GovTrack’s Bill Summary
We don’t have a summary available yet.
H.R. 5975 (101st): Budget Process Reform Act
- Introduced:
- Oct 27, 1990 (101st Congress, 1989–1990)
- Sponsor:
- Rep. Christopher Cox [R-CA40]
- Status:
- Died (Referred to Committee)
- See Instead:
- This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 298 (102nd) on Jan 03, 1991.
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
10/27/1990--Introduced.
Budget Process Reform Act -
Title
I
-
Statement of Congressional Purpose
Declares that the purpose of this Act is to facilitate rational, informed, and timely decisions by the Congress. 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 levels of spending. 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. Requires the budget law to fit on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in major functional categories. Makes 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. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit baseline budgeting. Requires the budget to include comparisons of current fiscal year and proposed subsequent fiscal year spending.
Title
III
-
Enforcement Mechanisms
Subtitle
A
-
Super majority Required to Break Budget Law
Requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of any spending bill as soon as practicable after its introduction. Limits such estimates to those bills likely to result in costs of more than $10,000,000. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act.
Subtitle
B
-
Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority
Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the President's rescission authority to spending that is above the limits of the budget law.
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." Requires fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except social security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. Requires Executive agencies to adjust benefit levels to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded.
Subtitle
D
-
"Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending
Prohibits the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive such prohibition.
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. Restricts legislation providing funding to the Committees on Appropriations.
Title
V
-
Protection of Social Security
Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act shall be made as a consequence of this Act.
Title
VI
-
Timetable
Revises the timetable for the congressional budget process.
Title
VII
-
Conforming Amendments
Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget.
Title
VIII
-
Definitions and Rules of Interpretation
Sets forth definitions for specified terms.
Title
IX
-
Effective Date
Declares the effective date of this Act to be January 1, 1991, applicable to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1991.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
No summary available.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.