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Title I — Biennial Budget Resolutions

S. 63 · 116th Congress · Jan 9, 2019 · Lineage

I Biennial Budget Resolutions

Sec. 101 Purposes

Paragraph (2) of section 2 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended to read as follows:

“(2) to facilitate the determination biennially of the appropriate level of Federal revenues and expenditures by the Congress;”

Sec. 102 Definitions

Section 3 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (4), by striking “for a fiscal year” each place it appears and inserting “for a biennium”; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:

“(12) The term direct spending has the meaning given to such term in section 250(c)(8) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

“(13) The term biennium means any period of 2 consecutive fiscal years beginning with an even-numbered fiscal year.

“(14) The term budget year has the meaning given that term in section 250(c)(12) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Control Act of 1985.”

Sec. 103 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

“The timetable with respect to the congressional budget process for any Congress is as follows:”

Sec. 104 Biennial concurrent resolutions on the budget

(a)
Contents of resolution—
(1)
In general— Section 301(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(a)) is amended—
(A)
by striking the matter preceding paragraph (1) beginning with “On or before April 15” and inserting the following: “On or before May 1 of each odd-numbered calendar year, the Congress shall complete action on a concurrent resolution on the budget for the biennium beginning on October 1 of that calendar year. The concurrent resolution shall set forth appropriate levels for each fiscal year in the biennium and for at least each fiscal year in the next 2 bienniums for the following—”;
(B)
in paragraph (6)—
(i)
by striking “for the fiscal year” and inserting “for each fiscal year in the biennium”; and
(ii)
by striking “and” at the end;
(C)
in paragraph (7)—
(i)
by striking “for the fiscal year” and inserting “for each fiscal year in the biennium”; and
(ii)
by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”;
(D)
by adding after paragraph (7) the following:

“(8) subtotals of new budget authority and outlays for nondefense discretionary spending; defense discretionary spending; direct spending; and net interest.”

(E)
by adding at the end of the matter following paragraph (8) (as added by subparagraph (D)) the following: “The concurrent resolution on the budget for a biennium shall include procedures for adjusting spending and revenue levels, committee allocations, and other amounts in the resolution during the second session of a Congress to reflect an updated baseline that will be used for scoring purposes.”.
(b)
Additional Matters in concurrent resolution— Section 301(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(b)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (3), by striking “for such fiscal year” and inserting “for either fiscal year in such biennium”;
(2)
in paragraph (8), by striking “and” at the end;
(3)
in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(4)
by adding at the end the following:

“(10) include total combined outlays and revenues for tax expenditures.”

(c)
Hearings and report— Section 301(e)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(e)) is amended by striking “fiscal year” and inserting “biennium”.
(d)
Goals for reducing unemployment— Section 301(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(f)) is amended by striking “fiscal year” each place it appears and inserting “biennium”.
(e)
Economic assumptions— Section 301(g) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(g)) is amended by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a biennium”.
(f)
Section heading— The section heading of section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632) is amended by striking “Annual Adoption of” and inserting “Adoption of Biennial”.

Sec. 105 Committee allocations

Section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)(1)—
(A)
by striking “for that period of fiscal years” and inserting “for all fiscal years covered by the resolution”; and
(B)
by striking “only for the fiscal year of that resolution” and inserting “only for each fiscal year of the biennium”;
(2)
in subsection (c)—
(A)
by striking “subsection (a)” and inserting “subsection (a)(1)”;
(B)
by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a budget year”; and
(C)
by striking “for that fiscal year” and inserting “for that budget year”;
(3)
in subsection (f)(1)—
(A)
by striking “for a fiscal year”; and
(B)
by striking “the first fiscal year” and inserting “either fiscal year of the biennium of that resolution”; and
(4)
in subsection (f)(2)(A), by—
(A)
striking “first fiscal year” and inserting “either fiscal year of the biennium of that resolution”; and
(B)
striking “the total of fiscal years” and inserting “the total of all fiscal years covered by the resolution”.

Sec. 106 Revision of biennial budget

Section 304 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 635) is amended to read as follows:

“304. Permissible revisions of concurrent resolutions on the budget

“At any time after the concurrent resolution on the budget has been agreed to pursuant to section 301 and before the end of the biennium, the two Houses may adopt a concurrent resolution that revises or reaffirms the most recently agreed to concurrent resolution on the budget. Any concurrent resolution that revises or reaffirms the most recently agreed to concurrent resolution on the budget shall be considered under the procedures set forth in section 305.”

Sec. 107 Additional amendments to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to effectuate biennial budgeting

(a)
Enforcement of section 303— Section 303 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 634) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a biennium”; and
(B)
by striking “the first fiscal year covered by that resolution” and inserting “either fiscal year of that biennium”;
(2)
in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking “the fiscal year” and inserting “the biennium”; and
(3)
in subsection (c)—
(A)
in paragraph (1)—
(i)
by striking “for a fiscal year” and inserting “for a biennium”; and
(ii)
by striking “for that year” in each instance and inserting “for each year of that biennium”; and
(B)
in paragraph (2), by striking “after the year the allocation referred to in that paragraph is made” and inserting “after the years the allocations referred to in that paragraph are made”.
(b)
Section 305— Subsections (a)(3) and (b)(3) of section 305 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 636) are amended by striking “for a fiscal year”.
(c)
Section 311 point of order—
(1)
In the House of Representatives— Section 311(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 642(a)) is amended—
(A)
by striking “for a fiscal year”;
(B)
by striking “the first fiscal year” each place it appears and inserting “either of the first two fiscal years covered by such resolution”; and
(C)
by striking “that first fiscal year” and inserting “either of the first two fiscal years”.
(2)
In the Senate— Section 311(a)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 642(a)(2)) is amended—
(A)
in subparagraph (A), by striking “for the first fiscal year” and inserting “for either of the first two fiscal years”; and
(B)
in subparagraph (B)—
(i)
by striking “that first fiscal year” the first place it appears and inserting “either of the first two fiscal years”; and
(ii)
by striking “that first fiscal year and the ensuing fiscal years” and inserting “all fiscal years”.
(3)
Social security levels— Section 311(a)(3) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 642(a)(2)) is amended by—
(A)
striking “for the first fiscal year” and inserting “for either of the first two fiscal years”; and
(B)
striking “that fiscal year and the ensuing fiscal years” and inserting “all fiscal years”.

Sec. 108 Reconciliation process

Section 310(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 641(a)) is amended—
(1)
in the matter before paragraph (1), by striking “A concurrent” and all that follows through “shall” and inserting “A concurrent resolution on the budget for a biennium shall, for each fiscal year of the biennium”;
(2)
in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “for such fiscal year” and inserting “for each fiscal year of the biennium”;
(3)
in paragraph (1)(C), by striking “such fiscal year” and inserting “each fiscal year of the biennium”; and
(4)
in paragraph (1)(D), by striking “such fiscal year” and inserting “each fiscal year of the biennium”.

Sec. 109 Bipartisan budget resolution

(a)
Definition— Section 3 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622), as amended by section 102, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

“(15) The term bipartisan budget resolution means a concurrent resolution on the budget for a biennium—

“(A) ordered reported to the Senate by the Committee on the Budget of the Senate by an affirmative vote of not less than half of the Senators that are members of the majority party in the Senate and not less than half of the Senators that are members of the minority party in the Senate;

“(B) that establishes—

“(i) a target for the ratio of the public debt to the gross domestic product as of the end of the period covered by the concurrent resolution or a later date; and

“(ii) for each fiscal year covered by the concurrent resolution, targets for—

“(I) the ratio of the public debt to the gross domestic product;

“(II) the amount of health care spending by the Government;

“(III) the amount of tax expenditures;

“(IV) the amount of discretionary appropriations (as defined in section 250 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900)); and

“(V) the amount of revenues; and

“(C) which may include other economic or policy targets.”

(b)
Consideration of bipartisan budget resolutions— Section 305 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 636) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(e) Procedures in the Senate for bipartisan budget resolutions

“(1) Other expedited process—In the Senate, upon the agreement of the majority leader and the minority leader, additional procedures to expedite consideration of a bipartisan budget resolution (which may include limiting the number of amendments upon which the Senate shall vote) shall apply to consideration of the bipartisan budget resolution. The majority leader shall submit a written statement for the Congressional Record reflecting any agreement described in this paragraph.

“(2) Passage—In the Senate, a bipartisan budget resolution shall be agreed to only upon the affirmative vote of not less than—

“(A) three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn; and

“(B) 15 Members that are members of the minority party in the Senate.

“(3) Amendments between the Houses and conference reports—To be considered a bipartisan budget resolution, a conference report or an amendment between the Houses on a concurrent resolution on the budget shall—

“(A) comply with section 3(15)(B); and

“(B) be agreed to in the Senate by an affirmative vote of not less than—

“(i) three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn; and

“(ii) 15 Members that are members of the minority party in the Senate.”

(c)
Reconciliation under bipartisan budget resolutions— Section 310(e)(2) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 641(e)(2)) is amended—
(1)
by inserting “(A)” before “Debate”; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:

“(B) In the Senate, a reconciliation bill reported under subsection (b) pursuant to reconciliation instructions in a bipartisan budget resolution, a House amendment thereto, and a conference report thereon shall be agreed to only upon the affirmative vote of not less than—

“(i) a majority of the Members voting, a quorum being present; and

“(ii) 15 Members that are members of the minority party in the Senate.”

(d)
Reporting— Section 202 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 603) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(h) Report on ratio of the public debt to the gross domestic product—On and after the date on which the first bipartisan budget resolution is agreed to, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall submit to Congress semiannual reports on the ratio of the public debt to the gross domestic product, which shall evaluate whether the targets in the most recently agreed to bipartisan budget resolution have been met.”