BPLA (Contents)
Budget Process Law Annotated (1993)
[Pages 26-28]
[Page 26]
budget committee of the senate
Sec. 102. (a) Paragraph 1 of rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subparagraph:
“(r)(1) Committee on the Budget, to which committee shall be referred all concurrent resolutions on the budget (as defined in section 3(a)(4)60 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974) and all other matters required to be referred to that Committee under titles III61 and IV62 of that Act, and messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating thereto.
“(2) Such committee shall have the duty—
“(A) to report the matters required to be reported by it under titles ill63 and IV64 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974;
“(B) to make continuing studies of the effect on budget outlays65 of relevant existing and proposed legislation and to report the results of such studies to the Senate on a recurring basis; [p. 27]
“(C) to request and evaluate continuing studies of tax expenditures,66 to devise methods of coordinating tax expenditures, policies, and programs with direct budget outlays,67 and to report the results of such studies to the Senate on a recurring basis; and
“(D) to review, on a continuing basis, the conduct by the Congressional Budget Office of its functions and duties.”
[Notes to Subsection (a)]
60. This is now section 3(4). See supra p. 14.
61. See infra pp. 43-194.
62. See infra pp. 247-272.
63. See infra pp. 43-194.
64. See infra pp. 247-272.
65. Section 3(1) defines “budget outlays.” See supra p. 11.
66. Section 3(3) defines “tax expenditures.” See supra p. 13.
67. Section 3(1) defines “budget outlays.” See supra p: 11.
[Subsection (b)]
(b) The table contained in paragraph 2 of rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by inserting after—
“Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.…….15”
the following:
“Budget………………………………………….………15″68
[Notes to Subsection (b)]
68. This item refers to the number or members or the Budget Committee. Pursuant to changes in the Standing Rules or the Senate, the Senate increased the Committee’s membership from 15 to 20 members in the 96th Congress, to 22 members in the 97th Congress, and to 24 members in the 100th Congress, and decreased the Committee’s membership from 24 to 23 members in the 101st Congress, and from 23 to 21 members in the 102d Congress.
[Subsection (c)]
(c) Paragraph 6 of rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subparagraph:
“(h) For purposes of the first sentence of subparagraph (a), membership on the Committee on the Budget shall not be taken into account until that date occurring during the first session of the Ninety-Fifth [p. 28] Congress, upon which the appointment of the majority and minority party members of the standing commit” tees of the Senate is initially completed.”69
[Notes to Subsection (c)]
69. Note that the Senate Rules do not require the Senate Budget Committee to include members of other standing committees, as does this House rule. See supra pp. 21-25 and note 48. Senators Kassebaum and Inouye have submitted interesting proposals to reconstitute the Budget Committee to include the Chairmen of other standing committees. See S. Res. 66, 102d Cong., 151 Sess., 137 Cong. Rec. S2507, S2532-37 (daily ed. Feb. 28, 1991) (creating a new “Committee on National Priorities” to perform the duties of the Budget Committee); S. Res. 131, 101st Cong., 1st Sess., 135 Cong. Rec. S5612, S5722-28 (daily ed. May 18, 1989) (same); S. Res. 260, 100th Cong., 1st Sess., 133 Cong. Rec. S10,937 (daily ed. July 30, 1987) (same); S. 1362, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. § 6, 133 Cong. Rec. S8147-53 (daily ed. June 16, 1987) (transferring the duties of the Budget Committee to a reconstituted Appropriations Committee).
Section 2 of S. Res. 9, 94th Cong., 1st Sess., 121 Cong. Rec. S19,371 (daily ed. Nov. 5, 1975), repealed subsections (d) and (e). S. Res. 9 set forth the requirements for open committee meetings for committees generally that now appear at paragraph (5)(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate. Until S. Res. 9 repealed it, subsection (d) was codified at 2 U.S.C. 190a-3. As originally enacted in 1974, subsections (d) and (e) read as follows:
(d) Each meeting of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate, or any subcommittee thereof, including meetings to conduct hearings, shall be open to the public, except that a portion or portions of any such meeting may be closed to the public if the committee or subcommittee, as the case may be, determines by record vote of a majority of the members of the committee or subcommittee present that the mailers to be discussed or the testimony to be taken as such portion or portions—
(1) will disclose mailers necessary to be kept secret in the interests of national defense or the confidential conduct of the foreign relations of the United States;
(2) will relate solely to mailers of committee staff personnel or internal staff management and procedure;
(3) will tend to charge an individual with crime or misconduct, to disgrace or injure the professional standing of an individual, or otherwise to expose an individual to public contempt or obloquy, or will represent a clearly unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual;
(4) will disclose the identity of any informer or law enforcement agency or will disclose any information relating to the investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense that is required to be kept secret in the interest of effective law enforcement; or
(5) will disclose information relating to the trade: secrets or financial or commercial information pertaining specifically to a given person if—
(A) an Act of Congress requires the information to be kept confidential by Government officers and employees; or
(B) the information has been obtained by the: Government on a confidential basis, other than through an application by such person for a specific Government financial or other benefit, and is required to be kept secret in order to prevent undue injury to the competitive position of such person.
(e) Paragraph 7(b) of rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate and section 133A(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 shall not apply to the Committee on the Budget of the Senate.
Compare the similar provisions governing the Congressional Budget Office in section 203 (see infra pp. 41-42), and of the Government in the Sunshine Act, Pub. L. 94-409, 90 Stat. 1241 (1976) (codified as amended at 5 U.S.C. §§ 551, 552, 552b, 556, 551 and 39 U.S.C. 410 (1988)).
Pursuant to subsection (d), and subsequently, Standing Rule XXVI, all meeting of the Budget Committee have been open to the public.
[Note #69 starts on page 28 and ends on page 29.]
COUNSEL NOTES
SECTION 102 (CBA), AS CURRENTLY SET FORTH IN LAW
Section 102 (CBA), as currently set forth in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-344).
SECTION 102 (CBA, As Enacted)
Section 102 (CBA, as Enacted), as originally enacted by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-344).
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Budget Counsel 