II
Calendar No. 106
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2560
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 20 (legislative day, July 19), 2011
Received; read twice and ordered placed on the calendar
AN ACT
To cut, cap, and balance the Federal budget.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of
2011
.
Cut
Modification of the Congressional Budget Act
Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by inserting at the end the following:
Discretionary spending limits
In general
It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that would cause the discretionary spending limits as set forth in this section to be exceeded.
Limits
In this section, the term discretionary spending limits means for fiscal year 2012: for the discretionary category, $1,019,402,000,000 in new budget authority and $1,224,568,000,000 in outlays.
Adjustments
After the reporting of a bill or joint resolution relating to the global war on terrorism described in subsection (d), or the offering of an amendment thereto or the submission of a conference report thereon—
the chair of the House or Senate Committee on the Budget may adjust the discretionary spending limits provided in this section for purposes of congressional enforcement, the budgetary aggregates in the concurrent resolution on the budget most recently adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives, and allocations pursuant to section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, by the amount of new budget authority in that measure for that purpose and the outlays flowing therefrom; and
following any adjustment under paragraph (1), the House or Senate Committee on Appropriations may report appropriately revised suballocations pursuant to section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to carry out this subsection.
Global war on terrorism
If a bill or joint resolution is reported making appropriations for fiscal year 2012 that provides funding for the global war on terrorism, the allowable adjustments provided for in subsection (c) for fiscal year 2012 shall not exceed $126,544,000,000 in budget authority and the outlays flowing therefrom.
Certain direct spending limits
In general
It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that includes any provision that would cause total direct spending, except as excluded in subsection (b), to exceed the limits specified in subsection (c).
Exempt from direct spending limits
Direct spending for the following functions is exempt from the limits specified in subsection (c):
Social Security, function 650.
Medicare, function 570.
Veterans Benefits and Services, function 700.
Net Interest, function 900.
Limits on other direct spending
The total combined outlays for all direct spending not exempted in subsection (b) for fiscal year 2012 shall not exceed $680,730,000,000.
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Statutory enforcement of spending caps through sequestration
Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after section 317 the following new section:
Enforcement of discretionary and direct spending caps
Implementation
The sequesters shall be implemented as follows:
Discretionary spending implementation
For the discretionary limits in section 316 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, pursuant to section 251(a) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 with each category sequestered separately.
Direct spending implementation
The sequestration to enforce this section for direct spending shall be implemented pursuant to section 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Section 255 of the Balanced Budget and Control Act of 1985 shall not apply to this section, except that payments for military personnel accounts (within subfunctional category 051), TRICARE for Life, Medicare (functional category 570), military retirement, Social Security (functional category 650), veterans (functional category 700), net interest (functional category 900), and discretionary appropriations shall be exempt.
Modification of presidential order
In general
At any time after the Director of OMB issues a sequestration report under subsection (a) and section 319(c) the provisions of section 258A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 shall apply to the consideration in the House of Representatives and the Senate of a bill or joint resolution to override the order if the bill or joint resolution, as enacted, would achieve the same level of reductions in new budget authority and outlays for the applicable fiscal year as set forth in the order.
Point of order
In the House of Representatives or Senate, it shall not be in order to consider a bill or joint resolution which waives, modifies, or in any way alters a sequestration order unless the chair of the House or Senate Committee on the Budget certifies that the measure achieves the same levels of reductions in new budget authority and outlays for the applicable year as set forth in the order.
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Cap
Limit on total spending
Definitions
Section 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking paragraph (4), redesignating the succeeding paragraphs accordingly, and adding the following new paragraph:
The term GDP, for any fiscal year, means the gross domestic product during such fiscal year consistent with Department of Commerce definitions.
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Caps
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after section 318 the following new section:
Enforcing GDP outlay limits
Enforcing GDP outlay limits
In this section, the term GDP outlay limit means an amount, as estimated by OMB, equal to—
projected GDP for that fiscal year as estimated by OMB, multiplied by
21.7 percent for fiscal year 2013; 20.8 percent for fiscal year 2014; 20.2 percent for fiscal year 2015; 20.1 percent for fiscal year 2016; 19.9 percent for fiscal year 2017; 19.7 percent for fiscal year 2018; 19.9 percent for fiscal year 2019; 19.9 percent for fiscal year 2020; and 19.9 percent for fiscal year 2021.
GDP outlay limit and outlays
Determining the GDP outlay limit
The Office of Management and Budget shall establish in the President’s budget the GDP outlay limit for the budget year.
Total Federal outlays
In this section, total Federal outlays shall include all on-budget and off-budget outlays.
Sequestration
The sequestration to enforce this section shall be implemented pursuant to section 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Exempt programs
Section 255 of the Balanced Budget and Control Act of 1985 shall not apply to this section, except that payments for military personnel accounts (within subfunctional category 051), TRICARE for Life, Medicare (functional category 570), military retirement, Social Security (functional category 650), veterans (functional category 700), and net interest (functional category 900) shall be exempt.
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Enforcement procedures under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
Enforcement
Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding after section 319 the following new section:
Enforcement procedures
It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that would cause the most recently reported current GDP outlay limits set forth in section 319 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to be exceeded.
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Table of contents
The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 315 the following new items:
Sec. 316. Discretionary spending limits.
Sec. 317. Certain direct spending limits.
Sec. 318. Enforcement of discretionary and direct spending caps.
Sec. 319. Enforcing GDP outlay limits.
Sec. 320. Enforcement procedures.
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Balance
Requirement that a Balanced Budget Amendment be submitted to States
In general
The Secretary of the Treasury shall not exercise the additional borrowing authority provided under subsection (b) until the Archivist of the United States transmits to the States H.J. Res. 1 in the form reported on June 23, 2011, S.J. Res. 10 in the form introduced on March 31, 2011, or H.J. Res. 56 in the form introduced on April 7, 2011, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, or a similar amendment if it requires that total outlays not exceed total receipts, that contains a spending limitation as a percentage of GDP, and requires that tax increases be approved by a two-thirds vote in both Houses of Congress for their ratification.
Amendment to title 31
Effective on the date the Archivist of the United States transmits to the States H.J. Res 1 in the form reported, S.J. Res. 10 in the form introduced, or H.J. Res. 56 in the form introduced, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, or a similar amendment if it requires that total outlays not exceed total receipts, contains a spending limitation as a percentage of GDP, and requires tax increases be approved by a two-thirds vote in both Houses of Congress for their ratification, section 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting $16,700,000,000,000.
Passed the House of Representatives July 19, 2011.
Karen L. Haas,
Clerk.
July 20 (legislative day, July 19), 2011
Received; read twice and ordered placed on the calendar