To amend part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to extend the discretionary spending limits.

June 22, 2004

Mr. NUSSLE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget

To amend part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to extend the discretionary spending limits.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Discretionary Spending Control Act of 2004'.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS.

(a) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS- (1) Section 251(c)(1) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (relating to fiscal year 2004) is amended--

(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking `$31,834,000,000' and inserting `$28,052,000,000'; and

(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking `$1,462,000,000' and inserting `$1,436,000,000' and by striking `$6,629,000,000' and inserting `$6,271,000,000'.

(2) Section 251(c)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by inserting a dash after `2005', by redesignating the remaining portion of such paragraph as subparagraph (D) and by moving it two ems to the right, and by inserting after the dash the following new subparagraphs:

`(A) for the general purpose discretionary category: $817,726,000,000 in new budget authority and $866,056,000,000 in outlays;

`(B) for the highway category: $30,585,000,000 in outlays; and

`(C) for the mass transit category: $1,554,000,000 in new budget authority and $6,787,000,000 in outlays; and'.

(3) Section 251(c)(3) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by inserting a dash after `2006', by redesignating the remaining portion of such paragraph as subparagraph (D) and by moving it two ems to the right, and by inserting after the dash the following new subparagraphs:

`(A) for the general purpose discretionary category: $831,417,000,000 in new budget authority and $846,280,000,000 in outlays;

`(B) for the highway category: $33,271,000,000 in outlays; and

`(C) for the mass transit category: $1,671,000,000 in new budget authority and $7,585,000,000 in outlays; and'.

(4) Section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (9) as paragraphs (7) through (12) and inserting after paragraph (3) the following new paragraphs:

`(4) with respect to fiscal year 2007--

`(A) for the highway category: $35,248,000,000 in outlays; and

`(B) for the mass transit category: $1,785,000,000 in new budget authority and $8,110,000,000 in outlays;

`(5) with respect to fiscal year 2008--

`(A) for the highway category: $36,587,000,000 in outlays; and

`(B) for the mass transit category: $1,890,000,000 in new budget authority and $8,517,000,000 in outlays; and

`(6) with respect to fiscal year 2009--

`(A) for the highway category: $37,682,000,000 in outlays; and

`(B) for the mass transit category: $2,017,000,000 in new budget authority and $8,968,000,000 in outlays;'.

(b) DEFINITIONS- Section 250(c)(4) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended--

(1) in subparagraph (B), by--

(A) striking `the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century and the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2003' and inserting `the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users'; and

(B) inserting before the period at the end the following new clauses:

`(v) 69-8158-0-7-401 (Motor Carrier Safety Grants).

`(vi) 69-8159-0-7-401 (Motor Carrier Safety Operations and Programs).';

(2) in subparagraph (C), by--

(A) inserting `(and successor accounts)' after `budget accounts'; and

(B) striking `the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century and the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2003 or for which appropriations are provided pursuant to authorizations contained in those Acts (except that appropriations provided pursuant to section 5338(h) of title 49, United States Code, as amended by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, shall not be included in this category)' and inserting `the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users or for which appropriations are provided pursuant to authorizations contained in that Act'; and

(3) in subparagraph (D)(ii), by striking `section 8103 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century' and inserting `section 8103 of the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users'.

SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENTS TO ALIGN HIGHWAY SPENDING WITH REVENUES.

Subparagraphs (B) through (E) of section 251(b)(1) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 are amended to read as follows:

`(B) ADJUSTMENT TO ALIGN HIGHWAY SPENDING WITH REVENUES- (i) When the President submits the budget under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, OMB shall calculate and the budget shall make adjustments to the highway category for the budget year and each outyear as provided in clause (ii)(I)(cc).

`(ii)(I)(aa) OMB shall take the actual level of highway receipts for the year before the current year and subtract the sum of the estimated level of highway receipts in subclause (II) plus any amount previously calculated under item (bb) for that year.

`(bb) OMB shall take the current estimate of highway receipts for the current year and subtract the estimated level of receipts for that year.

`(cc) OMB shall add one-half of the sum of the amount calculated under items (aa) and (bb) to the obligation limitations set forth in the section 8103 of the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users and, using current estimates, calculate the outlay change resulting from the change in obligations for the budget year and the first outyear and the outlays flowing therefrom through subsequent fiscal years. After making the calculations under the preceding sentence, OMB shall adjust the amount of obligations set forth in that section for the budget year and the first outyear by adding one-half of the sum of the amount calculated under items (aa) and (bb) to each such year.

`(II) The estimated level of highway receipts for the purposes of this clause are--

`(aa) for fiscal year 2004, $30,572,000,000;

`(bb) for fiscal year 2005, $34,260,000,000;

`(cc) for fiscal year 2006, $35,586,000,000;

`(dd) for fiscal year 2007, $36,570,000,000;

`(ee) for fiscal year 2008, $37,603,000,000; and

`(ff) for fiscal year 2009, $38,651,000,000.

`(III) In this clause, the term `highway receipts' means the governmental receipts credited to the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund.

`(C) In addition to the adjustment required by subparagraph (B), when the President submits the budget under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2006, 2007, 2008, or 2009, OMB shall calculate and the budget shall include for the budget year and each outyear an adjustment to the limits on outlays for the highway category and the mass transit category equal to--

`(i) the outlays for the applicable category calculated assuming obligation levels consistent with the estimates prepared pursuant to subparagraph (D), as adjusted, using current technical assumptions; minus

`(ii) the outlays for the applicable category set forth in the subparagraph (D) estimates, as adjusted.

`(D)(i) When OMB and CBO submit their final sequester report for fiscal year 2004, that report shall include an estimate of the outlays for each of the categories that would result in fiscal years 2005 through 2009 from obligations at the levels specified in section 8103 of the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users using current assumptions.

`(ii) When the President submits the budget under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2006, 2007, 2008, or 2009, OMB shall adjust the estimates made in clause (i) by the adjustments by subparagraphs (B) and (C).

`(E) OMB shall consult with the Committees on the Budget and include a report on adjustments under subparagraphs (B) and (C) in the preview report.'.

SEC. 4. LEVEL OF OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS.

(a) HIGHWAY CATEGORY- For the purposes of section 251(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the level of obligation limitations for the highway category is--

(1) for fiscal year 2004, $34,309,000,000;

(2) for fiscal year 2005, $35,671,000,000;

(3) for fiscal year 2006, $36,719,000,000;

(4) for fiscal year 2007, $37,800,000,000;

(5) for fiscal year 2008, $38,913,000,000; and

(6) for fiscal year 2009, $40,061,000,000.

(b) MASS TRANSIT CATEGORY- For the purposes of section 251(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the level of obligation limitations for the mass transit category is--

(1) for fiscal year 2004, $7,266,000,000;

(2) for fiscal year 2005, $7,750,000,000;

(3) for fiscal year 2006, $8,266,000,000;

(4) for fiscal year 2007, $8,816,000,000;

(5) for fiscal year 2008, $9,403,000,000; and

(6) for fiscal year 2009, $10,029,000,000.

For purposes of this subsection, the term `obligation limitations' means the sum of budget authority and obligation limitations.

SEC. 5. ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS.

Section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

`(d) ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS- In any of fiscal years 2005 through 2007, discretionary advance appropriations provided in appropriation Acts in excess of $23,558,000,000 shall be counted against the discretionary spending limits for the fiscal year for which the appropriation Act containing the advance appropriation is enacted.'.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:

`(20) The term `advance appropriation' means appropriations that first become available one fiscal year or more beyond the fiscal year for which an appropriation Act making such funds available is enacted.

`(21)(A) Except as provided by subparagraph (B), the term `emergency requirement' means any provision that provides new budget authority and resulting outlays for a situation that poses a threat to life, property, or national security and is--

`(i) sudden, quickly coming into being, and not building up over time;

`(ii) an urgent, pressing, and compelling need requiring immediate action;

`(iii) subject to subparagraph (B), unforeseen, unpredictable, and unanticipated; and

`(iv) not permanent, temporary in nature.

`(B) An emergency that is part of an aggregate level of anticipated emergencies, particularly when normally estimated in advance, is not unforeseen.'.

(b) FIRE SUPPRESSION; CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS RELATED TO GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM- Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(I) FIRE SUPPRESSION- (i) If a bill or joint resolution is enacted that provides new budget authority for wildland fire suppression for fiscal year 2005 or fiscal year 2006 that would cause the level of total new budget authority for wildland fire suppression to exceed the base amount for that fiscal year, the adjustment for that fiscal year shall be the additional new budget authority provided for such purpose and the additional outlays flowing from such amounts, but shall not exceed--

`(I) for the Forest Service for fiscal year 2005 or fiscal year 2006 (as applicable), $400,000,000; and

`(II) for the Department of the Interior for fiscal year 2005 or fiscal year 2006 (as applicable), $100,000,000.

`(ii) For this subparagraph, the term `base amount' refers to the average of the obligations of the 10 fiscal years preceding the current year for wildfire suppression in the Forest Service and in the Department of the Interior, as calculated by OMB, but for fiscal year 2005 the base amount is $880,000,000.

`(J) CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS RELATED TO GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM- If, for fiscal year 2005, supplemental appropriations for discretionary accounts are enacted for contingency operations related to the global war on terrorism that, pursuant to this subparagraph, the President designates as a contingency operation related to the global war on terrorism and the Congress so designates in statute, the adjustment shall be the total of such appropriations in discretionary accounts so designated, but not to exceed $50,000,000,000, and the outlays flowing in all fiscal years from such appropriations.'.

(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The second sentence of section 250(c)(4)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended to read as follows: `The general purpose discretionary category shall consist of accounts designated in the joint explanatory statement of managers accompanying the conference report on the Spending Control Act of 2004.'.

SEC. 7. PROJECTIONS UNDER SECTION 257.

Section 257(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by inserting after paragraph (6) the following new paragraph:

`(7) EMERGENCIES- New budgetary resources designated under section 251(b)(2)(A) or 251(b)(2)(J) shall not be assumed beyond the fiscal year for which they have been enacted.'.

SEC. 8. REPORTS.

Subsections (c)(2) and (f)(2)(A) of section 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 are amended by striking `2002' and inserting `2006 (or 2009 solely for purposes of enforcing the discretionary spending limits for the highway and mass transit categories)'.

SEC. 9. EXPIRATION.

Section 275(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking `2002' and inserting `2006 (or 2009 solely for purposes of enforcing the discretionary spending limits for the highway and mass transit categories)'.

END