Budget Process Reform Act

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose

Title II: Binding Budget Law

Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline

Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law

Subtitle B: Line Item Reduction

Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited

Subtitle D: "Pay-as-You-Go" Requirement for New

Spending

Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending

Reductions

Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism

Title V: Protection of Social Security

Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out

This Act

Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation

Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall spending levels. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided.

Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences.

(Sec. 202) Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to make it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Allows waiver of such prohibition if such bill is required to be approved by a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate.

(Sec. 203) Prohibits baseline budgeting. Requires objective year-to-year comparisons under budget law, with the starting point for both presidential and congressional budgets the levels of budget outlays for the current fiscal year.

(Sec. 204) Amends the CBA to require a budget law to include a major functional category ("rainy day fund") for natural disasters, subject to specified conditions.

(Sec. 205) Amends Federal law to require the President to submit: (1) a budget, by the first Monday in February of each year before that in which a fiscal period commences, setting forth on a single page specific budget ceilings in each major functional category; and (2) a detailed budget, on or before the 15th day after a joint resolution on the budget is enacted.

Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline - Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law - Amends CBA to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide the appropriate House of Congress (or any committee, subcommittee, or conference) an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of each spending bill likely to result in costs of over $10 million, before being voted on by the Senate or the House, or any committee, subcommittee, or conference committee.

(Sec. 301) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or the Senate (or any committee, subcommittee, or conference committee) to consider over-budget spending bills.

(Sec. 302) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or the Senate, or both, to waive any provision of this Act.

Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to exercise line-item reduction authority if the Congress, by two-thirds vote, exceeds the budget ceilings in the binding budget law or an automatic continuing resolution for a fiscal period. Declares that such authority shall permit the reduction of over-budget spending in a major functional category to the level established in the binding budget law or automatic continuing resolution.

Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary."

(Sec. 306) Amends CBA to require fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except Social Security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations.

(Sec. 307) Requires executive agencies to adjust expenditures, including program eligibility requirements and benefit levels, to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded.

(Sec. 308) Restricts budget authority and entitlement authority to one fiscal period.

Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Amends CBA to prohibit the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions in spending in the same functional category. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or in the Senate to waive such prohibition.

(Sec. 309) Sets forth special rules in the case of legislation that exceeds a budget ceiling for the natural disaster functional category.

Repeals an exemption in the House from pay-as-you-go rules.

Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions - Amends CBA to: (1) establish "lock-box" procedures to ensure that budget savings from House and Senate amendments to appropriations bills result in actual spending cuts; (2) require CBO reports on such procedures; and (3) mandate reduction of spending allocations to House and Senate committees and subcommittees to meet "lock-box" levels.

Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period.

(Sec. 402) Provides for contingency regulations for automatic continuing resolutions. Grants each State the option of receiving an aggregate amount for the fiscal period for social safety net programs equal to the allocation to the State for such programs in the preceding fiscal period.

(Sec. 403) Restricts consideration of legislation providing budget or spending authority to only that reported by the Committees on Appropriations. Makes such restriction inapplicable in the case of social security benefits.

Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require or permit reductions in otherwise payable Social Security benefits.

(Sec. 502) Amends Federal law to provide that no reduction in benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) shall be made as a consequence of this Act.

Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act - Makes various technical and conforming amendments.

Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms.

Changes the definition of budget authority to exclude offsetting receipts and collections as negative budget authority.