item veto) of all or any dollar amount of funding provided by any enacted bill or joint resolution.

Sets forth requirements for the President's transmittal to Congress of a special message regarding the proposed rescission.

Authorizes the President, except for his deferral of budget authority provided in CBICA, to withhold such rescinded funding temporarily from obligation, but only once per proposed rescission.

Dedicates the rescinded funds solely to deficit reduction or increase of a surplus.

Provides for adjustment of: (1) committee allocations resulting from such rescission, and (2) applicable limits under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) revised downward by the amount of such rescissions.

Sets forth procedures for expedited congressional consideration of a proposed rescission.

Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the House Committee on the Budget, whenever an approval bill passes the House of Representatives, to reduce the applicable committee allocations immediately by the total amount of reductions in budget authority and in outlays resulting from such approval.

Terminates on December 15, 2015, the amendments made by this Act, with restoration of the provisions of part B of CBICA as in effect immediately before the enactment of this Act.

Date: 2013-05-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Baseline Reform Act of 2014 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to revise the formula for establishing the budget baseline.

Revises the annual baseline, for any fiscal year, to mean a projection of current-year levels of new budget authority (as under current law), outlays (as under current law), or receipts (instead of revenues) and the surplus or deficit (as under current law) for the current year, the budget year, and the ensuing nine outyears based on laws enacted through the applicable date.

Includes estimates for direct spending in the baseline calculation formula for the budget year and each outyear.

Revises the formula for calculating the baseline for discretionary spending for the budget year and each outyear to eliminate adjustments for: (1) expiring multiyear subsidized housing contracts; (2) administrative expenses of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, the Unemployment Trust Fund, and the Railroad Retirement account; (3) offsets to federal employees' annual pay; and (4) certain inflators used to adjust budgetary resources in the Act.

Requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to report to the congressional budget committees, on or before July 1 of each year, the Long-Term Budget Outlook for: (1) the fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year, and (2) at least the ensuing 40 fiscal years.

Date: 2013-05-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Review Every Dollar Act of 2013 - Makes it out of order in both chambers to consider any bill, joint resolution, or other measure that: (1) reauthorizes any federal program for more than seven fiscal years, or (2) establishes a new federal program that exceeds such period.

Requires each standing congressional committee with legislative jurisdiction over any direct spending program by July 31 during the second session of each Congress to apply specified criteria to determine whether any such program should be modified, terminated, or reauthorized.

Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require each of the chairs of the congressional budget committees to maintain a deficit reduction discretionary account and a deficit reduction direct spending account. Prescribes procedures for the crediting to such accounts of the amounts of either discretionary or direct spending deficit reduction in any amendment to a bill that reduces the appropriate budget authority.

Requires any measure or Act that transfers funds from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund to be counted as new budget authority and outlays equal to the amount of the transfer in the fiscal year in which it occurs.

Prohibits from taking effect, except according to a specified procedure, any rule made to carry out a direct spending program that would require new budget authority of at least $100 million for the fiscal year it takes effect or for any of the nine ensuing fiscal years. Limits exceptions to this prohibition to rules necessary: (1) because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, for the enforcement of criminal laws, or for national security; or (2) to implement an international trade agreement. Requires also for such an exception that the new budget authority to carry it out is provided by law.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) review proposed rules requiring new budget authority before their effective dates, and (2) take specified administrative steps to prevent further agency action pertaining to such rulemaking.

Date: 2013-05-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Pro-Growth Budgeting Act of 2014 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to prepare for each major bill or resolution reported by any congressional committee (except the congressional appropriations committees), as a supplement to CBO cost estimates, a macroeconomic impact analysis of the budgetary effects of such legislation for the 10-fiscal year period beginning with the first fiscal year for which such estimate was prepared and each of the next three 10-fiscal year periods.

Defines "major bill or resolution" as any bill or resolution whose budgetary effects, for any fiscal year in the period for which a CBO cost estimate is prepared, is estimated to be greater than .25% of the current projected U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) for that fiscal year.

Requires the analysis to describe: (1) the potential economic impact of the bill or resolution on major economic variables, including real GDP, business investment, the capital stock, employment, interest rates, and labor supply; and (2) the potential fiscal effects of the measure, including any estimates of revenue increases or decreases resulting from changes in GDP.

Requires the analysis (or a technical appendix to it) to specify the economic and econometric models used, sources of data, relevant data transformations, as well as any explanation necessary to make the models comprehensible to academic and public policy analysts. Requires the CBO, five fiscal years after the enactment of any major bill or joint resolution for which it prepared a macroeconomic impact analysis, to report to the congressional budget committees on the accuracy of the original analysis.

Date: 2013-05-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Stop Pay for Members Act - Prohibits the satisfaction of the obligation to pay basic pay of Members of Congress, if the U.S. public debt reaches the public debt limit, until: (1) all other obligations of the U.S. government then due have been satisfied; or (2) if earlier, the ability of the U.S. Treasury to satisfy such obligations in a timely manner is restored, whether by an increase in the public debt limit or otherwise.

Declares that each Member of Congress consents and agrees that payment of basic pay in accordance with this Act shall constitute a full and complete discharge and acquittance of all claims and demands for service as such a Member during the period covered by the payment.

Date: 2013-05-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
War on Debt Act of 2013 - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish and administer a new series of U.S. savings bonds to be known as "War on Debt Bonds," to be used first solely to reduce the amount of foreign-held public debt, and then to reduce other public debt.

 Sets the maturity and redemption date of a War on Debt Bond at 50 years from the date of issue. Requires certain annual principal and interest payments, which shall not be includible in gross income under the Internal Revenue Code.

Allows redemption of such a Bond before 50 years if during any fiscal year during which it is outstanding: (1) the federal budget deficit exceeds 3% of gross domestic product (GDP), or (2) the public debt exceeds 10% of GDP.

Limits the holding of a War on Debt Bond to: (1) U.S. citizens or residents; (2) domestic partnerships, or domestic corporations (not more than 1% of the ownership interest of which is held, directly or indirectly, by a person who is not a U.S. person); or (3) estates or trusts which are U.S. persons, unless there is a trust beneficiary who is not a U.S. person.

Date: 2013-05-13
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act with respect to the payment of cash benefits or administrative expenses from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund (applicable federal funds) during any debt limit default period.

Requires that during a debt limit default period public debt obligations held by the applicable federal fund be sold or redeemed in an amount not to exceed the sum of: (1) the face amount of obligations held by the fund which mature during the month in question; plus (2) the amount necessary only to pay such benefits or administrative expenses, and only to the extent cash assets of the fund are not available during that period to make such payments.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in order to undertake the sale or redemption of public debt obligations held by the applicable federal fund, to issue corresponding public debt obligations to the public in order to obtain the amounts necessary to make such payments, notwithstanding the public debt limit.

Declares that, in the event that the Secretary is not able to issue obligations to make all authorized payments because the public debt limit has been reached, the Secretary shall give equal priority to the following: (1) payments of principal and interest on public debt; (2) payments of amounts that the Secretary of Defense (DOD) (and the Secretary of Homeland Security [DHS] in the case of the Coast Guard) determines to be necessary to continue pay and allowances (without interruption) to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including their reserve components, who perform active service; (3) payments determined by the President (and reported to the Congress) to be necessary to continue U.S. priorities of its vital national security interests; and (4) payments for items and services under SSA title XVIII (Medicare).

Makes appropriations, for any period of lapsed appropriations, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the Secretary of Defense (and the Secretary of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard) to continue to provide pay and allowances (without interruption) to members of the U.S. armed forces.

Date: 2013-05-14
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Stop the Sequester Job Loss Now Act Through 2014 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to repeal the FY2013-FY2014 sequesters.

Makes the budgetary resources for FY2013, which were sequestered by the presidential sequestration order, available for obligation for the same purpose, in the same amount as otherwise would have been available on the date of enactment of this Act and before October 1, 2013, and in the same manner as if such order had not been issued.

Reduces the defense discretionary spending limits for the security category for FY2017-FY2021.

Eliminates the 2% maximum permissible reduction in budget authority for veterans' medical care.

Extends through FY2014 agricultural commodity programs generally under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, but not the direct payment programs for wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, long and medium grain rice, soybeans, other oilseeds, and peanuts.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) prohibit the use of the last-in, first out (LIFO) accounting method by major integrated oil companies, (2) deny such oil companies a tax deduction for income attributable to the domestic production of oil and gas, and (3) deny them also the tax deduction for intangible drilling and development costs.

Requires an individual high-income taxpayer whose adjusted gross income exceeds $1 million (adjusted annually for inflation) to pay a minimum (fair share) tax rate of 30% of the excess of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income over the taxpayer's modified charitable contribution deduction for the taxable year.

Declares that it is the sense of the House that Congress should replace the entire 10-year sequester established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 with a balanced approach that would: (1) increase revenues without increasing the tax burden on middle-income Americans; and (2) decrease long-term spending while maintaining the Medicare guarantee, protecting Social Security and a strong social safety net, and making strategic investments in education, science, research, and critical infrastructure necessary to compete in the global economy.

Date: 2013-05-20
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Unemployment Restoration Act - Makes available for obligation, in the same amount and manner as if such order had not been issued, any budgetary resources sequestered under the presidential sequestration order issued on March 1, 2013, for federal payments to a state under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 and similar payments under the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008, pursuant to a federal-state agreement.

 Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to apply the same requirements for FY2014-FY2021 with respect to any presidential sequestration order that might be issued.

Date: 2013-05-23
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Prohibits a federal agency from paying a performance award to an employee in a Senior Executive Service position during a sequestration period or any period during which a sequestration order is issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act.

Date: 2013-06-03
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Pay Your Bills or Lose Your Pay Act of 2013 - Requires the appropriate payroll administrator of each house of Congress to deposit in an escrow account all mandatory payments for compensation of Members of Congress serving in that house during a specified period beginning when the federal government is unable to make payments or meet obligations because the public debt has been reached. Requires release of such payments to those Members only upon the earlier of: (1) the date on which both chambers present a bill to the President to increase the public debt, or (2) the last day of the 113th Congress.

Date: 2013-06-12
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Patents and Trademarks Encourage New Technology Jobs Act or the PATENT Jobs Act - Requires, notwithstanding the presidential sequestration order issued on March 1, 2013, that the budgetary resources sequestered with respect to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) be available for obligation for the same purpose and in the same manner as if such order had not been issued.

Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to expand the list of budget accounts exempt from reduction under certain sequestration orders issued by the President to include the USPTO.

Date: 2013-06-28
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to authorize the President to exempt Department of Defense (DOD) civilian personnel accounts from sequestration (automatic across-the-board budget cuts).

Date: 2013-07-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to authorize the President to exempt civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) who served in the Armed Forces on or after August 2, 2011, from sequestration or provide for a lower uniform percentage reduction in their compensation than would otherwise apply.

Date: 2013-07-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Sequestration Tied to Member Pay (STOMP) Act of 2013 - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 with respect to the annual rate of compensation of Members of Congress.

Requires that if, during either of the two most recent fiscal years ending before a Congress, the effective annual rate of pay of federal employees is reduced because of a sequestration-related furlough, the annual rate of pay otherwise applicable for Members during the Congress be reduced by a percentage equal to the average percentage reduction in the effective annual rate of pay during the fiscal years for all federal employees.

Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), by December 15 of each even-numbered year, to determine and publish the percentage (if any) by which the Members' annual rate of pay otherwise applicable shall be reduced during the next Congress.

Date: 2013-07-11
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Requires the President's budget submission to Congress to: (1) list each program, and its proposed funding level, that will be a one-time expense for the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted; and, in addition to the performance standards required, (2) a proposal, by budget function and agency, for reductions in spending for each of the four ensuing fiscal years.

Requires the President, for each budget item being conducted in the current fiscal year, to provide: (1) the amount appropriated or otherwise made available for the item in that year, and (2) the amount of any proposed adjustment in the funding level for the item and its justification.

 Requires the President, if he proposes an adjustment resulting in a funding increase for a budget item, to include with the proposal the amount of the adjustment that is a result of inflation and the amount that is a result of an increase in employees' salaries or benefits.

Requires the President to provide for each major program in a budget function specified in the required estimated budget outlays and proposed budget authority: (1) the amount appropriated or otherwise made available for it in the current fiscal year; and (2) a separate amount (if any) of its expected increase in the following fiscal year owing to inflation, pay increases, or benefit increases.

Date: 2013-07-11
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
American Public Housing Act of 2013 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to exempt from reduction, under any sequestration ordered by the President, the following Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) accounts:

 Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, Indian Housing Loan Guarantee Fund Program Account, Native American Housing Block Grants, Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant, Project-Based Rental Assistance, Public Housing Capital Fund, Public Housing Operating Fund, and Tenant-Based Rental Assistance.

Date: 2013-07-16
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Food and Drug Administration Safety Over Sequestration Act of 2013 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to exempt from sequestration calculations (mandatory across-the-board spending cuts) user fees that fund salaries and other administrative expenses of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Date: 2013-07-18
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Health
District of Columbia Financial Efficiency Act of 2013 - Amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to authorize a change of the District of Columbia fiscal year by an Act of the D.C. Council.

Appropriates, out of any moneys of the District of Columbia government not otherwise appropriated, and out of applicable corporate or other revenues, receipts, and funds, the amount provided for any project or activity for which funds are provided in the local budget act for such fiscal year, if as of the first day of the District government fiscal year neither the regular District of Columbia appropriation bill for the fiscal year nor a District of Columbia continuing resolution for such fiscal year is in effect.

Declares that an appropriation and funds made available or authority granted for a project or activity for a fiscal year under this Act shall be at the rate of operations provided for it under the local budget act for the fiscal year.

Terminates such an appropriation and the availability of those funds: (1) during any period of the fiscal year in which a District of Columbia continuing resolution for the fiscal year is in effect, or (2) upon enactment of the regular District of Columbia appropriation bill for such fiscal year.

Specifies restrictions on programs or activities subject to other appropriations Acts.

States that nothing in this Act shall be construed to effect obligations of the District government mandated by other law.

Increases the salary of the District's Chief Financial Officer to a rate that does not exceed the total annual compensation payable to the Vice President (currently, that does not exceed the rate at level I of the Executive Schedule).

Date: 2013-07-23
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Defense Flexibility Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to transfer amounts appropriated to the Department of Defense (DOD) in any of FY2014-FY2021 that are subject to reduction under a sequestration order issued pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 between such appropriations to address an urgent national priority or the consequences of a national emergency resulting from such sequestration.

Limits the amount transferred to an appropriation under this Act to the amount by which such appropriation is reduced under the sequestration order. Prohibits obligation of transferred amounts unless the Secretary notifies the House and Senate Armed Services Committees at least 30 days in advance of such transfer.

Date: 2013-07-31
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Debt Ceiling Alternative Act - Prescibes presidential action if the Treasury issues for a quarter a marketable borrowing estimate that the federal debt will reach the statutory limit during that quarter. Requires the President, in that case, to ensure that the aggregate amounts deposited in the Treasury from the sale of specified assets and the disposal of real property, as well as the amount of any rescissions of certain unobligated balances, is sufficient to prevent the federal debt from reaching the statutory limit during the quarter.

Authorizes the President to order the sale of the following assets, depositing the proceeds in the Treasury:

 on-balance sheet non-performing mortgages of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), other mortgages owned or held by them, real estate owned properties of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and mortgage-backed securities held by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any federal reserve bank. Requires any funds realized through this Act to be used only for the retirement of old debt and issuance of new debt.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct a five-year Federal Real Property Disposal Pilot Program, under which real property not meeting federal government needs may be disposed.

Prescribes requirements for the expedited disposal of such real property.

Limits to 750 the total number of cash sales of real properties to be disposed of over the five-year term.

Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to report to Congress and make publicly available a study of the Program's effectiveness.

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, in addition to any other authority provided by law, to issue obligations to pay with legal tender, and solely for the purpose of paying, the principal and interest on U.S. obligations held by the public, or held by the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Disability Insurance Trust Fund, in the event that the federal debt reaches the statutory limit after enactment of this Act.

 Prohibits: (1) the use of the issued obligations to pay compensation for Members of Congress, and (2) these obligations from being taken into account in applying the current $16.394 trillion public debt limit to the extent that they would otherwise cause such limit to be exceeded.

 Requires the Secretary, if such authority is exercised after enactment of this Act, to report to specified congressional committees each week the authority is in use and provide an accounting of: (1) the principal on mature obligations and interest due or accrued by the United States, and (2) any obligations issued pursuant to this Act.

Authorizes the President, if a federal budget deficit exists in 2014, to rescind by July 16, 2015, any unobligated balances of the funds made available before October 1, 2009.

Date: 2013-08-02
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act of 2013 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require: (1) biennial (instead of annual) budget resolutions, (2) biennial appropriations Acts, and (3) biennial government strategic and performance plans.

Makes conforming amendments to the Rules of the House of Representatives.

Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year.

Requires: (1) a federal agency, upon request by a congressional committee, to provide appropriate information regarding its appropriations requests and program administration; (2) the Comptroller General to furnish to such committee summaries of any audits or reviews of such program which the Comptroller General has completed during the preceding six years; and (3) the Comptroller General, Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to furnish such committee appropriate information, studies, analyses, and reports.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine and report to Congress on the impact and feasibility of changing the definition of a fiscal year, and the budget process based on that definition, to a two-year fiscal period with a biennial budget process based on such period.

Requires the President's budget submission for FY2016 to include: (1) an identification of the budget accounts for which an appropriation should be made for each fiscal year of the FY2016-FY2017 biennium, and (2) budget authority that should be provided for each such fiscal year for the budget accounts.

Directs: (1) the House and Senate committees, during the first session of the 114th Congress, to work with the Comptroller General to develop plans to transition program authorizations to a multi-year schedule; and (2) the Comptroller General, during such Congress, to continue to provide assistance to Congress with respect to programmatic oversight, and in particular to assist the congressional committees in designing and conforming programmatic oversight procedures for FY2016-FY2017 biennium.

Date: 2013-08-02
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
District of Columbia Government Shutdown Avoidance Act of 2013 - Amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to authorize the District of Columbia to obligate and expend local funds for projects and activities in accordance with the local budget act for the fiscal year, at the rate of operations provided under that act, during any portion of a fiscal year in which neither the regular District of Columbia appropriation bill for such fiscal year nor a District of Columbia continuing resolution for it is in effect.

Date: 2013-09-12
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Savings, Accountability, Value, and Efficiency II Act or SAVE II Act - Requires the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Task Force to conduct an examination of the entire UAS portfolio of the Department of Defense (DOD), including UAS requirements, platforms, payloads, and ground control stations, to develop strategies for improved interoperability of existing systems.

Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) identify areas in which commonality with other unmanned aircraft systems across the UAS portfolio will be achieved, (2) request a federally-funded research and development center to conduct an independent study on UAS interoperability and overlap issues, (3) report to Congress on the examination of the UAS portfolio and the UAS independent study, and (4) issue revised excess inventory management guidance and report to Congress on such guidance.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the denial, revocation, or limitation of a passport or passport card for individuals with a seriously delinquent tax debt in excess of $50,000. Prohibits the Secretary of State from issuing a passport to an individual with a seriously delinquent tax debt and requires the Secretary to revoke the passport of such an individual, with an exception for emergency circumstances or humanitarian reasons. Allows disclosure of tax return information to the Secretary for purposes of processing passports of individuals with a seriously delinquent tax debt.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report on the merits and feasibility of converting from a retrospective antidumping and countervailing duty collection system to a prospective one, including an estimate of costs and cost savings resulting from such a conversion.

Requires the Inspector General of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to report on the effectiveness of each USAID foreign assistance program and project.

Directs the Attorney General to convert by 2015 all X-ray systems in federal prisons from analog, film-based systems to digital, filmless systems.

Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from minting or issuing any coin, or engraving or printing any U.S. currency, that costs more to produce than the denomination of such coin or currency.

Requires the Public Printer of the Government Printing Office (GPO) to make any document of the House of Representatives or Senate available only in an electronic format accessible through the Internet and prohibits the printing or distribution of a printed copy of any such document, with a limited exception for requests by any person for whom the Public Printer would have been required to provide a printed copy.

Date: 2013-09-19
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Protect America's Credit Act of 2013 - Modifies public debt limit requirements to specify that the debt limit amount applies only to debt held by the public.

Reduces the public debt limit by the excess of: (1) the face amount of obligations issued under the federal government's borrowing authority and the face amount of obligations whose principal and interest are guaranteed by the federal government (except guaranteed obligations held by the Secretary of the Treasury), over (2) the face amount of obligations issued under such borrowing authority to the public and the face amount of obligations issued to the public whose principal and interest are guaranteed by the federal government.

Requires an increase in the public debt limit each year by an amount equal to the product of such amount as in effect as of the close of the preceding calendar year multiplied by the percentage, if any, by which the Current-Dollar GDP for the third quarter of the preceding calendar year exceeds the Current-Dollar GDP for the third quarter of the second preceding calendar year.

Defines "Current-Dollar GDP" as the current-dollar gross domestic product as computed and published by the Department of Commerce.

Directs the Secretary to report to Congress annually regarding the increase in the debt limit that will take effect the next calendar year, including a description of how each increase in the statutory limit compares to the actual increase in debt.

Date: 2013-09-19
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Pay Down the Debt Act of 2013 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a budget target for: (1) FY2016 that is a ratio of debt held by the public to the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) that is lower than the ratio in FY2015, and (2) a fiscal year after FY2016 that is a ratio of such debt to the GDP that does not exceed the ratio in the prior fiscal year.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report each year to the President and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to report to Congress whether the projected debt-to-GDP ratio will exceed the prior fiscal year's ratio in any of the five ensuing fiscal years. Requires the President's budget submission to Congress to include recommendations to achieve the budget targets set by this Act if the OMB report indicates that ratios of debt to GDP will be exceeded in any of FY2016-FY2024. Requires a concurrent resolution on the budget, if the CBO report indicates that for any of such fiscal years the ratios will be exceeded, to include stabilization instructions directing congressional committees to determine and recommend changes in laws within their jurisdictions that achieve the budget targets set forth in this Act.

Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to: (1) consider any concurrent resolution on the budget that fails to include directions sufficient to achieve budget targets set by this Act, or (2) consider any legislation that provides a net increase in mandatory budget authority or a net decrease in revenues.

Suspends the requirements of this Act for any fiscal year: (1) if the Secretary of the Treasury notifies the President and each chamber of Congress and publishes in the Federal Register that the estimated real GDP in a fiscal year would exceed the real GDP of the prior year by less than 1%; or (2) upon enactment of a joint resolution stating that the stabilization legislation would cause or exacerbate an economic downturn.

Allows any Member of the House of Representatives or the Senate to introduce a bill to achieve the applicable budget target if Congress has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget by June 15 of a calendar year in which the debt stabilization process has been triggered by a report by the Director of CBO. Requires such Director to prepare and submit to Congress a cost estimate for the bill. Provides for expedited congressional consideration of the bill if it has at least 50 cosponsors in the House of Representatives or 10 in the Senate.

Date: 2013-09-19
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Pay Our Veterans and Seniors First Act - Prohibits a Member of Congress, the President, the Vice President, and the head of any executive department from receiving: (1) basic pay for any period in which there is more than a 24-hour lapse in appropriations for any executive agency as a result of a failure to enact a regular appropriations bill or continuing resolution, or (2) retroactive pay for such period.

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, during any lapse in FY2014 appropriations when interim or full-year appropriations for the affected accounts have not been enacted, to transfer to the appropriate Secretary from amounts in the general fund of the Treasury not otherwise appropriated such amounts as are necessary to provide the following: pay and allowances to members of the Armed Forces, including reserve component members, who perform active service; benefits under the TRICARE for Life program, Medicare, and title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act; and veterans' benefits and programs.

Date: 2013-09-19
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Government Shutdown Fairness Act - Requires a reduction in the annual rate of pay of a Member of Congress during a government shutdown equal to the product of 1 day's worth of pay under such annual rate and the number of 24-hour periods during which the government shutdown is in effect. Makes such reduction applicable to days occurring after the date of the general election for federal office held in November 2014.

Requires any amount of pay of a Member of Congress in the 113th Congress that is reduced due to a government shutdown to be held in escrow until the last day of the 113th Congress and released for payment to Members at that time.

Date: 2013-09-20
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Prohibits disinvestment of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund amounts from public debt obligations, any refraining from making such investments, or any delay in making normal deposits in such Trust Funds for public debt limit-related purposes. Authorizes, with certain conditions, the sale of Trust Fund public debt obligations for the payment of cash benefits and administrative expenses.

Date: 2013-09-20
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Social welfare
Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, during a government-wide shutdown, to make available, out of any amounts in the general fund of the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such amounts as are necessary to provide:

 pay and allowances to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including reserve components, who perform active service during the funding gap; pay and allowances, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, to civilian personnel and contractors of the Department of Defense (DOD) who are providing support to such members of the Armed Forces; amounts necessary to carry out the authority of the Department of the Treasury to pay with legal tender the principal and interest on debt held by the public; such amounts as the President certifies to Congress are necessary to carry out vital national security priorities, as well as government functions necessary for protecting public health and safety; and amounts necessary to make payments under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (SSA), as well as payments under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps). Defines "government-wide shutdown" as any portion of a fiscal year during which none of the appropriation bills for the fiscal year have become law and an Act or joint resolution making continuing appropriations for the fiscal year is not in effect.

Directs the Managing Trustee of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund (including the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund), during such a shutdown, to make available to the Commissioner of Social Security such amounts as the Commissioner determines to be necessary for the uninterrupted payment of monthly insurance benefits under SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and benefits under SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI).

Prohibits Members of Congress and the President from receiving basic pay during a government-wide shutdown and from receiving such forfeited pay retroactively.

Date: 2013-09-20
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance