zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Biennial Budgeting Act of 2008 - 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 FY2010 to include: (1) an identification of the budget accounts for which an appropriation should be made for each fiscal year of the FY2010-FY2011 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 110th 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 FY2010-FY2011 biennium.

Date: 2007-05-23
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Fiscal Honesty and Accountability Act of 2007 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to extend Pay-As-You-Go requirements through FY2012 and enforcement mechanisms through FY2016. Requires the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) each to report to the House Committee on the Budget on how to broaden the Pay-As-You-Go sequestration base and make it more fair and equitable. Extends through FY2011 the spending limits (spending caps) for the discretionary categories in new budget authority and outlays. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to address issues of emergency spending by requiring: (1) Committee on the Budget guidelines; (2) a separate House vote on an emergency designation; and (3) detailed reserve funds for emergencies in the President's budget request to Congress. Prescribes a procedure for adjustments in committee allocations resulting from such spending in joint budget resolutions. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to prohibit floor amendments to amendments reported by the Committee on the Budget (or from the consideration of which the Committee has been discharged) with respect to legislation for emergency reserve funds for certain military operations. Prohibits consideration of an amendment to a joint budget resolution which changes the amount of budget authority and outlays set forth in the CBA for the emergency reserve fund. Requires reports on legislation which provide new budget, spending, or credit authority, or otherwise provide an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures, to include a CBO projection of the cost of debt servicing (interest). Amends the CBA concerning: (1) CBO cost analysis (scoring) for conference reports; (2) legislation which evades specified budget enforcement mechanisms; and (3) legislation which is unreported by committee (for purposes of budget point of order rules). Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives concerning: (1) budget compliance statements (permitting inclusion of budgetary implications); (2) requirements for budget act waivers (inclusion mandatory for bill consideration); and (3) a separate vote to waive a major budget act point of order.

Date: 2007-06-12
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Budget Enforcement and Accountability Act of 2007 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to extend Pay-As-You-Go requirements through FY2012 and enforcement mechanisms through FY2016. Requires the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) each to report to the House Committee on the Budget on how to broaden the Pay-As-You-Go sequestration base and make it more fair and equitable. Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any legislation or related motion that waives or suspends sequestration requirements of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act or otherwise would alter the balances of the Pay-As-You-Go scorecard under it. Makes it out of order in the House or Senate to consider direct spending or receipts legislation, or a related motion, that would affect its treatment under such Act. Permits waiver or suspension of such requirements, or successful appeals from rulings of the Chair, only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths (60) of the Senate. Makes it out of order in the House to consider a rule or order that waives the application of this Act.

Date: 2007-06-12
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act of 2007 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action to address, and report to the President and Congress on, the nation's long-term fiscal imbalances, including those attributable to the Medicare and Social Security programs and the gap between their projected revenues and expenditures.Provides for expedited legislative consideration of Task Force recommendations.

Date: 2007-09-25
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Social Security and Medicare Solvency Commission Act - Establishes the National Commission on Entitlement Solvency to review and report to the President and Congress on the Social Security and Medicare programs with respect to: (1) their current and long-term actuarial financial condition; (2) problems that may threaten their long-term solvency, and potential solutions; and (3) recommendations and proposed legislative language that will ensure their long-term solvency and the provision of appropriate benefits.Provides for expedited congressional consideration of Commission recommendations.

Date: 2007-10-02
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate final regulations revising case management and targeted case management under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. (Currently, such regulations may be effective and final immediately on an interim basis as of their publication date.)Requires such regulations to be consistent with: (1) federal rule making notice and comment requirements, except that the period of public comment on them shall be at least 80 days; and (2) congressional review requirements.Makes the regulations effective at least 90 days after publication in the Federal Register or presentation to each chamber or the Comptroller General, whichever occurs later.Repeals the Secretary's authority to change or revise such regulations after completion of the comment period.

Date: 2007-10-23
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Health
Invest in USA Act of 2007 - Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 to: (1) make the alien investor (EB-5) regional center program permanent; and (2) establish a $2,500 regional center designation fee. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) establish a $2,000 EB-5 premium processing fee; (2) permit concurrent filing for EB-5 petitions and status adjustment applications; and (3) establish in the Treasury the Immigrant Entrepreneur Regional Account Center.

Date: 2007-12-19
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Immigration
Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to extend through FY2012 the requirement for the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the Department of Commerce to make payments from the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund to implement a program to reimburse each licensee of an eligible low-power television station for equipment to upgrade low-power television stations from analog to digital in eligible rural communities. Requires such reimbursements to be issued to eligible stations on or after February 18, 2009 (currently, no earlier than FY2010).

Date: 2008-04-03
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Fiscal Integrity through Transparency (FIT) Act of 2008 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the House of Representatives or in the Senate to consider any budget resolution for any fiscal year if the percentage increase for the projected total outlays compared to the projected total outlays for the preceding fiscal year exceeds the allowable growth percentage, as determined according to a specified formula. Requires a super majority vote in either chamber to waive or suspend such prohibition. Requires federal departments and agencies to report annually to the Comptroller General, and federal intelligence departments and agencies and their intelligence-related divisions to report annually to the House Select Committee on Intelligence, on total department or agency operating costs for the year, with a separate statement detailing waste, fraud, and abuse during such year. Requires each federal department or agency to design and implement a plan to reduce its operational costs from $.36 to $.15 of every $1.00 appropriated to it (or reduce such costs by 41.67%) through the use of new technologies and standard management practices. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to include, on each federal tax return, a statement of the aggregate dollar amount of waste, fraud, and abuse by all federal departments and agencies for the most recent year accounted for. Requires all requests for earmarks received by the congressional appropriations committtees or subcommittees to be posted on their respective websites at least 14 calendar days before mark-up of the applicable measure. Requires each such posting to include the name of the requesting Member, the cost of the earmark, and a justification of its need.

Date: 2008-05-21
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
End the Trade Deficit Act - Establishes the Emergency Commission To End the Trade Deficit to develop a trade policy plan to eliminate the U.S. merchandise trade deficit and to develop a competitive trade policy for the 21st century.Requires the Commission to report to the President and to Congress on: (1) its findings and conclusions; (2) a detailed plan for reducing both the overall trade deficit and specific bilateral trade deficits; and (3) any recommendations for administrative and legislative actions necessary for such reductions.Prohibits the President from submitting to Congress any free trade agreement or legislation implementing one until: (1) the report has been delivered to Congress and to the President; and (2) specified congressional committees have completed a hearing on it.

Date: 2008-08-01
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Restoring Fiscal Discipline Act of 2007 - Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider any direct spending or revenue legislation that would increase or cause an on-budget deficit during certain specified time periods. Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider, under the expedited procedures applicable to reconciliation in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA), any bill, resolution, amendment, amendment between chambers, motion, or conference report that increases the deficit or reduces the surplus in the first fiscal year or the ensuing five or 10 fiscal years covered by the most recently adopted concurrent resolution on the budget. Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider, pursuant to CBA, any resolution, concurrent resolution, amendment, amendment between the chambers, motion, or conference report that contains reconciliation directives that would increase the deficit or reduce the surplus in such fiscal years.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Social Security and Medicare Solvency Commission Act - Establishes the National Commission on Entitlement Solvency to review and report to the President and Congress on the Social Security and Medicare programs with respect to: (1) their current and long-term actuarial financial condition; (2) problems that may threaten their long-term solvency, and potential solutions; and (3) recommendations and proposed legislative language that will ensure their long-term solvency and the provision of appropriate benefits. Provides for expedited congressional consideration of Commission recommendations.

Date: 2007-01-22
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Social welfare
H-Prize Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Energy to award competitive cash prizes to advance the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of hydrogen energy technologies. Designates prize-eligible categories, including: (1) advancements in certain hydrogen components or systems; (2) prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or other hydrogen-based products that meet or exceed certain performance criteria; and (3) transformational changes in technologies for hydrogen distribution or production that meet or exceed far-reaching criteria, including minimal carbon emissions, and which may include cost criteria designed to facilitate the eventual market success of a winning technology.

Date: 2007-01-23
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Energy
Securing America's Future Economy Budget Process Reform Act, or SAFE Budget Process Reform Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require adoption of a joint resolution by the House and Senate to extend discretionary spending caps in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Amends the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to extend Pay-As-You-Go requirements, and certain deficit control rules. Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider direct spending or revenue legislation that would cause a deficit or increase the deficit for any one of three applicable time periods. Amends CBA to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to prepare an estimate for legislation reported from committee (except measures within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Appropriations) or placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, including related amendments or conference reports, on whether the measure would cause a net increase in direct spending in excess of $5 billion in any of the five 10-year periods beginning with the budget year. Federal Insurance Budgeting Act of 2005 - Requires that, starting FY2012, the President's budget submission to Congress be based upon the risk-assumed cost of federal insurance programs for accrual budgeting purposes. Amends cost requirements of federal insurance programs. Requires agencies responsible for federal insurance programs to develop models to estimate their risk-assumed cost by year. Amends CBA to revise the federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Establishes the Commission on Federal Budget Concepts. Repeals Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act requirements for emergency adjustments to spending legislation. Amends CBA to prescribe requirements for such adjustments, including a reserve fund for emergencies.

Date: 2007-05-03
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Rural Students College, Career, and Community Readiness Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to up to two nonprofit organizations to conduct higher education and career readiness demonstration projects. Requires grantees to partner with rural local educational agencies and schools to enroll a cohort of seventh grade students and a cohort of ninth grade students into the demonstration projects, which are to provide such students with approximately 25 hours of informational and educational services in each grade through grade 12 that prepare them for higher education and a successful career.

Date: 2007-07-13
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Education
Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate final regulations revising case management and targeted case management under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. (Currently, such regulations may be effective and final immediately on an interim basis as of their publication date.)Requires such regulations to be consistent with: (1) federal rule making notice and comment requirements, except that the period of public comment on them shall be at least 80 days; and (2) congressional review requirements.Makes the regulations effective at least 90 days after publication in the Federal Register or presentation to each chamber or the Comptroller General, whichever occurs later.Repeals the Secretary's authority to change or revise such regulations after completion of the comment period.

Date: 2007-11-01
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Health
DTV Transition Assistance Act - Amends the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (title III of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005) with respect to the low-power television and translator digital-to-analog conversion program. Requires the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the Department of Commerce to determine whether the full amounts provided from the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund will be needed for payments to eligible low-power TV stations toward purchase of a digital-to-analog conversion device to convert the incoming digital signal of their corresponding full-power TV station to analog format transmission on the low-power TV station's analog channel. Permits the Secretary to make adjustments to such determination from time to time. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary, if such full amounts are not needed, to use the remaining amount for consumer education and technical assistance regarding the digital television (DTV) transition and the availability of the digital-to-analog converter box program (in addition to any pre-existing amounts expended for such purpose). Allows the use of such funds for partnering with, providing grants to, and contracting with non-profit organizations or public interest groups in achieving these efforts. Requires the Assistant Secretary, if such education program is initiated, to develop a plan to address the educational and technical assistance needs of vulnerable populations, such as senior citizens, individuals residing in rural and remote areas, and minorities, including, where appropriate, education plans focusing on the need for analog pass-through digital converter boxes in areas served by low-power or translator stations. Requires the Assistant Secretary also to consider the speed with which these objectives can be accomplished to the greatest public benefit. Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to extend through FY2012 the requirement for the Assistant Secretary to make payments from the Fund to implement a program to reimburse each licensee of an eligible low-power television station for equipment to upgrade low-power television stations from analog to digital in eligible rural communities. Requires such reimbursements to be issued to eligible stations on or after February 18, 2009 (currently, no earlier than October 1, 2010).

Date: 2008-02-07
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
10 Steps for a Main Street Economic Recovery Act of 2008 - Amends the Small Business Act concerning 7(a) loans (general small business loans) made by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) increase certain loan amounts; (2) direct the SBA Administrator to establish an optional business size standard for 7(a) loan applicants and for development company loan applicants under title V of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958; and (3) revise provisions concerning the pooling of SBA loans for sale on the secondary market. Establishes a community express program under which the Administrator may guarantee the payment of principal and interest on loans of up to $150,000 made to small businesses owned and controlled by women, Indian tribes, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, veterans and reserve members, small businesses located in low- or moderate-income areas or in a special market initiative, and HUBZone (heavily underutilized business zone) small businesses. Directs the Administrator to: (1) carry out a rural lender and new lender outreach program and guarantee small business loans of up to $500,000 made by such lenders; and (2) establish an online underwriting program guide to develop the lending capacity of such lenders. Revises provisions concerning the 504 program (SBA financings to small businesses through certified development companies [CDCs]) to: (1) increase maximum loan amounts; (2) include as a program goal the expansion of businesses in low-income communities; (3) allow CDC financings to include a limited amount of other-debt refinancing; and (4) allow the Administrator to guarantee repayment of a limited amount of third party financing obtained by loan pool assemblers, and to issue trust certificates representing all or a part of such guaranteed amount. Direct the Administrator, during FY2009-FY2010, to collect no lending fees, and reduce other fees, in connection with certain 7(a) and 504 loan programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2010 for the Microloan program (SBA start-up, acquisition, and expansion loans to very small businesses). Increases maximum leverage amounts available to small business investment companies. Directs the Administrator to develop an emergency small business lending advertising strategy to inform small businesses of the availability of loans through lenders participating in SBA programs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise or add small business tax provisions, including providing for: (1) an extension of a temporary increase in limitations on expensing certain depreciable business assets; (2) a five-year carryback of certain net operating losses; and (3) the temporary suspension of the 90% limit on certain net operating loss carrybacks and carryovers. Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to include certain trust certificates issued by the Administrator under the 7(a) and 504 loan programs as "troubled assets" (thereby qualifying them under such Act's troubled assets relief program).

Date: 2008-11-19
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Commerce
Deficit Accountability Act of 2009 - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to provide that pay for Members of Congress may not be increased by any adjustment scheduled to take effect in a calendar year if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) determines there was a deficit in the preceding fiscal year.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Customs Business Fairness Act of 2009 - Amends bankruptcy law to establish an 11th priority in a debtor's relief plan for the payment of unsecured claims of customs brokers and sureties for duties, taxes, or other charges paid by them to U.S. Customs and Border Protection on behalf of a debtor that imports merchandise entered for consumption within one year before the debtor's filing of a petition for relief.

Date: 2009-01-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Makes 2% across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security discretionary spending for FY2009.

Date: 2009-01-09
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Makes 1% across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security discretionary spending for FY2009.

Date: 2009-01-09
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Makes 5% across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security discretionary spending for FY2009.

Date: 2009-01-09
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Responsible Highway Investment Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate the requirement that obligations held by the Highway Trust Fund be U.S. obligations that are not interest-bearing.

Date: 2009-01-09
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Taxation
Truth in Accounting Act of 2009 - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to include in the audited financial statement of executive branch accounts of the previous year a calculation of the net present value of the overall fiscal exposures of the U.S. government.Requires such financial statement to include a program-by-program calculation of: (1) the generational imbalance; (2) the fiscal imbalance; and (3) the total amount of the fiscal imbalance plus the public debt.Instructs the President, in preparing the federal budget, to take this financial statement into consideration, including the effect of the overall budget upon: (1) the generational imbalance calculation and the fiscal imbalance calculation; and (2) the net present value of the overall fiscal exposures of the federal government.Directs the Secretary to testify each year before Congress on the financial statement for the preceding fiscal year.Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) assess the financial condition of the U.S. government in an annual report to Congress; and (2) testify before Congress on that condition, upon request.

Date: 2009-02-10
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Requires any amounts remaining of a House Member's Representational Allowance after all payments are made for the year to be deposited in the Treasury and used for deficit reduction or, in fiscal years for which there is no federal budget deficit, to reduce the federal debt.

Date: 2009-06-02
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Stop Very Unscrupulous Loan Transfers from Underprivileged Countries to Rich, Exploitive Funds Act or the Stop VULTURE Funds Act - Prohibits: (1) any U.S. person from engaging in sovereign debt profiteering, or any person at all from engaging in such profiteering in the United States; and (2) any U.S. court from issuing a summons, subpoena, writ, judgment, attachment, or execution in aid of a claim which would further sovereign debt profiteering. Sets forth required court disclosures in actions involving collection of sovereign debt.

Date: 2009-06-18
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Reduction of Irresponsible MRA Growth Act or the TRIM Growth Act - Amends the House of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical Corrections Act to prohibit the Members' Representational Allowance for a fiscal year from exceeding the Allowance established for the previous fiscal year, unless: (1) the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes a national unemployment rate of 6% or lower for each of the six most recent months for which it published a national unemployment rate which occurred before the beginning of the fiscal year; or (2) the Secretary of the Treasury certifies to the congressional appropriations committees that the public debt does not exceed $5.5 trillion as of the first day of the last month of the previous fiscal year.

Date: 2009-07-13
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Debt Accountability Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in either chamber to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that would increase the deficit or decrease the surplus for any fiscal year unless the appropriate chamber, by roll call vote, acknowledges the costs that would be incurred in carrying out such measure, as estimated by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and any effect those costs might have on the national debt.

Date: 2009-07-27
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to extend through FY2013 the spending limits (spending caps) for the discretionary categories in new budget authority and outlays. Repeals provisions terminating Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) enforcement mechanisms under such Act.

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Children's Budget Act - Requires the President's annual budget to Congress to include a detailed, separate analysis for the prior fiscal year, the current fiscal year, the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted, and the ensuing fiscal year identifying the amounts of gross and net appropriations or obligational authority and outlays directed to children and children's programs within the United States and territories.

Date: 2009-10-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Control America's Purse-strings to Deliver a Better Tomorrow Act or the CAP the DEBT Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the House of Representatives and in the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report increasing the statutory limit on the public debt if there is any other matter in such measure. Requires a two-thirds recorded vote of Members in the House and a roll call vote of at least two-thirds of the Members of the Senate before legislation increasing the statutory limit on the public debt may be considered as passed or agreed to in either chamber. Permits a successful appeal from the ruling of the Chair in the Senate on such prohibition, but only by an affirmative roll call vote of two-thirds of its Members. Repeals Rule XXVIII (Statutory Limit on Public Debt) of the Rules of the House, and known as the "Gephardt Rule," providing for mandatory adjustment of the statutory limit on the public debt to conform to a budget resolution.

Date: 2009-12-10
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Tighten Washington's Belt Act of 2010 - Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), within 15 days after the end of a session, to issue a Discretionary Sequestration Report and, if in such report OMB estimates that any sequestration is required, the President to issue an order (effective on issuance) fully implementing without change all such sequestrations. Requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), within 10 days after the end of session, also to issue a Discretionary Sequestration Report. Subjects to permanent cancellation any budgetary resources sequestered from any account, except those in special fund accounts or offsetting collections sequestered in appropriation accounts. Applies the same percentage sequestration to all programs, projects, and activities within a budget account. Requires the Comptroller General, upon request of the congressional budget committees, to report to Congress and the President on the extent to which each such issued presidential order or OMB or CBO report complies with all of the requirements contained in this Act, either certifying that the order fully and accurately complies with such requirements or indicating the respects in which it does not. Requires Discretionary Sequestration Reports for each of FY2011-FY2015 to set forth estimates for: (1) the applicable discretionary spending limits; (2) the new budget authority and the breach, if any; (3) the sequestration percentages necessary to eliminate the breach; and (4) the level of enacted sequesterable budget authority, and resulting estimated outlays to be sequestered for each account. Requires the OMB report to explain: (1) any differences between OMB and CBO estimates for any breach and any required discretionary sequestration percentages; and (2) differences in the amount of sequesterable resources for any budget account to be reduced if such difference is greater than $5 million. Establishes discretionary spending limits for FY2011-FY2015. Sets forth sequestration enforcement mechanisms. Subjects all discretionary budget authority to such sequestration procedures, except: (1) benefits and compensation provided to active duty military and to veterans defined as discretionary spending; (2) provisions of discretionary spending legislation the President and Congress designate as emergency requirements; and (3) salaries or other expenditures that may not be reduced on account of constitutional requirements.

Date: 2010-01-20
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Deficit Reduction Act of 2009 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to redefine, for FY2011-FY2019, discretionary spending limits (spending caps) for new budget authority and outlays to mean the baseline, minus any emergency spending, for the preceding fiscal year as adjusted for inflation and (as under current law) as adjusted in strict conformance with such Act. Revises sequestration requirements for enforcement of discretionary spending limits. Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct such a sequestration to eliminate a budget year breach. Eliminates specific formula requirements for adjustments to discretionary spending limits for: (1) highways; (2) continuing disability reviews for the Social Security Administration (SSA); (3) allowances for the International Monetary Fund (IMF); (4) specified allowances for international arrearages; (5) the earned income tax credit (EITC) compliance initiative; (6) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adoption incentive payments; and (7) conservation. Prescribes an adjustment to discretionary spending limits for overseas contingency operations related to the global war on terrorism, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Redefines low-growth, for purposes of OMB's required low-growth notification to Congress, from less than zero to less than 1%. Extends Pay-As-You-Go requirements and enforcement mechanisms through FY2019. Establishes sequestration enforcement mechanisms to eliminate deficit limits for FY2012-FY2019. Specifies additional Social Security, veterans, Tier I Railroad Retirement benefits and other programs and activities exempt from a sequestration order as well as certain economic recovery programs. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to make it out of order in both chambers to consider any legislation causing the discretionary limits in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to be exceeded.

Date: 2010-01-20
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Freedom from Rationed Health Care Act - Repeals provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 making appropriations for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and rescinds any unobligated balances of funds made available under such provisions. Repeals specified provisions of such Act: (1) establishing a Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research; and (2) concerning heath information technology, including provisions establishing the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and the HIT Policy Committee. Requires that amounts rescinded under this Act be deposited in the Treasury to pay down the national debt.

Date: 2010-01-21
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Health
Congressional Pay Cut for Debt Reduction Act - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to: (1) reduce the annual salary of Members of Congress to 90% of the mandatory rate determined for such positions; and (2) eliminate automatic pay adjustments for Members of Congress. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, as soon as practicable after the beginning of each fiscal year, to: (1) calculate the reduction in outlays expected to occur during the fiscal year as a result of the application of the amendments made by this Act; and (2) transfer an equivalent amount to a specified account in the Treasury to reduce the public debt.

Date: 2010-03-04
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Requires any amounts remaining of House Members' Representational Allowances after all payments are made for the year to be deposited in the Treasury and used for deficit reduction or, in fiscal years for which there is no federal budget deficit, to reduce the federal debt.

Date: 2010-03-11
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress
Forecast for the Future Act of 2010 - Requires the President's budget to Congress to include a detailed, separate analysis and display, by budget function, agency, and program, of the net present value of future costs of each entitlement program for the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted and each of the four ensuing fiscal years. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require concurrent budget resolutions to include, for display purposes only and for each entitlement program, the net present value of the future costs of the program over a 75-year time frame. Directs the congressional budget committees to hold hearings in each Congress with a goal of developing a plan to restore the government to a sustainable long-term fiscal path. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit to the President and Congress a report listing: (1) the fiscal exposures of the government; and (2) the net present value of the future costs of the program over a 75-year time frame. Amends the CBA to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to submit a similar report to Congress.

Date: 2010-03-16
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Spending Reduction Act of 2010 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to establish nonsecurity discretionary category spending limits (spending caps) for FY2011-FY2015. Defines "nonsecurity discretionary category" as all discretionary appropriations except budget accounts within major functional category (050) National Defense, (150) International Affairs, (700) Veterans Benefits and Services, and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within major functional category (270) Energy, and any appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Repeals the termination date for Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) enforcement mechanisms under such Act (thus making them permanent). Declares that, if for any fiscal year, legislation making appropriations for discretionary accounts includes a designation for emergency requirements, such measure may not be considered in either chamber as passed or agreed to unless by a vote of at least two-thirds of the Members.

Date: 2010-03-17
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
STRONG Budget Act of 2010 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to require a second, general sequestration within 15 days after the end of any session of Congress if, first, a particular sequestration occurs at that time under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Requires the general sequestration to equal 2% of the budget baseline for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of the calendar year during which such sequestration occurs. Prohibits such sequestration order from reducing: (1) benefits payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act (SSA); (2) annuities payable to certain employees under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974; (3) benefits payable under any program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans (28-0401-0-1-701); (4) benefits payable under SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) relating to hospital insurance benefits for the aged and disabled; (5) payments for net interest (all of major functional category 900); and (6) other specified federal retirement and disability accounts. Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), within 14 days after the end of a session, to issue an annual deficit reduction report and, if the report requires a sequestration, to prepare and the President to issue a sequestration order reducing nonexempt accounts by enough to eliminate the deficit. Prohibits such reduction, however, from exceeding 2% of the total amount of such nonexempt accounts. Provides for: (1) suspension of such sequestration procedures if OMB determines that the federal budget is not in deficit; and (2) restoration of such procedures in the first fiscal year after OMB determines there is a deficit. Amends Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit legislation carrying an additional exemption to sequestrations under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act (and this Act) from being considered as passed or agreed to unless by a vote of at least three-fifths of the Members.

Date: 2010-03-18
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Targeted Deficit Reduction Act of 2010 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require each budget resolution for FY2011-FY2020 to include reconciliation directives to reduce the deficit to achieve the following goals: (1) primary budget balance by FY2015; (2) full budget balance by FY2020; and (3) a debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 60% by FY2020. Requires any committee that receives such reconciliation directives to be ordered to report a reconciliation bill within 45 calendar days after adoption of such budget resolution. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), on or before February 15 of each year through 2019, to report to the congressional budget committees a target deficit reduction, for the fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year, necessary to achieve the applicable goals and the anticipated glide path for each such fiscal year until FY2020.

Date: 2010-04-13
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Save America's Future Economy Act of 2010 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to calculate the uniform percentage by which nonexempt spending accounts are to be sequestered such that total government spending for a budget year, compared to the preceding fiscal year, does not increase at a rate greater than the percentage point change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus the percentage point change in annual population growth. Requires OMB to prepare annually a report to be included in the President's budget for each fiscal year setting forth: (1) the projected level of total federal spending for the current year; (2) the percentage point increase in the CPI over the fiscal year before the current year; (3) the total percentage point increase in population from July 1 of the second preceding fiscal year before the current year and July 1 of the fiscal year before the current year; (4) the sum of such total percentage point increases; and (5) the projected level of total federal spending for the budget year and the amount, if any, by which that spending would exceed the projected level of total federal spending for the current year, as adjusted by the such sum of the total percentage point increases. Prescribes requirements for OMB Preview Reports and OMB Final Sequestration Reports. Requires the President to issue a sequestration order, effective on issuance, if OMB in its Final Sequestration Report estimates that any sequestration is required. Prohibits OMB from including the budgetary effects of an emergency requirement in its estimates. Exempts from any sequestration reduction order: (1) payments for net interest; and (2) federal obligations required to be paid under the U.S. Constitution or legally contractual obligations. Extends indefinitely certain Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) enforcement mechanisms.

Date: 2010-05-18
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Debt Buy-Down Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers to designate up to 10% of their adjusted income tax liability for the reduction of the public debt. Establishes in the Treasury the Public Debt Reduction Trust Fund to hold tax revenues generated by this Act for the reduction of the public debt. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require a sequestration of federal spending equivalent to the estimated aggregate amount designated by taxpayers under this Act to reduce the public debt. Prohibits any reduction in social security retirement benefits, veterans benefits, or interest payments on federal debt as a result of any such sequestration.

Date: 2010-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Taxation
Makes 2% across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans affairs discretionary spending for FY2010-FY2011.

Date: 2010-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Makes 1% across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans affairs discretionary spending for FY2010-FY2011.

Date: 2010-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Makes 5% across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans affairs discretionary spending for FY2010-FY2011.

Date: 2010-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Reduce Our Deficits Act - Rescinds $1.6 billion of unobligated balances made available for the Bureau of the Census. Requires any amounts received by the federal government as rentals or royalties to be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury and used for federal budget deficit reduction or, if there is no budget deficit, for reducing the national debt.

Date: 2010-08-10
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Cutting Earmarks And Savings Enforcement (CEASE) Act - 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 Mandatory Account. Prescribes procedures for the crediting to such accounts of the amounts of either discretionary or mandatory deficit reduction in any amendment to a bill that reduces the appropriate budget authority.

Date: 2010-09-22
Topic: Macroeconomics (National Budget)
Subject: Congress