To amend part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to establish discretionary spending limits and a pay-as-you-go requirement for mandatory spending.

June 23, 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 establish discretionary spending limits and a pay-as-you-go requirement for mandatory spending.

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 `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: $839,167,000,000 in new budget authority and $851,731,000,000 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 2006, 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. EXTENSION OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO REQUIREMENT.

(a) PURPOSE- Section 252(a) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended to read as follows:

`(a) PURPOSE- The purpose of this section is to assure that any legislation that is enacted before October 1, 2009, that causes a net increase in direct spending will trigger an offsetting sequestration.'.

(b) TIMING- Section 252(b)(1) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking `any net deficit increase' and all that follows through `2002,' and by inserting `any net increase in direct spending enacted before October 1, 2009,'.

(c) CALCULATION OF DIRECT SPENDING INCREASE- Section 252(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended--

(1) by striking `deficit' the first place it appears and inserting `direct spending';

(2) in subparagraph (A) by striking `and receipts';

(3) in subparagraph (C) by striking `and receipts'; and

(4) by amending the heading to read as follows: `CALCULATION OF DIRECT SPENDING INCREASE- '.

(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS- (1) The heading of section 252(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended to read as follows: `ELIMINATING A DIRECT SPENDING INCREASE- '.

(2) Paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of section 252(d) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 are amended by striking `or receipts' each place it appears.

(3) Section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking `or receipts' and by striking `, outlays, and receipts' and inserting `and outlays'.

(4) Section 254(c)(3) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended--

(A) in subparagraph (A) by striking `net deficit increase or decrease' and by inserting `net increase or decrease in direct spending';

(B) in subparagraph (B) by striking `amount of deficit increase or decrease' and by inserting `increase or decrease in direct spending'; and

(C) in subparagraph (C) by striking `a deficit increase' and by inserting `an increase in direct spending'.

SEC. 7. 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, 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. 8. 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. 9. EXCEPTION FOR OUTLAY COMPONENTS OF EXPIRING RECEIPTS LEGISLATION.

Section 252(d)(4) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking `and' at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking the period and inserting `; and' at the end of subparagraph (B), and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(C) extending provisions in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 or provisions in sections 101 through 104, section 202, or sections 301 and 302 of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.'.

SEC. 10. 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. 11. 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)' and by striking `2006' and inserting `2013'.

SEC. 12. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT OF 1985.

Part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended as follows:

(1) In section 250(a), strike `SEC. 256. GENERAL AND SPECIAL SEQUESTRATION RULES' and insert `Sec. 256. General and special sequestration rules' in the item relating to section 256.

(2) In subparagraphs (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), and (K) of section 250(c)(4), insert `subparagraph' after `described in' each place it appears.

(3) In section 250(c)(18), insert `of' after `expenses'.

(4) In section 251(b)(1)(A), strike `committees' the first place it appears and insert `Committees'.

(5) In section 251(b)(1)(C)(i), strike `fiscal years' and insert `fiscal year'.

(6) In section 251(b)(1)(D)(ii), strike `fiscal years' and insert `fiscal year'.

(7) In section 252(b)(2)(B), insert `the' before `budget year'.

(8) In section 252(c)(1)(C)(i), strike `paragraph (1)' and insert `subsection (b)'.

(9) In section 254(c)(3)(A), strike `subsection' and insert `section'.

(10) In section 254(f)(4), strike `subsection' and insert `section' and strike `sequesterable' and insert `sequestrable'.

(11) In section 255(g)(1)(B), move the fourteenth undesignated clause 2 ems to the right.

(12) In section 255(g)(2), insert `and' after the semicolon at the end of the next-to-last undesignated clause.

(13) In section 255(h)--

(A) strike `and' after the semicolon in the ninth undesignated clause;

(B) insert `and' after the semicolon at the end of the tenth undesignated clause; and

(C) strike the semicolon at the end and insert a period.

(14) In section 256(k)(1), strike `paragraph (5)' and insert `paragraph (6)'.

(15) In section 257(b)(2)(A)(i), strike `differenes' and insert `differences'.

END