[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1233 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 1233

 To improve budgetary information by requiring that the unified budget 
 presented by the President contain an operating budget and a capital 
budget, distinguish between general funds, trust funds, and enterprise 
                     funds, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 1995

   Mr. Wise introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, and in addition to the 
Committees on Rules and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve budgetary information by requiring that the unified budget 
 presented by the President contain an operating budget and a capital 
budget, distinguish between general funds, trust funds, and enterprise 
                     funds, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Capital Budgeting Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF FINDING AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Statement of Finding.--The Congress finds that the existing 
budget obscures the distinctions between capital activities and 
operating activities, and between general funds, trust funds, and 
enterprise funds, so as to hinder identification of the resources 
needed to meet the needs of the Government and the investment needs of 
the economy that are necessary for sustained economic growth.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act that the unified budget 
present a capital budget and an operating budget, and distinguish 
between general funds, trust funds, and enterprise funds, in order to 
provide better and more relevant information on the revenues, expenses, 
and financing requirements of Government programs and activities.

SEC. 3. CAPITAL AND OPERATING BUDGETS.

    Title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 
1105 the following new section:
``Sec. 1105a. Capital and operating budgets
    ``(a)(1) The budget of the United States submitted by the President 
under section 1105 of this title shall be a unified budget composed of 
an operating budget and a capital budget.
    ``(2) Operating and capital budgets shall be presented separately 
for unified funds, general funds, trust funds, and enterprise funds.
    ``(b)(1) Actual, estimated, and proposed amounts shall be presented 
for unified funds, general funds, trust funds, and enterprise funds, 
and, at a minimum, shall contain--
            ``(A) for the operating budget the following: (i) operating 
        revenues, (ii) operating expenses, (iii) operating surplus/
        deficit before interfund transfers, (iv) interfund transfers, 
        (v) operating surplus/deficit, and (vi) Federal expenditures 
        financing the operating expenses of State and local 
        governments;
            ``(B) for the capital budget the following: (i) capital 
        revenues, (ii) capital investments, (iii) capital financing 
        requirements before interfund transfers, (iv) interfund 
        transfers, and (v) capital financing requirements; and
            ``(C) unified budget financing requirements.
    ``(2) The capital budget shall represent only the major activities, 
projects, and programs which support the acquisition, construction, 
alteration, and rehabilitation of capital assets. All other activities, 
projects, and programs shall be represented in the operating budget.
    ``(c) In addition to the unified budget submitted by the President 
as required by subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the President 
shall present information in the form required by subsection (b)(1) for 
accounts, agencies, and functions, to the extent applicable, the 
capital investments by State and local governments not financed by the 
Federal Government.
    ``(d) In this section--
            ``(1) `unified budget' means a budget in which revenues and 
        expenses for general funds, trust funds, and enterprise funds 
        are consolidated to display totals for the Federal Government 
        as a whole;
            ``(2) `trust funds' means--
                    ``(A) the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance 
                Trust Fund,
                    ``(B) the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund,
                    ``(C) the Civil Service Retirement and Disability 
                Fund,
                    ``(D) the Military Retirement Fund,
                    ``(E) the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance 
                Trust Fund,
                    ``(F) the Unemployment Trust Fund,
                    ``(G) the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund,
                    ``(H) the Highway Trust Fund,
                    ``(I) the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and
                    ``(J) such other funds or accounts of the 
                Government that the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget, in consultation with the 
                Comptroller General, determines should be classified as 
                trust funds in order to fulfill the purpose of this 
                section;
            ``(3) `enterprise funds' means--
                    ``(A) the Postal Service,
                    ``(B) the Resolution Trust Corporation,
                    ``(C) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 
                Fund,
                    ``(D) the Federal Housing Administration,
                    ``(E) the Tennessee Valley Authority Fund,
                    ``(F) the Bonneville Power Administration Fund,
                    ``(G) the Rural Electrification and Telephone 
                Revolving Loan Fund,
                    ``(H) the Export-Import Bank of the United States,
                    ``(I) the Southeastern Power Administration,
                    ``(J) the Southwestern Power Administration,
                    ``(K) the Western Area Power Administration,
                    ``(L) the Alaska Power Administration,
                    ``(M) the Overseas Private Investment Corporation,
                    ``(N) the St. Lawrence Seaway Development 
                Corporation,
                    ``(O) the Rural Telephone Bank,
                    ``(P) the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and
                    ``(Q) such other funds or accounts of the 
                Government that the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget, in consultation with the 
                Comptroller General, determines should be classified as 
                enterprise funds in order to fulfill the purpose of 
                this section;
            ``(4) `general funds' includes all accounts of the 
        Government that are not trust funds or enterprise funds;
            ``(5) `unified funds' means general funds, trust funds, and 
        enterprise funds and represents the unified budget;
            ``(6) `capital assets' means physical assets and financial 
        assets, but does not include consumable inventories;
            ``(7) `physical assets' means tangible assets (other than 
        assets used for national defense or security)--
                    ``(A) the ownership of which is or will be in the 
                public domain;
                    ``(B) that produce services or benefits for more 
                than 5 years;
                    ``(C) that have an initial cost equal to or more 
                than $500,000; and
                    ``(D) including--
                            ``(i) roadways and bridges;
                            ``(ii) airports and airway facilities;
                            ``(iii) mass transportation systems;
                            ``(iv) waste water treatment, water 
                        distribution delivery, and related facilities;
                            ``(v) water resource projects;
                            ``(vi) medical facilities;
                            ``(vii) resource recovery facilities;
                            ``(viii) public structures;
                            ``(ix) space and communication facilities; 
                        and
                            ``(x) strategic petroleum reserves and 
                        mineral stockpiles;
            ``(8) `financial assets' means interests of the Federal 
        Government in, and claims of the Federal Government against, 
        foreign governments, States and their political subdivisions, 
        corporations, associations, and individuals and their resources 
        which are represented by a legal instrument (such as bonds, 
        debentures, notes, and other securities), less any credit 
        subsidy costs attributable to such financial assets;
            ``(9) `credit subsidy costs' means the losses incurred by 
        the Federal Government as a result of its direct and guaranteed 
        loans, including such costs as interest and default;
            ``(10) `consumable inventories' means tangible assets of 
        the Federal Government, including stockpiles, supplies, and 
        inventories, which typically are consumed within 5 years or 
        which have an initial price less than $500,000;
            ``(11) `operating revenues' means all receipts of the 
        Federal Government, other than those identified in paragraph 
        (17), including profits and interest earned on financial 
        assets;
            ``(12) `operating expenses' means all expenses of the 
        Federal Government, other than those identified in paragraph 
        (18), including interest payments on debts, asset consumption 
        charge, and credit subsidy costs;
            ``(13) `the operating surplus/deficit before interfund 
        transfers' means the difference between operating revenues and 
        operating expenses before interfund transfers;
            ``(14) `interfund transfers' means the flow of revenues 
        between general and enterprise funds and trust funds accounts 
        that are expenses from the account making the payments and 
        revenues to the account receiving the payments;
            ``(15) `operating surplus/deficit' means the operating 
        surplus/deficit before interfund transfers plus or minus 
        interfund transfers;
            ``(16) `asset consumption charge' means the systematic and 
        rational allocation of the cost--historical, replacement, or 
        current value--of a physical asset (having a useful life of 
        more than 5 years) financed by the appropriation accounts for 
        which the capital budget required by this section applies;
            ``(17) `capital revenues' means receipts of the Federal 
        Government derived from taxes, collections, and receipts 
        dedicated by statute, for the rehabilitation of capital assets 
        which relate to the activities, functions, and programs 
        represented by the capital budget;
            ``(18) `capital investments' means expenditures of the 
        Federal Government, including those under grants, contracts, 
        and leases, which are for the acquisition, construction, and 
        rehabilitation of capital assets; and Federal expenditures 
        (including tax expenditures) which are for the acquisition, 
        construction, and rehabilitation of the physical assets of 
        State and local governments;
            ``(19) `capital financing requirements before interfund 
        transfers' means the difference between capital revenues and 
        capital investments before interfund transfers;
            ``(20) `capital financing requirements' means financing 
        requirements before interfund transfers plus or minus interfund 
        transfers; and
            ``(21) `unified budget financing requirements' means the 
        total of the operating surplus/deficit and the capital 
        financing requirements; and

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    Section 1112 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(1) by inserting ``criteria, 
        principles, and standards for determining the contents of the 
        operating and capital budgets required under section 1105a of 
        this title, and'' after ``including''; and
            (2) by adding the following subsection at the end thereof:
    ``(g) The Comptroller General shall review and report to the 
Congress on the implementation of section 1105a of this title as the 
Comptroller General deems necessary. A review by the Comptroller 
General may include determining whether--
            ``(1) the actual, estimated, and proposed appropriations, 
        receipts, and investments presented in the capital budget 
        represent activities, functions, and programs which support the 
        acquisition, construction, alteration, and rehabilitation of 
        capital assets; and
            ``(2) the classifications made by the Director of the 
        Office of Management and Budget under section 1105a(d)(2)(H) of 
        this title further the purposes of section 1105a.''.

SEC. 5. REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET.

    Not later than September 30, 1996, the Committee on the Budget 
shall submit to the House of Representatives proposed legislation which 
shall establish additional deficit targets under the Balanced Budget 
and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 beginning in fiscal year 1997 
which would require the eventual elimination of deficits in the 
operating account as set forth in the amendments made by this Act in 
accordance with the Committee on the Budget's proposed deficit targets.

SEC. 6. REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT.

    Not later than September 30, 1996, the Committee on Government 
Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives shall report 
legislation directing the Comptroller General to evaluate--
            (1) on an annual basis, the value and usefulness of capital 
        investments in the capital account as set forth in the 
        amendments made by this Act; and
            (2) the value and usefulness of proposed capital 
        investments submitted to the House of Representatives after the 
        enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7. REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON RULES.

    Not later than September 30, 1996, the Committee on Rules of the 
House of Representatives shall report legislation establishing rules to 
facilitate the enforcement of the amendments made by this Act to title 
31, United States Code.

SEC. 8. PUBLIC WORKS FINANCING INFORMATION.

    Title VII of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 
(42 U.S.C. 3211-3226) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 717. PUBLIC WORKS FINANCING INFORMATION.

    ``(a) Transportation Reports.--Not later than 12 months after the 
date of enactment of the Capital Budgeting Act of 1995, and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary of Transportation shall report to the House 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee 
on Environment and Public Works, at the account, function, and agency 
levels, the actual, estimated, and proposed appropriations, receipts, 
and expenditures for capital activities and operating activities 
associated with the following:
            ``(1) roadways and bridges;
            ``(2) airports and airway facilities; and
            ``(3) mass transportation systems.
    ``(b) Water Pollution Reports.--Not later than 12 months after the 
date of enactment of the Capital Budgeting Act of 1995 and annually 
thereafter, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
shall report to the House Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public 
Works, at the account and function levels, the actual, estimated, and 
proposed appropriations, receipts, and expenditures for capital 
activities and operating activities associated with waste water 
treatment, water distribution delivery, and related facilities.
    ``(c) Water Resources Reports.--Not later than 12 months after the 
date of enactment of the Capital Budgeting Act of 1995 and annually 
thereafter, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works shall 
report to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and 
the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, at the account 
and function levels, the actual, estimated, and proposed 
appropriations, receipts, and expenditures for capital activities and 
operating activities associated with water resource projects.
    ``(d) Public Buildings Reports.--Not later than 12 months after the 
date of enactment of the Capital Budgeting Act of 1995 and annually 
thereafter, the Administrator of the General Services Administration 
shall report to the House Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public 
Works, at the account and function levels, the actual, estimated, and 
proposed appropriations, receipts, and expenditures for capital 
activities and operating activities associated with public 
buildings.''.
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