109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2381
To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of
1974 to provide line item rescission authority.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 7, 2006
Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. SESSIONS,
Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. TALENT, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. GRAHAM,
Mr. KYL, Mr. ALLARD, Mrs. DOLE, Mr. ENZI, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr.
BURR, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. THUNE, Mr. GREGG, Mr.
SUNUNU, Mr. VITTER, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. THOMAS) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
the Budget
A BILL
To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of
1974 to provide line item rescission authority.
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 `Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. LEGISLATIVE LINE ITEM VETO.
(a) In General- Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control
Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amended by striking part C and inserting
the following: `
`Part C--Legislative Line Item Veto
`EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PROPOSED RESCISSIONS
`SEC. 1021. (a) Proposed Rescissions- The President may propose, at the
time and in the manner provided in subsection (b), the rescission of any
dollar amount of discretionary budget authority or the rescission, in whole
or in part, of any item of direct spending.
`(b) Transmittal of Special Message-
`(A) IN GENERAL- The President may transmit to Congress a special message
proposing to rescind any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority
or any item of direct spending.
`(B) CONTENTS OF SPECIAL MESSAGE- Each special message shall specify,
with respect to the budget authority or item of direct spending proposed
to be rescinded--
`(i) the amount of budget authority or the specific item of direct
spending that the President proposes be rescinded;
`(ii) any account, department, or establishment of the Government
to which such budget authority or item of direct spending is available
for obligation, and the specific project or governmental functions
involved;
`(iii) the reasons why such budget authority or item of direct spending
should be rescinded;
`(iv) to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated fiscal, economic,
and budgetary effect (including the effect on outlays and receipts
in each fiscal year) of the proposed rescission;
`(v) to the maximum extent practicable, all facts, circumstances,
and considerations relating to or bearing upon the proposed rescission
and the decision to effect the proposed rescission, and the estimated
effect of the proposed rescission upon the objects, purposes, and
programs for which the budget authority or item of direct spending
is provided; and
`(vi) a draft bill that, if enacted, would rescind the budget authority
or item of direct spending proposed to be rescinded in that special
message.
`(2) ENACTMENT OF RESCISSION BILL-
`(A) DEFICIT REDUCTION- Amounts of budget authority or items of direct
spending which are rescinded pursuant to enactment of a bill as provided
under this section shall be dedicated only to deficit reduction and
shall not be used as an offset for other spending increases.
`(B) ADJUSTMENT OF COMMITTEE ALLOCATIONS- Not later than 5 days after
the date of enactment of a rescission bill as provided under this section,
the chairs of the Committees on the Budget of the Senate and the House
of Representatives shall revise levels under section 311(a) of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974 and adjust the committee allocations under section
302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to reflect the rescission,
and the appropriate committees shall report revised allocations pursuant
to section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as appropriate.
`(C) ADJUSTMENTS TO CAPS- After enactment of a rescission bill as provided
under this section, the Office of Management and Budget shall revise
applicable limits under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985, as appropriate.
`(c) Procedures for Expedited Consideration-
`(A) INTRODUCTION- Before the close of the second day of session of
the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, after the
date of receipt of a special message transmitted to Congress under subsection
(b), the majority leader or minority leader of each House shall introduce
(by request) a bill to rescind the amounts of budget authority or items
of direct spending, as specified in the special message and the President's
draft bill. If the bill is not introduced as provided in the preceding
sentence in either House, then, on the third day of session of that
House after the date of receipt of that special message, any Member
of that House may introduce the bill.
`(B) REFERRAL AND REPORTING- The bill shall be referred to the appropriate
committee. The committee shall report the bill without substantive revision
and with or without recommendation. The committee shall report the bill
not later than the fifth day of session of that House after the date
of introduction of the bill in that House. If the committee fails to
report the bill within that period, the committee shall be automatically
discharged from consideration of the bill, and the bill shall be placed
on the appropriate calendar.
`(C) FINAL PASSAGE- A vote on final passage of the bill shall be taken
in the Senate and the House of Representatives on or before the close
of the 10th day of session of that House after the date of the introduction
of the bill in that House. If the bill is passed, the Secretary of the
Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives, as the case may
be, shall cause the bill to be transmitted to the other House before
the close of the next day of session of that House.
`(2) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES-
`(A) MOTION TO PROCEED TO CONSIDERATION- A motion in the House of Representatives
to proceed to the consideration of a bill under this subsection shall
be highly privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the motion shall
not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider the
vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.
`(B) LIMITS ON DEBATE- Debate in the House of Representatives on a bill
under this subsection shall not exceed 4 hours, which shall be divided
equally between those favoring and those opposing the bill. A motion
further to limit debate shall not be debatable. It shall not be in order
to move to recommit a bill under this subsection or to move to reconsider
the vote by which the bill is agreed to or disagreed to.
`(C) APPEALS- Appeals from decisions of the Chair relating to the application
of the Rules of the House of Representatives to the procedure relating
to a bill under this section shall be decided without debate.
`(D) APPLICATION OF HOUSE RULES- Except to the extent specifically provided
in this section, consideration of a bill under this section shall be
governed by the Rules of the House of Representatives. It shall not
be in order in the House of Representatives to consider any bill introduced
pursuant to the provisions of this section under a suspension of the
rules or under a special rule.
`(3) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE-
`(A) MOTION TO PROCEED TO CONSIDERATION- A motion to proceed to the
consideration of a bill under this subsection in the Senate shall not
be debatable. It shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote
by which the motion to proceed is agreed to or disagreed to.
`(B) LIMITS ON DEBATE- Debate in the Senate on a bill under this subsection,
and all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith (including
debate pursuant to subparagraph (D)), shall not exceed 10 hours, equally
divided and controlled in the usual form.
`(C) APPEALS- Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion or appeal
in connection with a bill under this subsection shall be limited to
not more than 1 hour, to be equally divided and controlled in the usual
form.
`(D) MOTION TO LIMIT DEBATE- A motion in the Senate to further limit
debate on a bill under this subsection is not debatable.
`(E) MOTION TO RECOMMIT- A motion to recommit a bill under this subsection
is not in order.
`(F) CONSIDERATION OF THE HOUSE BILL-
`(i) IN GENERAL- If the Senate has received the House companion bill
to the bill introduced in the Senate prior to the vote required under
paragraph (1)(C), then the Senate may consider, and the vote under
paragraph (1)(C) may occur on, the House companion bill.
`(ii) PROCEDURE AFTER VOTE ON SENATE BILL- If the Senate votes, pursuant
to paragraph (1)(C), on the bill introduced in the Senate, then immediately
following that vote, or upon receipt of the House companion bill,
the House bill shall be deemed to be considered, read the third time,
and the vote on passage of the Senate bill shall be considered to
be the vote on the bill received from the House.
`(d) Amendments and Divisions Prohibited- No amendment to a bill considered
under this section shall be in order in either the Senate or the House of
Representatives. It shall not be in order to demand a division of the question
in the House of Representatives (or in a Committee of the Whole). No motion
to suspend the application of this subsection shall be in order in the House
of Representatives, nor shall it be in order in the House of Representatives
to suspend the application of this subsection by unanimous consent.
`(e) Temporary Presidential Authority To Withhold-
`(1) IN GENERAL- At the same time as the President transmits to Congress
a special message pursuant to subsection (b), the President may direct
that any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority proposed to be
rescinded in that special message shall not be made available for obligation
for a period not to exceed 180 calendar days from the date the President
transmits the special message to Congress.
`(2) EARLY AVAILABILITY- The President may make any dollar amount of discretionary
budget authority deferred pursuant to paragraph (1) available at a time
earlier than the time specified by the President if the President determines
that continuation of the deferral would not further the purposes of this
Act.
`(f) Temporary Presidential Authority To Suspend-
`(1) IN GENERAL- At the same time as the President transmits to Congress
a special message pursuant to subsection (b), the President may suspend
the execution of any item of direct spending proposed to be rescinded
in that special message for a period not to exceed 180 calendar days from
the date the President transmits the special message to Congress.
`(2) EARLY AVAILABILITY- The President may terminate the suspension of
any item of direct spending at a time earlier than the time specified
by the President if the President determines that continuation of the
suspension would not further the purposes of this Act.
`(g) Definitions- For purposes of this section--
`(1) the term `appropriation law' means any general or special appropriation
Act, and any Act or joint resolution making supplemental, deficiency,
or continuing appropriations;
`(2) the term `deferral' has, with respect to any dollar amount of discretionary
budget authority, the same meaning as the phrase `deferral of budget authority'
defined in section 1011(1) in part B (2 U.S.C. 682(1));
`(3) the term `dollar amount of discretionary budget authority' means
the entire dollar amount of budget authority and obligation limitations--
`(A) specified in an appropriation law, or the entire dollar amount
of budget authority required to be allocated by a specific proviso in
an appropriation law for which a specific dollar figure was not included;
`(B) represented separately in any table, chart, or explanatory text
included in the statement of managers or the governing committee report
accompanying such law;
`(C) required to be allocated for a specific program, project, or activity
in a law (other than an appropriation law) that mandates the expenditure
of budget authority from accounts, programs, projects, or activities
for which budget authority is provided in an appropriation law;
`(D) represented by the product of the estimated procurement cost and
the total quantity of items specified in an appropriation law or included
in the statement of managers or the governing committee report accompanying
such law; or
`(E) represented by the product of the estimated procurement cost and
the total quantity of items required to be provided in a law (other
than an appropriation law) that mandates the expenditure of budget authority
from accounts, programs, projects, or activities for which dollar amount
of discretionary budget authority is provided in an appropriation law;
`(4) the terms `rescind' or `rescission' mean to modify or repeal a provision
of law to prevent--
`(A) budget authority from having legal force or effect;
`(B) in the case of entitlement authority, to prevent the specific legal
obligation of the United States from having legal force or effect; and
`(C) in the case of the food stamp program, to prevent the specific
provision of law that provides such benefit from having legal force
or effect;
`(5) the term `direct spending' means budget authority provided by law
(other than an appropriation law); entitlement authority; and the food
stamp program;
`(6) the term `item of direct spending' means any specific provision of
law enacted after the effective date of the Legislative Line Item Veto
Act of 2006 that is estimated to result in a change in budget authority
or outlays for direct spending relative to the most recent levels calculated
pursuant to section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985 and included with a budget submission under section 1105(a)
of title 31, United States Code, and with respect to estimates made after
that budget submission that are not included with it, estimates consistent
with the economic and technical assumptions underlying the most recently
submitted President's budget;
`(7) the term `suspend the execution' means, with respect to an item of
direct spending or a targeted tax benefit, to stop for a specified period,
in whole or in part, the carrying into effect of the specific provision
of law that provides such benefit; and
`(8)(A) the term `targeted tax benefit' means--
`(i) any revenue-losing provision that provides a Federal tax deduction,
credit, exclusion, or preference to 100 or fewer beneficiaries under
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in any fiscal year for which the provision
is in effect; and
`(ii) any Federal tax provision that provides temporary or permanent
transitional relief for 10 or fewer beneficiaries in any fiscal year
from a change to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
`(B) a provision shall not be treated as described in subparagraph (A)(i)
if the effect of that provision is that--
`(i) all persons in the same industry or engaged in the same type of
activity receive the same treatment;
`(ii) all persons owning the same type of property, or issuing the same
type of investment, receive the same treatment; or
`(iii) any difference in the treatment of persons is based solely on--
`(I) in the case of businesses and associations, the size or form
of the business or association involved;
`(II) in the case of individuals, general demographic conditions,
such as income, marital status, number of dependents, or tax-return-filing
status;
`(III) the amount involved; or
`(IV) a generally-available election under the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986;
`(C) a provision shall not be treated as described in subparagraph (A)(ii)
if--
`(i) it provides for the retention of prior law with respect to all
binding contracts or other legally enforceable obligations in existence
on a date contemporaneous with congressional action specifying such
date; or
`(ii) it is a technical correction to previously enacted legislation
that is estimated to have no revenue effect;
`(D) for purposes of subparagraph (A)--
`(i) all businesses and associations that are members of the same controlled
group of corporations (as defined in section 1563(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986) shall be treated as a single beneficiary;
`(ii) all qualified plans of an employer shall be treated as a single
beneficiary;
`(iii) all holders of the same bond issue shall be treated as a single
beneficiary; and
`(iv) if a corporation, partnership, association, trust or estate is
the beneficiary of a provision, the shareholders of the corporation,
the partners of the partnership, the members of the association, or
the beneficiaries of the trust or estate shall not also be treated as
beneficiaries of such provision;
`(E) for the purpose of this paragraph, the term `revenue-losing provision'
means any provision that results in a reduction in Federal tax revenues
for any one of the two following periods--
`(i) the first fiscal year for which the provision is effective; or
`(ii) the period of the 5 fiscal years beginning with the first fiscal
year for which the provision is effective; and
`(F) the terms used in this paragraph shall have the same meaning as those
terms have generally in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, unless otherwise
expressly provided.
`(h) Application to Targeted Tax Benefits- The President may propose the
repeal of any targeted tax benefit in any bill that includes such a benefit,
under the same conditions, and subject to the same Congressional consideration,
as a proposal under this section to rescind an item of direct spending.'.
(b) Exercise of Rulemaking Powers- Section 904 of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 note) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking `and 1017' and inserting `1017, and
1021'; and
(2) in subsection (d), by striking `section 1017' and inserting `sections
1017 and 1021'.
(c) Clerical Amendments- (1) Section 1(a) of the Congressional Budget and
Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by--
(A) striking `Parts A and B' before `title X' and inserting `Parts A,
B, and C'; and
(B) striking the last sentence and inserting at the end the following
new sentence: `Part C of title X also may be cited as the `Legislative
Line Item Veto Act of 2006'.'.
(2) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents set forth in section 1(b)
of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended
by deleting the contents for part C of title X and inserting the following:
`Part C--Legislative Line Item Veto
`Sec. 1021. expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions.'.
(d) Severability- If any provision of this Act or the amendments made by
it is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments
made by it shall not be affected by the holding.
(e) Effective Date- The amendments made by this Act shall--
(1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2) apply only to any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority,
item of direct spending, or targeted tax benefit provided in an Act enacted
on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
END
