BPLA (Contents)
Budget Process Law Annotated (1993)
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985
[PAGES 600-618]
SEC. 257.1632 the baseline.1633
(a) In General.—For any budget year,1634 the baseline refers to a projection of current-year1635 levels of new budget authority,1636 outlays,1637 revenues, and the surplus or deficit1638 into the budget year and the outyears1639 based on laws enacted through the applicable date.
1632. Section 257 is codified as amended at 2 U.S.C. § 907 (Supp. IV 1992). For legislative history of section 257, see infra note 1684 (at the end of this section).
1633. Section 250(c) (see supra p.442) defines “baseline” insubstantial part by reference to section 257. For the related requirement that the President submit a current services baseline, see 31 US.C. § 1109 (1988), infra pp. 806-806.
1634. Section 250(c)(12) defines “budget year”. See supra p. 446.
1635. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p.446.
1636. Section 250(c)(1) (see supra p. 440) defines “budget authority” and “new budget authority” at least in part by reference to the definitions of section 3(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. See supra pp. 11-13.
1637. Section 250(c)(1) (see supra p. 440) defines “outlays” at least in part by reference to the definition of section 3(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. See supra p. 11.
1638. Section 250(c)(1) (see supra p. 440) defines “deficit” by adopting the definition of section 3(6) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. See supra p. 16.
1639. Section 250(c)(14) defines “outyear”. See supra p. 446.
(b) Direct Spending1640 and Receipts.—For the budget year1641 and each outyear,1642 the baseline shall be calculated using the following assumptions:
(1) In general.—Laws providing or creating direct [p. 601] spending1643 and receipts are assumed to operate in the manner specified in those laws for each such year and funding for entitlement authority1644 is assumed to be adequate to make all payments required by those laws.1645
[P. 602]
(2) Exceptions.—(A) No program with estimated current-year1646 outlays1647 greater than $50 million shall be assumed to expire in the budget year1648 or outyears.1649
(B) The increase for veterans’ compensation for a fiscal year is assumed to be the same as that required by law for veterans’ pensions unless otherwise provided by law enacted in that session.
(C) Excise taxes dedicated to a trust fund, if expiring, are assumed to be extended at current1650 rates.
(3) Hospital insurance trust fund.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the receipts and disbursements of the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund shall [p. 603] be included in all calculations required by this Act.1651
[PP. 603-606 includes text from Note #1651.]
1640. Section 250(c)(8) defines “direct spending”. See supra p. 444.
1641. Section 250(c)(12) defines “budget year”. See supra p. 446.
1642. Section250(c)(14) defines “outyear”. See supra p.446.
1643. Section 20(c)(8) defines “direct spending”. See supra p. 444.
1644. Section 3(9) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (see supra p. 18) defines “entitlement authority” to mean (at least for purposes of that Act) the authority described in section 401(c)(2)(C) of that Act (see supra p. 252). Section 250(c)(18) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (see supra p.447) provides that all references to entitlement authority shall include the mandatory appropriations accounts listed supra note 1245.
1645. Senator Bill Bradley criticized the treatment of expiring tax provisions under this paragraph during discussion of an amendment by Senator John Chafee (see 139 Cong. Rec. S12,254 (daily ed. Aug. 11, 1992)) to strike the individual retirement account provisions of the Revenue Act of 1992, H.R. 11, 102d Cong., 2d Sess., 138 Cong. Rec. S12,120, S12,129-30 (daily ed. Aug. 11, 1992) (as reported to the Senate):
What I would like to do is to show some of the folly of the 1990 Budget [Enforcement] Act by explaining why, technically, we do not have an increase in the deficit in the out years with this [individual retirement account] provision.
Under the 1990 Budget [Enforcement) Act, if Congress enacted a provision that raised revenue but expired beyond 5 years, when that provision expired it would not increase the deficit according to the… Budget [Enforcement] Act of 1990. The baseline for revenues would simply be dropped. Even though obviously the deficit would dramatically increase.
Let me illustrate this by an absurd hypothetical. But it is relevant to this bill and relevant to our calculations as to whether [the individual retirement account provision) loses money in the long run.
Let us assume that we passed a law that says the entire income tax will expire in 6 years[.] We all know if the entire income tax expired in 6 years we would have $500 billion less.
Oh, no, no, not according to the Budget [Enforcement) Act of 1990. If we decided we were going to renew it, not let it expire, but continue it, say in year 3, we would be credited with raising $500 billion. It is an absurdity upon an absurdity. Yet that is the rule we are operating under now. So here we have an [individual retirement account) provision that has a deficit explosion out there waiting in our future and the argument is, no, no, it does not increase the deficit.
Why does it not increase the deficit? Because there are a couple of tax provisions that will expire in 1995 and 1996 that we extend. It is an absurd position. But that is an absurd position that is not caused by the distinguished chairman of this committee nor caused by the Joint Tax Committee but is caused by the Senate and the Congress as a whole when we passed the 1990 Budget [Enforcement] Act that had this provision in it.
138 Cong. Rec. S12,260 (daily ed. Aug. 11, 1992). Although Senator Bradley validly criticizes this paragraph, he misplaced its origin. Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 contained a similar provision in its original form in 1985. See the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 1 251(a)(6)(C), 99 Stat. at 1067. The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 merely restated that provision (with minor modifications) in its 1990 amendments to Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
1646. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
1647. Section 250(c)(1) (see supra p. 440) defines “outlays” at least in part by reference to the definition of section 3(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. See supra p. 11.
1648. Section 250(c)(12) defines “budget year”. See supra p. 446.
1649. Section 250(c)(14) defines “outyear”. See supra p. 446.
1650. Section 250(c)(9) defines “current”. See supra p. 445.
1651. The “notwithstanding” clause of this paragraph refers to section 710(a) of the Social Security Act, which was intended to take the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund off budget beginning with fiscal year 1993. By virtue of this section of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, budget resolutions display the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund in much the same fashion that budget resolutions for fiscal years 1987 through 1991 displayed the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds.
Section 710(a) has applied to the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund since fiscal year 1993. In the following quotation of section 710(a) as it now reads, additions to the version of section 710(a) in force through fiscal year 1992 appear in italic, while deletions appear strikeout.
(a)(1) The receipts and disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the taxes imposed under sections 1401(a), 3101(a), and 3111(a) of Title 26; shall not be included in the totals of the budget of the United States Government as submitted by the President or of the congressional budget and shall be exempt from any general budget limitation imposed by statute on expenditures and net lending (budget outlays) of the United States Government.
(2) No provision of law enacted after December 12, 1985 (other than a provision of an appropriation Act that appropriates funds authorized under this chapter as in effect on December12, 1985) may provide for payments from the general fund of the Treasury to any Trust Fund specified in paragraph (1) or for payments from any such Trust Fund to the general find of the Treasury.
42 U.S.C. § 911(a) (1988). Section 346(b) of the Social Security Amendments of 1983, Pub. L. 98-21, tit. III, § 346(b), 97 Stat. 138 (1983), and section 261(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (see infra pp. 669-670) required the text of section 710(a) to change effective for fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1993.
The conferees on the fiscal year 1993 budget resolution resolved the conflict between section 257(b)(3) and section 710(a) as follows:
maximum deficit amounts and the display of hospital insurance
The conference agreement complies with the requirement of section 606(b) and (c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. § 665e(b) and (c) (Supp. III 1990)) that the budget resolution not exceed the maximum deficit amount as determined under section 601(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. § 665(a)(1) (Supp. II 1990)).
Section 601(a)(1) defines the term “maximum deficit amount” to mean [p. 604] the amounts set forth in that section “as adjusted in strict conformance with sections 251,252, and 253 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985”. Section 257(b)(3) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. § 907(b)(3) (Supp. II 1990)) requires that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, when calculating the baseline deficit under section 253 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. [§] 903 (Supp. II 1990)) for purposes of determining the adjustment to the maximum deficit amounts set forth in section 601(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, “the receipts and disbursements of the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund shall be included in all calculations required by this Act [Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985]” [Section 13101(e) of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (Pub. L 101-508, 113101(e), 104 Stat. 1388, 1388-591 to 593) amended section 257(b)(3) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to read as it now does.]
The requirement in section 606 (b) and (c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. § 665e (b) & (c) (Supp. II 1990)) that the budget resolution not exceed the adjusted maximum deficit amount thus requires that the budget resolution include Hospital Insurance Trust Fund receipts and disbursements in the calculation of the deficit for purposes of comparison with the maximum deficit amount and thus, necessarily, requires calculating aggregate amounts for budget authority, outlays and revenues that include Hospital Insurance. The conferees note that this treatment of hospital insurance is consistent with amendments to the definition of budget authority in section 3(2)(B) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. § 622(2)(B) (Supp. 1 1990)) that by implication include hospital insurance obligations as budget authority for purposes of that Act, and is also similar to the treatment (in terms of displays and allocations) that budget resolutions gave the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds in budget resolutions covering fiscal years 1987 through 1991.
The requirement that the budget resolution not exceed the adjusted maximum deficit amount also has force following adoption of the budget resolution. Compliance with the maximum deficit amount is enforced in the budget process through points of order against any legislation that would cause the maximum deficit amount to be exceeded. This is accomplished in the Senate by section 605([b]) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. § 665(d) (Supp. 11 1990)) and in both Houses by points of order under Congressional Budget Act of 1974 sections 302 (2 U.S.C. § 633 (1988 & Supp. II 1990)) (enforcing committee spending allocations) and 311 (2 U.S.C. § 642 (1988)) (enforcing budget authority, outlay and revenue totals in the resolution).
For purposes of the enforcement of this resolution through the budget process, therefore, the statement of managers also allocates total levels of spending to House and Senate Committees that include hospital insurance. The conferees intend that the House and Senate Budget Committees will advise their [p. 605] respective Houses as to the levels of budget authority, outlays and revenues, under section 302(g) and 311(c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. § 633(g) & 642(c) (1988)), based on the totals in the resolution that include hospital insurance. The conferees also expect that any legislation affecting hospital insurance receipts and disbursements will be subject to enforcement under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
At the same time, the conferees note that section 710(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 911(a) (1988)) provides that, effective for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1,1992, receipts and disbursements of the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund are not to be included in the totals of the President’s budget or the congressional budget. In addition and effective at the same time, it provides that the disbursements of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund are to be treated as a separate major functional category of the President’s budget and in the congressional budget, and that the receipts of the trust fund are to be set forth separately in those budgets. (Section 346(b) of the Social Security Amendments of 1983, Pub. L 98-21, title III, § 346(b), 97 Stat. 138 (1983), and section 261(b) of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings (99 Stat. at 1094) require the text of section 710(a) of the Social Security Act to have these effects for fiscal years beginning with fiscal year1993).
In compliance with these provisions, the conferees have also included in the conference report alternative displays of budget totals excluding Hospital Insurance receipts and disbursements, and they have set forth the net disbursements of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund as a separate functional category. The conferees have also included a separate functional display of the total for Medicare and have displayed functions 900 and 950 both with and without hospital insurance. In sum, the conference agreement treats the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund much as budget resolutions treated Social Security prior to 1990.
H. Rep. 102-529 (Conference Report, pp. 58-60), 102d Cong., 2d Sess. (1992), reprinted in 138 Cong. Rec. H3602, H3617 (daily ed. May 20, 1992).
The budget resolution for fiscal year 1994 follows this practice. See H. Rep. 103-48 (Conference Report, p. 46), 103d Cong., 1st Sess. (1993), reprinted in 139 Cong. Rec. H1747, H1760 (daily ed. Mar. 31, 1993); S. Rep. 103-19, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. 52-54 (1993).
For Congress’s practice with regard to budget resolutions covering fiscal years 1987 through 1991 to include revenue, outlay, and deficit totals both including and excluding the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, see Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1991, H. Con. Res. 310, 101st Cong., 2d Sess., 2 and 3(a), 104 Stat. 5163 (1990); Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1990, H. Con. Res. 106, 101st Cong., 1st Sess., §§ 2 & 3(a), 103 Stat. 2540 (1989); Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1989, H. Con. Res. 268,
[P. 606]
(c) Discretionary Appropriations.1652—For the budget year1653 and each outyear,1654 the baseline shall be calculated using the following assumptions regarding all amounts other than those covered by subsection (b):
(1) Inflation of current-year1655 appropriations.—Budgetary resources1656 other than unobligated balances shall be at the level provided for the budget year1657 in full-year appropriation Acts. If for any account1658 a full-year appropriation has not yet been enacted, budgetary resources other than unobligated balances shall be at the level available in the current year,1659 [p. 607] adjusted sequentially and cumulatively for expiring housing contracts as specified in paragraph (2),1660 for social insurance administrative expenses as specified in paragraph (3), 1661 to offset pay absorption and for pay annualization as specified in paragraph (4),1662 for inflation as specified in paragraph (5),1663 and to account for changes [p. 609 (Note #1663 covers pp. 607-608)] required by law in the level of agency payments-for personnel benefits other than pay.
(2) Expiring housing contracts.—New budget authority1664 to renew expiring multiyear subsidized housing contracts shall be adjusted to reflect the difference in the number of such contracts that are scheduled to expire in that fiscal year and the number expiring in the current year,1665 with the per-contract renewal cost equal to the average current-year cost of renewal contracts.
(3) Social insurance administrative expenses.—Budgetary resources1666 for the administrative expenses of the following trust funds shall be adjusted by the percentage change in the beneficiary population from the current year1667 to that fiscal year: the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, the Unemployment Trust Fund, and the railroad retirement account.1668
(4) Pay annualization; offset to pay absorption.— Current-year1669 new budget authority1670 for Federal employees shall be adjusted to reflect the full 12- [p. 610] month costs (without absorption) of any pay adjustment that occurred in that fiscal year.
(5) Inflators.—The inflator used in paragraph (1) to adjust budgetary resources1671 relating to personnel shall be the percent by which the average of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index (wages and salaries, private industry workers) for that fiscal year differs from such index for the current year. 1672 The inflator used in paragraph (1) to adjust all other budgetary resources shall be the percent by which the average of the estimated gross national product fixed-weight price index for that fiscal year differs from the average of such estimated index for the current year.
(6) Current-year1673 appropriations.—If, for any account,1674 a continuing appropriation is in effect for less than the entire current year, then the current-year amount shall be assumed to equal the amount that would be available if that continuing appropriation covered the entire fiscal year. If law permits the transfer of budget authority1675 among budget accounts in the current year, the current-year level for an account shall reflect transfers accomplished by the submission of, or assumed for the current year in, the President’s original budget for the budget year.1676
1652. Section 250(c)(7) defines “discretionary appropriations”. See supra p. 444.
1653. Section 250(c)(12) defines “budget year”. See supra p. 446.
1654. Section 250(c)(14) defines “outyear”. See supra p. 446.
1655. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
1656. Section 250(c)(6) defines “budgetary resources”. See supra p. 443.
1657. Section 250(c)(12) defines “budget year”. See supra p. 446.
1658. Section 250(c)(11) defines “account”. See supra p. 445.
1659. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
1660. See infra p. 609.
1661. See infra p. 609.
1662. See infra p. 609.
1663. See infra p. 610.
Notwithstanding the requirements of this paragraph, the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office have both used the discretionary spending limits of section 601(a)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (see supra pp. 301-303) as adjusted under section 251(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (see supra pp. 493-502) as the baseline levels for discretionary appropriations. They reason that the requirements of sections 251 and 253 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (see supra pp. 475-502 and 523-533), taken as a whole, indicate Congress’s intent to ensure that appropriations fall within the caps. As Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 requires appropriations to end up there, they reason, it is consistent with the requirements of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to construct the baseline at that point.
Section 1105 of title 31 of the United States Code requires the President to submit the budget. See infra pp. 788-798. As amended by section 13112(c)(2) of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (see infra p. 711), section 1105(f) provides that “[t]he budget … for a fiscal year shall be, prepared in a manner consistent with the requirements of [the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985] that apply to that and subsequent fiscal years”. See infra p.798.
On this subject, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 has two mandates with which the President’s budget could conform. This section lays out the rules for the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 baseline, and this paragraph directs the calculation of a current services baseline.
Sections 251 and 253 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 provide the alternative, more general mandates with which the President’s budget could conform. See supra pp. 475-502 and 523-533. Section 251, which provides the mechanism for enforcing the appropriations caps, ensures that, after Congress adjourns at the end of the year, appropriations do not exceed the caps. See supra pp. 475-502. Section 253, which enforces the deficit targets (the maximum deficit amounts), operates on the assumption that appropriations stand at the cap levels. See supra pp. 523-533. In its operative sequester language, for example, section 253(a) directs the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office to make their calculations for these purposes after section 251 has ensured that appropriations do not exceed the caps:
“Within 15 calendar days after Congress adjourns to end a session… and on the same day as a sequestration (if any) under section 251 and section 252, but after any sequestration required by section 251 (enforcing discretionary spending limits) …, there shall be a sequestration to eliminate the excess deficit (if any remains) if it exceeds the margin”.
See supra p. 523 (emphasis added).
Similarly, section 253(g)(2) instructs the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office how to calculate the deficit for purposes of adjustment of the deficit targets. See supra pp. 530-533. For these purposes, section 253(g)(2)(A) requires those offices to use the appropriations caps to determine the baseline deficit: “The baseline deficit or surplus shall be calculated using up-to-date economic and technical assumptions…, and, in lieu of the baseline levels of discretionary appropriations, using the discretionary spending limits set forth in section 601 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 of 1974 as adjusted under section 251”. See supra p. 531.
Note that the conclusion that the discretionary spending limits can serve as the discretionary baseline ties less directly to the language of the law than does the conclusion that the law requires a current services baseline. Indeed, section 253(g)(2)(A) itself (quoted for the capped baseline proposition above) provides a basis for questioning the conclusion, as that section states that “[t]he baseline deficit or surplus shall be calculated … in lieu of the baseline levels of discretionary appropriations, using the discretionary spending limits set forth in section 601 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 of 1974 as adjusted under section 251”. See id. (emphasis added). Section 253(g)(2)(A) thus contemplates “baseline levels of discretionary appropriations” that are not equivalent to the discretionary spending limits. Thus, although the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 provides a basis for using a capped appropriations baseline, a President who wished foremost to honor the law and its apparent intent would start from a current services baseline.
Of course, regardless of which baseline the President’s budget adopts, the President may include additional baselines in the budget. Section 1105(a) of title 31 gives the President free reign to add to the budget, stating that “[t]he President shall include in each budget … (3) other desirable classifications of information … [and] (11) other financial information the President decides is desirable to explain in practicable detail the financial condition of the Government”. See infra pp. 789-790. In addition to this statutory authority, the President also retains the Constitutional authority to “recommend to [Congress’s] Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient”. U.S. Const. art. II, § 3. So the President’s budget may use any baseline, as long as it also displays current services baseline data.
Note that the requirement for a current services baseline stands independently. See 31 U.S.C. § 1109 (1988), infra p. 806. In addition, a separate requirement to display current services levels for capital investment appears at 31 U.S.C. § 1105(e)(1)(A) (1988). See infra p. 795.
1664. Section 250(c)(1) (see supra p. 440) defines “budget authority” and “new budget authority” at least in part by reference to the definitions of section 3(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. See supra pp. 11-13.
1665. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
1666. Section 250(c)(6) defines “budgetary resources”. See supra p. 443.
1667. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
1668. Section 250(c)(11) defines “account”. See supra p. 445.
1669. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
1670. Section 250(c)(1) (see supra p. 440) defines “budget authority” and “new budget authority” at least in part by reference to the definitions of section 3(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. See supra pp. 11-13.
1671. Section 250(c)(6) defines “budgetary resources”. See supra p. 443.
1672. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
1673. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
1674. Section 250(c)(11) defines “account”. See supra p. 445.
1675. Section 250(c)(1) (see supra p. 440) defines “budget authority” at least in part by reference to the definition of section 3(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. See supra pp. 11-13.
1676. Section 250(c)(12) defines “budget year”. See supra p. 446.
[P. 611]
(d) Up-To-Date Concepts.—In deriving the baseline for any budget year1677 or outyear,1678 current-year1679 amounts shall be calculated using the concepts and definitions that are required for that budget year.
1677. Section 250(c)(12) defines “budget year”. See supra p. 446.
1678. Section 250(c)(14) defines “outyear”. See supra p. 446.
1679. Section 250(c)(13) defines “current year”. See supra p. 446.
(e) 1680 The sale of an asset1681 or prepayment of a loan1682 shall not alter the deficit1683 or produce any net deficit reduction in the budget baseline, except that the budget baseline estimate shall include asset sales mandated by law before September 18, 1987, and routine, ongoing asset sales and loan prepayments at levels consistent with agency operations in fiscal year 1986;1684
[PP. 611-617 includes text from Note #1684.]
1680. Section 13101(e)(2) of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 transferred subsection (e) to where it is now from section 251(a)(6)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (as it existed before enactment of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990), struck the introductory clause (“assuming, for purposes of this paragraph and subparagraph (A)(i) of paragraph (3), that”), and capitalized the first word. See infra p. 705. For the complete text of section 251(a)(6) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 as it existed before enactment of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, see supra note 1684.
1681. Section250(c)(21) defines “the sale of an asset”. See supra p.448.
1682. Section 250(c)(21) defines “prepayment of a loan”. See supra p. 448.
1683. Section 250(c)(1) (see supra p.440) defines “deficit” by adopting the definition of section 3(6) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. See supra p. 16.
1684. This is so in the original. When section 13101(e)(2) of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 transferred subsection (e) to where it is now from section 251(a)(6)(I) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, it neglected to change the final semicolon to a period. See infra p.705. Section 8 of the fiscal year 1994 budget resolution applies the same rule to estimates made under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:
SEC.8. SALE OF GOVERNMENT ASSETS.
(a) Sense of the Congress.—It is the sense of the Congress that—
[P. 612]
(1) from time to time the United States Government should sell assets; and
(2) the amounts realized from such asset sales will not recur on an annual basis and do not reduce the demand for credit.
(b) Budgetary Treatment.—For purposes of points of order under this concurrent resolution and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the amounts realized from sales of assets (other than loan assets) shall not be scored with respect to the level of budget authority, outlays, or revenues.
(c) Definitions. For purposes of this section.—
(1) the term “sale of an asset” shall have the same meaning as under section 250(c)(21) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (as amended by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990); and
(2) the term shall not include asset sales mandated by law before September 18, 1987, and routine, ongoing asset sales at levels consistent with agency operations in fiscal year 1986.
Concurrent Resolution Setting Forth the Congressional Budget for the United States Government for Fiscal Years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998, H. Con. Res. 64, 103d Cong., 1st Sess., 18, 139 Cong. Rec. H1747, H1751 (daily ed. Mar. 31, 1993) (adopted). For similar provisions in prior budget resolutions, see:
Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1992, H. Con. Res. 121, 102d Cong., 1st Sess., §7, 105 Stat. 2414, 2429 (1991);
Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1991, H. Con. Res. 310, 101st Cong., 2d Sess., §15, 104 Stat. 5163, 5180 (1990);
Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1990, H. Con. Res. 106, 101st Cong., 1st Sess., §6, 103 Stat. 2540, 2552 (1989);
Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1989, H. Con. Res. 268, 100th Cons., 2d Sess., §4, 102 Stat. 4875,4883-84 (1988);
Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1988, H. Con. Res. 93, 100th Cong., 1st Sess., §7, 101 Stat. 1986, 2001 (1987).
The Senate Budget Committee report on the fiscal year 1994 budget resolution explains the language:
This section should prevent the use for spending of the proceeds from asset sales. It does this by prohibiting the counting of asset sales for all purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. This provision is consistent with section 257(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. § 907(e) (Supp. III 1991)), which prohibits the counting of asset sales for the purposes of determining whether that Act calls for across-the-board cuts. This section does not preclude asset sales, nor does it determine whether an action constitutes [p. 613] an asset sale. It adopts the definition of that term that exists in current law. (See Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 §§ 250(c)(21) & 257(e); 2 U.S.C. §§ 900(c)(21) & 907(e) (Supp. 11 1991).)
The provision in this year’s resolution differs from prior years in that it extends the prohibition of counting asset sales to all sections of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as well as to the points of order created by this resolution. The Committee thus intends the rule on asset sales to be uniform for the consideration of all legislation.
This section does not preclude asset sales or loan prepayments; it merely precludes counting such transactions to the benefit of any committee. As this section, if adopted by the Senate and the House, would be a rule of the Senate and the House, respectively, it would supersede any previously adopted scorekeeping rules of the Senate or the House (for example, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 definition of “outlays”) to the extent that they were inconsistent.
This section is written as a permanent change. Congress may by concurrent resolution supersede the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 for the purposes of its application to the Congress.
S. Res. 103-19, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. 54-55 (1993).
Section 13101(e) of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 amended section 257 to read as it does now. See infra p. 705. Before enactment of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, section 257 dealt with definitions. Section 13101(a) of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (see infra p. 701) added a new section 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (see supra pp. 439-448) that sets forth definitions. For the text of section 257 as it read before enactment of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, see supra note 1197.
Before enactment of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, section 251(a)(6) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 set forth the requirements for the budget baseline as follows:
(6) Budget baseline.—In estimating the deficit excess and net deficit reduction in the budget baseline and in computing the amounts and percentages by which accounts must be reduced during a fiscal year as set forth in any report required under this subsection for such fiscal year, the budget baseline shall be determined by—
(A) assuming (subject to subparagraph (B)) the continuation of current revenue law and, in the case of spending authority as defined in section 401(c)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 of 1974, funding for current law at levels sufficient to fully make all payments required under such law;
[P. 614]
(B) assuming that expiring provisions of law providing revenues and spending authority as defined in section 401(c)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 of 1974 do expire, except that excise taxes dedicated to a trust fund, and agricultural price support programs administered through the Commodity Credit Corporation are extended at current rates, contract authority for transportation trust funds is extended at current levels, and that authority to provide insurance through the Federal Housing Administration Fund is continued;
(C) in the case of all accounts to which subparagraph (A) does not apply—
(i) assuming for an account (except as provided by clause (ii)), appropriations at the level specified in enacted annual appropriations or continuing appropriations enacted for the entire fiscal year, and in addition, estimates of appropriations to cover the costs of Federal pay adjustments as set forth in subparagraph (D)(ii) (unless funding for such pay adjustments are provided for in such measure as explained in the joint explanatory statement of managers accompanying such appropriations);
(ii) assuming, if no annual appropriations or continuing appropriations for the entire fiscal year have been enacted for an account, subject to subparagraph (D)(iii), appropriations at the level provided for the previous fiscal year,
(I) adjusted to reflect the full 12-month costs (without absorption) of the pay adjustment that occurred in such fiscal year,
(II) inflated as specified in subparagraph (D)(i), and
(III) increased to cover the increased costs to agencies of personnel benefits (other than pay) required by law-,
(D)(i) as required by subparagraph (C)(ii)(II), assuming that the inflator shall equal—
(I) in the case of fiscal year 1988—
(aa) for personnel costs, the rate of Federal pay adjustments for statutory pay systems and elements of-military pay if such adjustments have been enacted into law or (on or after October 1 of the fiscal year) have been established pursuant to law for such fiscal year or, if not, 4.2 percent, multiplied by the proportion of the fiscal year for which the pay adjustments will be effective, multiplied by 78 percent; and
(bb) for all other costs, 4.2 percent;
(II) in the case of fiscal year 1989 and subsequent fiscal years—
(aa) for 70 percent of personnel costs, the rate of Federal [p. 615] pay adjustments for statutory pay systems and elements of military pay if such adjustments have been enacted into law or (on or after October 1 of the fiscal year) have been established pursuant to law for such fiscal year or, if not, at the inflation rate specified insubclause (Il)(bb), multiplied by the proportion of the fiscal year for which the pay adjustments will be effective, multiplied by 78 percent; and
(bb) for all other costs, the percentage by which the average of the estimated gross national product implicit price deflator for such fiscal year exceeds the average of such estimated deflator for the prior fiscal year (and the Director of OMB shall use such percentage as estimated in the budget submitted by the President under section 1105(a) for such fiscal year, but such use shall not constrain the economic assumptions the Director may use under paragraph (2)(C));
(ii) if required by subparagraph (C)(i), assuming appropriations for a fiscal year in an amount sufficient to—
(I) cover any Federal pay adjustment for statutory pay systems (including associated adjustments in benefit costs) if such adjustments have been enacted into law or, on or after October 1 of the fiscal year, have been established pursuant to law for such fiscal year;
[P. 616]
(II) cover any pay adjustments for elements of military pay (including associated adjustments in benefit costs) if such adjustments are specifically enacted into law or occur pursuant to adjustments for statutory pay systems if such adjustments have been enacted into law or, on or after October 1 of the fiscal year, have been established pursuant to law;
reduced by 22 percent;
(iii) assuming for the purposes of subparagraph (C)(i) that the amount provided for an account for the previous fiscal year is the amount provided in any enacted annual appropriations or continuing appropriations enacted for the entire fiscal year, as modified by any enacted supplemental appropriations or rescission bills, and if a temporary continuing appropriation is in effect for the previous fiscal year, then the amount provided for such account for the previous fiscal year shall be assumed to be the amount that would have been enacted if such continuing appropriations were in effect for the entire fiscal year;
(E) assuming that medicare spending levels for inpatient hospital services will be based upon the regulations most recently issued in final form or proposed by the Health Care Financing Administration pursuant to sections 1886(b)(3)(B), 1886(d)(3)(A), and 1886(e)(4) of the Social Security Act;
(F) assuming that, unless otherwise required by law, advance deficiency payments and paid land diversion payments under the Agricultural Act of 1949 will be made in accordance with applicable regulations and payment rates for 1987;
(G) assuming that the increase in revenues attributable to any increase in appropriations available for administration and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (over the amount actually appropriated for the previous fiscal year) is consistent on a proportional basis with the increase in revenues projected to result from the increased appropriations for such purposes in the budget submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for such fiscal year,
(H) assuming, unless otherwise provided -by law, that the increase for Veterans’ compensation (36.0153-0-1-701) for a fiscal year will be the same as that required by law for Veterans’ pensions;
[P. 617]
(I) assuming, for purposes of this paragraph and subparagraph (A)(i) of paragraph (3), that the sale of an asset or prepayment of a loan shall not alter the deficit or produce any net deficit reduction in the budget baseline, except that the budget baseline estimate shall include asset sales mandated by law before September 18, 2987, and routine, ongoing asset sales and loan prepayments at levels consistent with agency operations in fiscal year 1986;
(J) assuming that deferrals proposed during the period inning October 1ofsuch fiscal year and ending with the snapshot date for such fiscal year shall not be taken into account in determine such budget baseline; and
(K) assuming that the transfer of Government actions from one fiscal year to another fiscal year, as described in section 202 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Reaffirmation Act of 1987, shall not be taken into account except to the extent provided in such section.
Terms used in this paragraph shall have the meanings defined in sections 256 and 257 [which then dealt with definitions].
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Budget Counsel 