Sec. 201 Effective date
The provisions of this title shall take effect on January 1 of the calendar year after the year of the enactment of this Act.
Title II — Biennial Budget
II Biennial Budget
Sec. 202 Revision of timetable
Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 631) is amended to read as follows:
“300. Timetable
“(a) In General—Except as provided by subsection (b), the timetable with respect to the congressional budget process for any Congress (beginning with the 113th Congress or a subsequent Congress, as applicable) is as follows:
“(b) Special Rule—In the case of any first session of Congress that begins in any year during which the term of a President (except a President who succeeds himself) begins, the following dates shall supersede those set forth in subsection (a):”
Sec. 203 Amendments to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
Declaration of Purpose— Section 2(2) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621(2)) is amended by striking “each year” and inserting “biennially”.
Definitions—
Budget resolution— Section 3(4) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 622(4)) is amended by striking “fiscal year” each place it appears and inserting “biennium”.
Biennium— Section 3 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 622) (as amended by section 113(a)) is further amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(13) The term biennium means the period of 2 consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year.”
Biennial Joint Resolution on the Budget—
in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by—
striking “April 15 of each year” and inserting “May 15 of each odd-numbered year”;
striking “the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year” the first place it appears and inserting “the biennium beginning on October 1 of such year”;
striking “the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year” the second place it appears and inserting “each fiscal year in such period”; and
striking “each of the four ensuing fiscal years” and inserting “each fiscal year in the next 2 bienniums”;
in paragraph (6), by striking “for the fiscal year” and inserting “for each fiscal year in the biennium”; and
in paragraph (7), by striking “for the fiscal year” and inserting “for each fiscal year in the biennium”.
in paragraph (3), by striking “for such fiscal year” and inserting “for either fiscal year in such biennium”; and
in paragraph (7), by striking “for the first fiscal year” and inserting “for each fiscal year in the biennium”.
Views of other committees— Section 301(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(d)) is amended by inserting “(or, if applicable, as provided by section 300(b))” after “United States Code”.
striking “fiscal year” and inserting “biennium”; and
inserting after the second sentence the following: “On or before April 1 of each odd-numbered year (or, if applicable, as provided by section 300(b)), the Committee on the Budget of each House shall report to its House the joint resolution on the budget referred to in subsection (a) for the biennium beginning on October 1 of that year.”.
Goals for reducing unemployment— Section 301(f) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(f)) is amended by striking “fiscal year” each place it appears and inserting “biennium”.
Economic assumptions— Section 301(g)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(g)(1)) is amended by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a biennium”.
Section heading— The section heading of section 301 of such Act is amended by striking “annual” and inserting “biennial”.
Table of contents— The item relating to section 301 in the table of contents set forth in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by striking “Annual” and inserting “Biennial”.
in subsection (a)(1) by—
striking “for the first fiscal year of the resolution,” and inserting “for each fiscal year in the biennium,”;
striking “for that period of fiscal years” and inserting “for all fiscal years covered by the resolution”; and
striking “for the fiscal year of that resolution” and inserting “for each fiscal year in the biennium”;
in subsection (f)(1), by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a biennium”;
in subsection (f)(1), by striking “first fiscal year” and inserting “either fiscal year of the biennium”;
in subsection (f)(2)(A), by—
striking “first fiscal year” and inserting “each fiscal year of the biennium”; and
striking “the total of fiscal years” and inserting “the total of all fiscal years covered by the resolution”; and
in subsection (g)(1)(A), by striking “April” and inserting “May”.
Section 303 Point of Order— Section 303 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 634(a)) is amended by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a biennium” and by striking “the first fiscal year” and inserting “each fiscal year of the biennium”.
Permissible Revisions of Joint Resolutions on the Budget— Section 304 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 635) is amended—
by striking “fiscal year” the first two places it appears and inserting “biennium”;
by striking “for such fiscal year”; and
by inserting before the period “for such biennium”.
Procedures for Consideration of Budget Resolutions— Section 305(a)(3) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 636(b)(3)) is amended by striking “fiscal year” and inserting “biennium”.
Completion of House Committee Action on Appropriation Bills— Section 307 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 638) is amended—
by striking “each year” and inserting “each odd-numbered year (or, if applicable, as provided by section 300(b), July 1)”;
by striking “annual” and inserting “biennial”;
by striking “fiscal year” and inserting “biennium”; and
by striking “that year” and inserting “each odd-numbered year”.
Completion of House Action on Regular Appropriation Bills— Section 309 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 640) is amended—
by striking “It” and inserting “Except whenever section 300(b) is applicable, it”;
by inserting “of any odd-numbered calendar year” after “July”;
by striking “annual” and inserting “biennial”; and
by striking “fiscal year” and inserting “biennium”.
in subsection (a), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “any fiscal year” and inserting “any biennium”;
in subsection (a)(1), by striking “such fiscal year” each place it appears and inserting “any fiscal year covered by such resolution”; and
by striking subsection (f) and redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (f).
Section 311 Point of Order—
by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a biennium”;
by striking “the first fiscal year” each place it appears and inserting “either fiscal year of the biennium”; and
by striking “that first fiscal year” and inserting “each fiscal year in the biennium”.
In the senate— Section 311(a)(2) of such Act is amended—
in subparagraph (A), by striking “for the first fiscal year” and inserting “for either fiscal year of the biennium”; and
in subparagraph (B)—
by striking “that first fiscal year” the first place it appears and inserting “each fiscal year in the biennium”; and
by striking “that first fiscal year and the ensuing fiscal years” and inserting “all fiscal years”.
Social security levels— Section 311(a)(3) of such Act is amended by—
striking “for the first fiscal year” and inserting “each fiscal year in the biennium”; and
striking “that fiscal year and the ensuing fiscal years” and inserting “all fiscal years”.
Maximum Deficit Amount Point of Order— Section 312(c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 643) is amended—
by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a biennium”;
in paragraph (1), by striking “first fiscal year” and inserting “either fiscal year in the biennium”;
in paragraph (2), by striking “that fiscal year” and inserting “either fiscal year in the biennium”; and
in the matter following paragraph (2), by striking “that fiscal year” and inserting “the applicable fiscal year”.
Sec. 204 Amendments to Rules of the House of Representatives
Clause 4(a)(1)(A) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by inserting “odd-numbered” after “each”.
Clause 4(a)(4) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking “fiscal year” and inserting “biennium”.
Clause 4(b)(2) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking “each fiscal year” and inserting “the biennium”.
Clause 4(b) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (5), by striking the period and inserting “; and” at the end of subparagraph (6), and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(7) use the second session of each Congress to study issues with long-term budgetary and economic implications, including holding hearings to receive testimony from committees of jurisdiction to identify problem areas and to report on the results of oversight; and by January 1 of each odd-number year, issuing a report to the Speaker which identifies the key issues facing the Congress in the next biennium.”
Clause 4(e) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking “annually” each place it appears and inserting “biennially” and by striking “annual” and inserting “biennial”.
Clause 4(f) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended—
by inserting “during each odd-numbered year” after “submits his budget”;
by striking “fiscal year” the first place it appears and inserting “biennium”; and
by striking “that fiscal year” and inserting “each fiscal year in such ensuing biennium”.
Clause 11(i) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking “during the same or preceding fiscal year”.
Clause 3(d)(2)(A) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking “five” both places it appears and inserting “six”.
Clause 5(a)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking “fiscal year after September 15 in the preceding fiscal year” and inserting “biennium after September 15 of the calendar year in which such biennium begins”.
Sec. 205 Two-year appropriations; title and style of appropriation Acts
Section 105 of title 1, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
“105. Title and style of appropriations Acts
“(a) The style and title of all Acts making appropriations for the support of the Government shall be as follows: “An Act making appropriations (here insert the object) for each fiscal year in the biennium of fiscal years (here insert the fiscal years of the biennium).”.
“(b) All Acts making regular appropriations for the support of the Government shall be enacted for a biennium and shall specify the amount of appropriations provided for each fiscal year in such period.
“(c) For purposes of this section, the term biennium has the same meaning as in section 3(13) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622(13)).”
Sec. 206 Multiyear authorizations
In General— Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (as amended by section 115(a)) is further amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“318. Multiyear authorizations of appropriations
“(a) It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any measure that contains a specific authorization of appropriations for any purpose unless the measure includes such a specific authorization of appropriations for that purpose for not less than each fiscal year in one or more bienniums.
“(b)
“(1) For purposes of this section, a specific authorization of appropriations is an authorization for the enactment of an amount of appropriations or amounts not to exceed an amount of appropriations (whether stated as a sum certain, as a limit, or as such sums as may be necessary) for any purpose for a fiscal year.
“(2) Subsection (a) does not apply with respect to an authorization of appropriations for a single fiscal year for any program, project, or activity if the measure containing that authorization includes a provision expressly stating the following: “Congress finds that no authorization of appropriation will be required for [Insert name of applicable program, project, or activity] for any subsequent fiscal year.”.
“(c) For purposes of this section, the term measure means a bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report.”
Amendment to Table of Contents— The table of contents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by adding after the item relating to section 317 the following new item:
Sec. 207 Government strategic and performance plans on a biennial basis
in subsection (a), by striking “September 30, 1997” and inserting “September 30, 2013”;
in subsection (b)—
by striking “at least every three years” and all that follows thereafter and inserting “at least every 4 years, except that strategic plans submitted by September 30, 2013, shall be updated and revised by September 30, 2014”; and
by striking “five years forward” and inserting “six years forward”; and
in subsection (c), by inserting a comma after “section” the second place it appears and adding “including a strategic plan submitted by September 30, 2013, meeting the requirements of subsection (a)”.
Budget Contents and Submission to Congress— Paragraph (28) of section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking “beginning with fiscal year 1999, a” and inserting “beginning with fiscal year 2014, a biennial”.
in subsection (a)—
in the matter before paragraph (1) by striking “an annual” and inserting “a biennial”;
in paragraph (1) by inserting after “program activity” the following: “for both years 1 and 2 of the biennial plan”;
in paragraph (5) by striking “and” after the semicolon;
in paragraph (6) by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and inserting “and” after the inserted semicolon; and
by adding after paragraph (6) the following:
“(7) cover each fiscal year of the biennium beginning with the first fiscal year of the next biennial budget cycle.”
in subsection (d) by striking “annual” and inserting “biennial”; and
in paragraph (6) of subsection (g) by striking “annual” and inserting “biennial”.
Managerial Accountability and Flexibility— Section 9703 of title 31, United States Code, relating to managerial accountability, is amended—
in subsection (a)—
in the first sentence by striking “annual”; and
by striking “section 1105(a)(29)” and inserting “section 1105(a)(28)”;
in subsection (e)—
in the first sentence by striking “one or” before “two years”;
in the second sentence by striking “a subsequent year” and inserting “for a subsequent 2-year period”; and
in the third sentence by striking “three” and inserting “four”.
in subsection (a), by striking “September 30, 1997” and inserting “September 30, 2013”;
in subsection (b), by striking “at least every three years” and inserting “at least every 4 years except that strategic plans submitted by September 30, 2013, shall be updated and revised by September 30, 2014”;
in subsection (b), by striking “five years forward” and inserting “six years forward”; and
in subsection (c), by inserting a comma after “section” the second place it appears and inserting “including a strategic plan submitted by September 30, 2013, meeting the requirements of subsection (a)”.
in the matter before paragraph (1), by striking “an annual” and inserting “a biennial”;
in paragraph (1), by inserting after “program activity” the following: “for both years 1 and 2 of the biennial plan”;
in paragraph (5), by striking “and” after the semicolon;
in paragraph (6), by striking the period and inserting “; and”; and
by adding after paragraph (6) the following:
“(7) cover each fiscal year of the biennium beginning with the first fiscal year of the next biennial budget cycle.”
Committee Views of Plans and Reports— Section 301(d) of the Congressional Budget Act (2 U.S.C. 632(d)) is amended by adding at the end: “Each committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall review the strategic plans, performance plans, and performance reports, required under section 306 of title 5, United States Code, and sections 1115 and 1116 of title 31, United States Code, of all agencies under the jurisdiction of the committee. Each committee may provide its views on such plans or reports to the Committee on the Budget of the applicable House.”.
in paragraph (9), by striking “and” after the semicolon;
in paragraph (10), by striking the period and inserting “; and”; and
by inserting at the end the following:
“(11) a description of the formulas used for the program and program funding decisions including the criteria and factors used and the weight given to each of these factors.”
Sec. 208 Biennial appropriation bills
In the House of Representatives— Clause 2(a) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(3)
“(A) Except as provided by subdivision (B), an appropriation may not be reported in a general appropriation bill (other than a supplemental appropriation bill), and may not be in order as an amendment thereto, unless it provides new budget authority or establishes a level of obligations under contract authority for each fiscal year of a biennium.
“(B) Subdivision (A) does not apply with respect to an appropriation for a single fiscal year for any program, project, or activity if the bill or amendment thereto containing that appropriation includes a provision expressly stating the following: “Congress finds that no additional funding beyond one fiscal year will be required and the [Insert name of applicable program, project, or activity] will be completed or terminated after the amount provided has been expended.”.
“(C) For purposes of paragraph (b), the statement set forth in subdivision (B) with respect to an appropriation for a single fiscal year for any program, project, or activity may be included in a general appropriation bill or amendment thereto.”
Conforming Amendment— Clause 5(b)(1) of rule XXII of the House of Representatives is amended by striking “or (C)” and inserting “or (3) or 2(C)”.
Sec. 209 Assistance by Federal agencies to standing committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives
Information Regarding Agency Appropriations Requests— To assist each standing committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate in carrying out its responsibilities, the head of each Federal agency which administers the laws or parts of laws under the jurisdiction of such committee shall provide to such committee such studies, information, analyses, reports, and assistance as may be requested by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee.
Information Regarding Agency Program Administration— To assist each standing committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate in carrying out its responsibilities, the head of any agency shall furnish to such committee documentation, containing information received, compiled, or maintained by the agency as part of the operation or administration of a program, or specifically compiled pursuant to a request in support of a review of a program, as may be requested by the chairman and ranking minority member of such committee.
Summaries by Comptroller General— Within 30 days after the receipt of a request from a chairman and ranking minority member of a standing committee having jurisdiction over a program being reviewed and studied by such committee under this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall furnish to such committee summaries of any audits or reviews of such program which the Comptroller General has completed during the preceding 6 years.
Congressional Assistance— Consistent with their duties and functions under law, the Comptroller General of the United States, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and the Director of the Congressional Research Service shall continue to furnish (consistent with established protocols) to each standing committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate such information, studies, analyses, and reports as the chairman and ranking minority member may request to assist the committee in conducting reviews and studies of programs under this section.