BBA 2019 (Contents)
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019
Section 101
TITLE I—BUDGET ENFORCEMENT
SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT OF 1985.
(a) Revised Discretionary Spending Limits.—Section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(c)) is amended by striking paragraphs (7) and (8) and inserting the following:
“(7) for fiscal year 2020—
“(A) for the revised security category, $666,500,000,000 in new budget authority; and
“(B) for the revised nonsecurity category, $621,500,000,000 in new budget authority; and
“(8) for fiscal year 2021—
“(A) for the revised security category, $671,500,000,000 in new budget authority; and
“(B) for the revised nonsecurity category, $626,500,000,000 in new budget authority;”.
(b) Overseas Contingency Operations Amounts.[2]—In fiscal years 2020 and 2021, the adjustments under section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)) for Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism appropriations will be as follows:
(1) For the revised nonsecurity category—
(A) for fiscal year 2020, $8,000,000,000; and
(B) for fiscal year 2021, $8,000,000,000.
(2) For the revised security category—
(A) for fiscal year 2020, $71,500,000,000; and
(B) for fiscal year 2021, $69,000,000,000.
This subsection shall not affect the applicability of section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
(c) New adjustment for the U.S. census for 2020.[1]—Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(G) The 2020 census.—If, for fiscal year 2020, appropriations for the Periodic Censuses and Programs account of the Bureau of the Census of the Department of Commerce are enacted that the Congress designates in statute as being for the 2020 Census, then the adjustment for that fiscal year shall be the total of such appropriations for that fiscal year designated as being for the 2020 Census, but shall not exceed $2,500,000,000.”.
(d) Direct Spending Adjustments For Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021.—Section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901a), is amended—
(1) in paragraph (5)(B), in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “and (12)” and inserting “(12), and (13)”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(13) Implementing direct spending reductions for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.— (A) OMB shall make the calculations necessary to implement the direct spending reductions calculated pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) without regard to the amendment made to section 251(c) revising the discretionary spending limits for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019.
“(B) Paragraph (5)(B) shall not be implemented for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.”.
Counsel Notes
Of the four subsections in section 101 (BBA 2019), subsections (a) and (d) replicate prior provisions from previous versions of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, et seq. (raising the discretionary spending limits and the directive to ignore the changes made by the Act when calculating current law sequestrations). One duplicates an overseas contingency operation provision found in section 101(d) of the BBA 2015, and one is entirely new: a census adjustment to the discretionary spending limit, applicable only for fiscal year 2020 (see Note #2).
Section 101 does not have the extension of the direct spending sequestration for two additional fiscal years. That provision, found in the all the prior Bipartisan Budget Acts in the same section as the spending limit increases, was instead placed in section 402 (BBA 2019). This was done, apparently, to augment the “offsets” title of the bill. It is scored as reducing direct spending in fiscal years 2028 and 2029, and is paired with another spending reduction in title IV, which extends customs fees. Each BBA extended those sequestration reductions by an additional two years, with section 30101(c) (BBA 2018) extending them through fiscal year 2027. and the BBA 2019 does the same, just not in this section as might be expected.
Endnotes
[1] This subsection is very similar to section 101(d) of the BBA 2015. See below discussion under “Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015” in Prior Legislation.
[2] This subsection inserts a new adjustment to the discretionary spending limits, effectively removing spending that otherwise would have been required underneath the spending limits, freeing up the $2.5 billion for the fiscal year to be spent on other things. Beyond being a way of skirting the spending limits, removing discretion from the Congressional Appropriations Committees to determine the appropriate amount, and cluttering up the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, this text should have been done done as a freestanding law, since it is a single year adjustment rather than multi-year recurring need, as all the others are in section 251(b) (BBEDCA).
PRIOR LEgislation
The Budget Control Act of 2011 (112th Congress) set out a convoluted budget process by which discretionary and direct spending were to be controlled for a ten-year period. To see the context in which the BBA 2019 was enacted, see the Budget Control Act and Its Progeny.
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013
Section 101(a) corresponds to section 101 (a) of the BBA 2013. That subsection of the BBA 2013 cleared out all the previous discretionary spending limits that had been established by the Budget Control Act of 2011, and amended by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, and repealed the limits for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, since they were in the past by that time. They inserted in their stead new spending limits for fiscal years 2014 and 2015, and transferred the spending limits that for fiscal years 2016 through 2021 that had been set out in section 251A (BBEDCA) as contingency limits, to only go into effect if a deficit reduction bill were not enacted. Since no such legislation was ever even considered by Congress, these limits automatically took effect. The BBA 2013 transferred them over to section 251(c) (BBEDCA), where those limits find their home. The successive “Bipartisan Budget Acts” would amend this section and these limits when they were found to be too low to be politically sustainable.
Section 101(a) corresponds to section 101(a) of the BBA 2013. The latter provision, though, is far more extensive and significant insofar as it struck the initial spending limits, rendered useless under the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 when the deficit reduction measure called for by that Act failed to be considered by Congress. The section effectively eliminated the spending limits for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, since they had that had gone by at that time. These contingent spending limits had previously located in section 251A (BBEDCA) and were effectively transferred over to their appropriate place in section 251(c) (BBEDCA).
Section 101(b) does not correspond to any provision of the BBA 2013. The subsection appears to require a set amount for global war on terrorism funding (OCO/GWOT) for two years. They were placed in the BBA 2015, but not in BBA 2013 or BBA 2018. That these are enforceable or have any real effect whatsoever is very doubtful.
Section 101(c) is a new provision specific to BBA 2019 and has no corresponding text in the BBA 2013.
Section 101(d) corresponds to section 101(b) of the BBA 2013. The subsection in both places removes the increase in discretionary spending from the calculation of the annual sequester required under section 251A (BBEDCA).
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015
Section 101(a) corresponds to section 101(a) of the BBA 2015. For the latter bill, the spending limits for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 were raised.
Section 101(b) corresponds to section 101 (b) (BBA 2015). In both cases, language appears that appears to require an adjustment to the spending limits for “Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism”, which is a specific adjustment allowable for appropriations receiving the designation in law intended to fund military operations as the name indicates. In both sections, the two applicable fiscal years of the Act are identified: Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017 for BBA 2015 and Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 for BBA 2019. Amounts for the two applicable function levels of 050 (Defense) and 150 (International) are also specified. When this was first done in 2015, the conclusion drawn by House Budget Counsel and the Congressional Budget Office was that it had no effect, and the scoring effects could not be estimated. It appears to be precatory in nature, and specifically states that the existing mechanism for designating OCO/GWOT funding (its “applicability”) would remain undisturbed.
Section 101(c) is a new provision specific to BBA 2019 and has no corresponding text in BBA 2015.
Section 101(d) corresponds to section 101(b) of BBA 2015. The subsection in both places removes the increase in discretionary spending from the calculation of the annual sequester required under section 251A (BBEDCA).
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018
Section 101(a) corresponds to section 30101(a) of the BBA 2018. For the latter bill, the spending limits for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 were raised.
Section 101(b) does not correspond to any provision of the BBA 2018. The subsection appears to require a set amount for global war on terrorism funding (OCO/GWOT) for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. A similar requirement was placed in the BBA 2015 , but not in BBA 2013 or BBA 2018. That these are enforceable or have any real effect whatsoever is very doubtful.
Section 101(c) is a new provision specific to BBA 2019 and has no corresponding text in BBA 2018.
Section 101(d) corresponds to section 30101(b) of the BBA 2018. The subsection in both places removes the increase in discretionary spending from the calculation of the annual sequester required under section 251A (BBEDCA).
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, Pub. L. 116-37; 133 Stat. 1049; August 2, 2019; H.R. 3877 (116th Congress)[Page View]
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