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Section 202
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Reaffirmation Act of 1987

title II—BUDGET PROCESS REFORM

Section 202. Prohibition of Counting as Savings the Transfer of Government Actions From One Year To Another.

(a) In General.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, any law or regulation that has the effect of transferring an outlay, receipt, or revenue of the United States from one fiscal year to an adjacent fiscal year shall not be treated as altering the deficit or producing net deficit reduction in any fiscal year for purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

(b) Exceptions.—Subsection (a) shall not apply if the law making the transfer stipulates that such transfer

(1) is a necessary (but secondary) result of a significant policy change;

(2) provides for contingencies; or

(3) achieves savings made possible by changes in program requirements or by greater efficiency of operations.

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Counsel Notes

Codification

Prior to its repeal, this section was classified to the U.S. Code at  2 U.S.C. 909. From the U.S. Code:

§909. Repealed. Pub. L. 101–508, title XIII, §13212, Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–621. Section, Pub. L. 100–119, title II, §202, Sept. 29, 1987, 101 Stat. 784 , prohibited counting as savings transfer of Government actions from one year to another.

Joint Explanatory Statement (BBEDCRA 1987) 

The Joint Explanatory Statement of the Managers of Conference on the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Reaffirmation Act of 1987 included this description:

7. Prohibition Against Counting Certain Actions as Savings 

Current Law 

Under current practice, the deficit for a fiscal year can be reduced by transferring certain actions by the Federal Government between that fiscal year and another fiscal year, even if the deficit for the other fiscal year is increased as a result. 

Senate Amendment 

The Senate amendment (Section 225) provides that a transfer of any action by the Federal Government-including payments, expenditures, asset sales, and the collection of revenues and receipts-from one fiscal year to an adjacent fiscal year shall not be treated as reducing the deficit for the fiscal year from which the transfer is made unless, as a result of the transfer, the deficit for the period covered by both fiscal years is reduced by at least $100 million. 

The Senate amendment specifies the conditions for determining (for purposes of this requirement) whether an action by the Federal Government constitutes a transfer and further specifies that its provisions shall be enforced on the basis of estimates made by the House and Senate Budget Committees. 

Conference Agreement

The conference agreement prohibits the savings resulting from the transfer of outlays, receipts, or revenues from one year to another to be counted as changing the deficit, except for certain types of transfers identified in law. The conferees recognize that the determinations required under this provision for the 1974 Budget Act will be based on estimates made by the House and Senate Budget Committees.

U.S. House of Representatives, Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Reaffirmation Act of 1987: Conference Report to Accompany H. J. Res. 324, House Ways and Means Committee (H. Rept. 100-313) September 21, 1987.

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[BCR § 219a]