Congressional Budget Act of 1974

 

completion of action on bills providing new budget authority and certain new spending authority

Sec. 309.^[1] Except as otherwise provided pursuant to this title, not later than the seventh day after Labor Day of each year, the Congress shall complete action on all bills and resolutions—

(1) providing new budget authority for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year, other than supplemental, deficiency, and continuing appropriation bills and resolutions, and other than the reconciliation bill for such year, if required to be reported under section 310(c); and

(2) providing new spending authority described in section 401(c)(2)(C) which is to become effective during such fiscal year. Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any bill or resolution if legislation authorizing the enactment of new budget authority to be provided in such bill or resolution has not been timely enacted.

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Joint Explanatory Statement on the Committee of Conference on H.R. 7130 (1975)[2]

Section 309. Timetable for Budget Authority and Entitlement Bills

The House bill provided for completion of action (other than enrollment) of all regular appropriation bills by August 1. The Senate amendment had an August 7^th date or five days before the beginning of an August adjournment.

The conference substitute provides that Congress shall complete action on all regular budget authority and entitlement bills no later than the seventh day after Labor Day. However, this deadline shall not apply to any appropriation bill whose consideration has been delayed because necessary authorizing legislation has not been timely enacted. It is anticipated that the bulk of the appropriation legislation will be considered in the period immediately following adoption of the first budget resolution. If necessary authorizing legislation is reported by the May 15 date and enacted promptly thereafter, it should be possible to complete action on spending and entitlement bills before the deadline. The deadline set in this section is of the utmost importance for the proper functioning of the congressional budget process. In most years, only three weeks will remain until the start of the new fiscal year, during which period Congress will have to consider a second budget resolution and any required reconciliation actions. Even a small delay in the completion of authorizing and budget authority bills can disturb the reconciliation process and compel Congress to rely on continuing resolutions. The managers understand that failure to “timely enact” authorizing legislation will justify noncompliance with the deadline fixed by this section when the delay is of such duration as to make it impracticable to complete action on an appropriation bill by the seventh day after Labor Day.

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Counsel Notes

[1] This section was classified to the U.S. Code at 31 U.S.C. 1330 before the recodification law in 1982 by Pub. L. 97-258.

[2] Joint Explanatory Statement on the Committee of Conference on H.R. 7130; (Committee Print), Committee on the Budget, House of Representatives, 93d Congress, 2d Session, Washington D.C. 1975.

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Counsel Notes

Joint Committee on Atomic Energy

Section 3(b) of the CBA, as enacted, amended the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (Pub. L. 83-703) clarifying treatment of Members of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy.This text was subsequently repealed (see amendments made in 1977):

(b) Joint Committee on Atomic Energy.—For purposes of titles II, III, and IV of this Act, the Members of the House of Representatives who are members of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy shall be treated as a standing committee of the House, and the Members of the Senate who are members of the Joint Committee shall be treated as a standing committee of the Senate.

Legislative History Notes

Public Laws

Pub. L. 93–344, §3, July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 299. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (CBA) enacted this section into law. 

Pub. L. 95–110, §1, Sept. 20, 1977, 91 Stat. 884. “An Act to abolish the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy” repealed a clarification as to the status of its Membership for purposes of the CBA..

Pub. L. 99–177, title II, §§201(a), 232(b), Dec. 12, 1985, 99 Stat. 1039, 1062 (Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985).

Pub. L. 99–514, §2, Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2095 (Tax Reform Act of 1986).

Pub. L. 100–119, title I, §106(a), Sept. 29, 1987, 101 Stat. 780 (Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Reaffirmation Act of 1987).

Pub. L. 100–203, title VIII, §8003(c), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1330–282 (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987).

Pub. L. 101–508, title XIII, §§13112(a)(2), 13201(b)(1), 13211(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–607, 1388-614, 1388-620 (Budget Enforcement Act of 1990).

Pub. L. 105–33, title X, §10101, Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 678 (Budget Enforcement Act of 1997).

Pub. L. 112–25, title I, §105(b), Aug. 2, 2011, 125 Stat. 247. The Budget Control Act of 2011 added the definition of “emergency” to the end of the section.

References in Text

The reference to “this Act” in the text means Pub. L. 93–344, July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 297, as amended, known as the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. This Act:

• Enacted chapters 17, 17A and 17B, and section 190a–3 of Title 2, The Congress, and sections 11a, 11c, 11d, 1020a of former Title 31, Money and Finance;

• Amended sections 11, 665, 701, 1020, 1151, 1152, 1153, and 1154 of former Title 31, section 105 of Title 1, General Provisions, sections 190b and 190d of this title;

• Repealed sections 571 and 581c–1 of former Title 31, and sections 66 and 81 of this title; and

• Enacted provisions set out as notes under sections 190a–1, 621, 632, and 682 of this title, section 105 of Title 1, and section 1020 of former Title 31.^[6]

Codification

This section was formerly classified to section 1302 of Title 31. In 1982, Congress enacted the Title 31 Revision and Codification Law of 1982 (colloquial reference) that generally concentrated finance oriented provisions in title 31, without substantive revision.  The Act was a revision, codification and enactment of Title 31, Money and Finance (Pub. L. 97–258, §1, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 877).

Amendments

2011

Paragraph (11).

Pub. L. 112–25 added paragraph (11).

1997

Paragraph (9).

Section 10101 of BEA 1997 (Pub. L. 105–33) amended paragraph (9) generally. Prior to amendment, paragraph (9) read as follows:

“The term ‘entitlement authority’ means spending authority described by section 401(c)(2)(C) of this title.”

1990

Paragraph (2). 

[See Notes: BEA 1990 Amendment to Budget Authority]

Section 13211(a) of the BEA 1990 (Pub. L. 101-508) amended paragraph (2) generally. Prior to amendment, paragraph (2) read as follows:

“The term ‘budget authority’ means authority provided by law to enter into obligations which will result in immediate or future outlays involving Government funds or to collect offsetting receipts., except that such term does not include authority to insure or guarantee the repayment of indebtedness incurred by another person or government.

[This sentence was also added at the end by the BEA 1990: “The term includes the cost for direct loan and loan guarantee programs, as those terms are defined by title V, which is the title of the Congressional Budget Act known as the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990”.]^[7]”.

Section 13201(b)(1) of the BEA 1990 (Pub. L. 101-508), inserted at end:

[“The term includes the cost for direct loan and loan guarantee programs, as those terms are defined by title V”]

Paragraphs (6) to (8).

Pub. L. 101–508, §13112(a)(2) added paragraphs (6) to (8) and struck out former paragraph (6) which defined “deficit” and contained provisions relating to calculation of the deficit, former paragraph (7) which defined “maximum deficit amount”, and former paragraph (8) which defined “off-budget Federal entity”.

1987

Paragraph (7)(C).

Pub. L. 100–203, §8003(c)(1), and (2) redesignated subparagraph (D) as (C). Former subparagraph (C), which provided for maximum deficit amount of $108,000,000,000 for fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 1987, was struck out.

Paragraph (7)(D) to (I).

Pub. L. 100–203, §8003(c)(2)–(7) redesignated subparagraphs (E) to (I) as (D) to (H), respectively. Former subparagraph (D) redesignated (C).

Pub. L. 100–119 inserted subparagraphs (D) to (I) and struck out former subparagraphs (D) to (F) which read as follows:

“(D) with respect to the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1988, $72,000,000,000;

“(E) with respect to the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1989, $36,000,000,000; and

“(F) with respect to the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1990, zero.”

1986

Paragraph (6).

Pub. L. 99–514 (Tax Reform Act of 1986); sections 2 and 3 of the Act substituted “Internal Revenue Code of 1986” for “Internal Revenue Code of 1954” generally. This applies to paragraph 6, as amended. 

1985

Paragraph (2).

Pub. L. 99–177, §201(a)(2) of BBEDCA inserted reference to the collection of offsetting receipts, effective Apr. 15, 1986.

Paragraph (4).

Pub. L. 99–177, §232(b) of BBEDCA struck out subparagraph (B) relating to concurrent resolutions as provided in section 641 of this title, and redesignated subparagraph (C) as (B).

Paragraphs (6) to (10).

Pub. L. 99–177, §201(a)(1) of BBEDCA added pars. (6) to (10).

1977

Pub. L. 95–110 amended the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (Pub. L. 83-703) by abolishing the Congressional “Joint Committee on Atomic Energy”. In doing so, that Act reorganized section 3. It struck out the designation “(a)” before “For the purpose of this chapter” and struck out subsection (b) which had provided that Members of the respective Houses of Congress who were members of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy were to be treated as standing committees of their respective Houses of Congress.

Change of Name

The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (section 4002(c) of Pub. L. 110–246) renamed the Food Stamps program as follows: 

Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

Pub. L. 101–508, title XIII, §13211(b), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–620 (Budget Enforcement Act of 1990) applied an effective date to its general rewriting of the terms “budget authority” and “new budget authority”, which it did in section 13211(a) as referred to in the following text from section 13211(b):  

(b) Effective Date.—The amendment made by subsection (a)  shall be effective for fiscal year 1992 and subsequent fiscal years.

Effective Date of 1985 Amendment

Amendment by sections 201(a)(1) and 232(b) of Pub. L. 99–177 effective Dec. 12, 1985, and applicable with respect to fiscal years beginning after Sept. 30, 1985, and amendment by section 201(a)(2) of Pub. L. 99–177 effective Apr. 15, 1986, see section 275(a)(1), (2)(A) of Pub. L. 99–177, as amended, formerly set out as an Effective and Termination Dates note under section 900 of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 112–25, title I, §104(a), Aug. 2, 2011, 125 Stat. 246. 

BEA 1990 Amendment to Budget Authority 

The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (BEA 1990) significantly revised the definition of “budget authority and new budget authority”. The following is from that Act: 

SEC. 13211. DEFINITIONS.

(a) Budget Authority.—Section 3(2) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended to read as follows:

(2) Budget authority and new budget authority.—

(A) In general.—The term ‘budget authority’ means the authority provided by Federal law to incur financial obligations, as follows:

“(i) provisions of law that make funds available for obligation and expenditure (other than borrowing authority), including the authority to obligate and expend the proceeds of offsetting receipts and collections;

“(ii) borrowing authority, which means authority granted to a Federal entity to borrow and obligate and expend the borrowed funds, including through the issuance of promissory notes or other monetary credits;

“(iii) contract authority, which means the making of funds available for obligation but not for expenditure; and

“(iv) offsetting receipts and collections as negative budget authority, and the reduction thereof as positive budget authority.

(B) Limitations on budget authority.—With respect to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, the Unemployment Trust Fund, and the railroad retirement account, any amount that is precluded from obligation in a fiscal year by a provision of law (such as a limitation or a benefit formula) shall not be budget authority in that year.

(C) New budget authority.—The term “new budget authority’ means, with respect to a fiscal year—

“(i) budget authority that first becomes available for obligation in that year, including budget authority that becomes available in that year [as] a result of a reappropriation; or

“(ii) a change in any account in the availability of unobligated balances of budget authority carried over from a prior year, resulting from a provision of law first effective in that year;

and includes a change in the estimated level of new budget authority provided in indefinite amounts by existing law.”.

(b) Effective Date.—The amendment made by subsection (a) shall be effective for fiscal year 1992 and subsequent fiscal years.

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Counsel Footnotes

[1] 2 U.S.C. 622

[2] Section 105 of title 1, United Sates Code reads as follows:

§105. Title of appropriation Acts

The style and title of all Acts making appropriations for the support of Government shall be as follows: “An Act making appropriations (here insert the object) for the year ending September 30 (here insert the calendar year).

[July 30, 1947, ch. 388, 61 Stat. 634; Pub. L. 93–344, title V, §506(a), July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 322.]

[3] After the repeal of “spending authority” in the BEA of 1997, entitlement authority is determined to be a form of budget authority. Deschler’s Ch. 41, p. 103 states: The “legislative history of [the Budget Enforcement Act of 1997] explains that entitlement authority would thereafter be scored as ‘budget authority’ and thus would continue be covered by [section 303 (CBA)]. See H. Rept. 105–217, pp 988, 989.”

[4] Section 4002 of Pub. L. 110-246 renamed the “food stamp program” as the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”

[5] The relevant parts of Section 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 read as follows:

“(20) The term “emergency” means a situation that—

“(A) requires new budget authority and outlays (or new budget authority and the outlays flowing  therefrom)  for the prevention or mitigation of, or response to, loss of life or property, or a threat to national security; and

“(B) is unanticipated.

“(21) The term “unanticipated” means that the underlying situation is—

“(A) sudden, which means quickly coming into being or not building up over time;

“(B) urgent, which means a pressing and compelling need requiring immediate action;

“(C) unforeseen, which means not predicted or anticipated as an emerging need; and

“(D) temporary, which means not of a permanent duration.”

[6] Items such as the “Short Title” and the “Table of Contents” which are set forth in section 1 of the CBA are omitted from the U.S. Code, but set forth in the U.S. Code Notes on section 621. 

[7] The amendment made by section 13201(b)(1) of the BEA 1990 was not executed by Law Revision Counsel into law since section 13211(a) of the same Act rewrote the paragraph (2) in its entirety. That sentence is as follows: 

(b) Conforming Amendment.—

(1) Definitions.—Section 3(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following: “The term includes the cost for direct loan and loan guarantee programs, as those terms are defined by title V”.

See also Note #31 from Budget Process Law Annotated (1993); Annotated by William G. Dauster: 

The Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives omitted this last sentence from 2U.S.C. * 622(2) (Supp. IV 1992). Section 13211(a) of the Budget Enforcement Act amended subsection (2) to read as it does now (with the exception of the last sentence) for fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1992. See infra p. 732. The Law Revision Counsel apparently reasoned that Congress meant the amendments made by section 13211 to replace this section as amended by section 13201(b)(1) of the Budget Enforcement Act for fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1992. As title V (to which this last sentence refers) isa permanent addition to the Act, the better reading is that Congress intended that this reference remain as a permanent allusion. The intent of title V is unmistakable, nonetheless, to the effect that the cost for direct loan and loan guarantee programs constitutes budget authority. [BPLA (1993), p.13]

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[BCR § 103j]