[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2423 Referral Instructions Senate (RIS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2423

  To improve the accuracy of the budget and revenue estimates of the 
  Congressional Budget Office by creating an independent CBO Economic 
 Advisory Council and requiring full disclosure of the methodology and 
          assumptions used by CBO in producing the estimates.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 1998

  Mr. Abraham introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred jointly pursuant to the order of August 4, 1977, to the 
 Committees on the Budget and Governmental Affairs, with instructions 
that if one committee reports, the other committee have thirty days to 
                        report or be discharged

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To improve the accuracy of the budget and revenue estimates of the 
  Congressional Budget Office by creating an independent CBO Economic 
 Advisory Council and requiring full disclosure of the methodology and 
          assumptions used by CBO in producing the estimates.

    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 ``Congressional Budget Office 
Improvement Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF CBO CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET BOARD AND ECONOMIC 
              ADVISORY COUNCIL.

    (a) Congressional Budget Board and Economic Advisory Council.--
Title II of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new sections:

                      ``congressional budget board

    ``Sec. 204. (a) Establishment and Functions.--There shall be a 
Congressional Budget Office Board (referred to as the `Board'), which 
shall--
            ``(1) provide general oversight of the operations of the 
        Office, including monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating the 
        performance of the Office;
            ``(2) approve in advance the undertaking by the Office of 
        any studies and the publication of any reports in addition to 
        those required by law that the Director may propose to 
        undertake or publish as an appropriate undertaking in 
        furtherance of the purposes for which the Office is 
        established; and
            ``(3) provide general guidance to the Director in the 
        formulation and implementation of procedures and policies for 
        the Office.
    ``(b) Membership.--The Board shall consist of 13 members as 
follows:
            ``(1) 6 Members of the Senate, appointed by the President 
        pro tempore of the Senate, 3 from the majority party and 3 from 
        the minority party;
            ``(2) 6 Members of the House of Representatives appointed 
        by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 3 from the 
        majority party and 3 from the minority party; and
            ``(3) the Director, who shall not be a voting member.
    ``(c) Execution of Functions During Vacancies; Filling of 
Vacancies.--Vacancies in the membership of the Board shall not affect 
the power of the remaining members to execute the functions of the 
Board and shall be filled in the same manner as the original 
appointment.
    ``(d) Chairman and Vice Chairman; Selection Procedure.--(1) The 
Board shall select a chairman and vice chairman from among its members 
at the beginning of each Congress.
    ``(2) The vice chairman shall act in the place and stead of the 
chairman in the absence of the chairman.
    ``(3) The chairmanship and vice chairmanship shall alternate 
between the Senate and the House of Representatives with each Congress.
    ``(4) The chairman during each even-numbered Congress shall be 
selected by the Members of the House of Representatives on the Board 
from among their number.
    ``(5) The vice chairman during each Congress shall be chosen in the 
same manner from that House of Congress other than the House of 
Congress of which the chairman is a Member.
    ``(e) Meetings; Powers of Board.--(1) The Board may sit and act at 
such places and times during the sessions, recesses, and adjournment 
periods of Congress, and upon a vote of a majority of its members, 
require by subpoena or otherwise the attendance of such witnesses and 
the production of such books, papers, and documents, administer such 
oaths and affirmations, take such testimony, procure such printing and 
binding, and make such expenditures, as the Board deems advisable.
    ``(2) The Board may make such rules respecting its organization and 
procedures as it deems necessary, except that no recommendation shall 
be reported from the Board unless a majority of the Board assent.
    ``(3) The chairman of the Board or any voting member thereof may 
administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses.

                           ``advisory council

    ``Sec. 205. (a) Establishment; Duties.--The Office shall establish 
an Economic Advisory Council (referred to as the `Council') which 
shall--
            ``(1) review and make recommendations to the Board on 
        activities undertaken by the Office;
            ``(2) evaluate the quality and objectivity of research 
        performed by the Office and the reports that result from that 
        research; and
            ``(3) undertake such additional related tasks as the Board 
        may direct.
    ``(b) Composition.--The Council shall be composed of 12 members of 
the public, appointed by the Board, who shall be persons eminent in the 
fields of--
            ``(1) public finance;
            ``(2) economics of taxation and microeconomics; and
            ``(3) macroeconomics.
    ``(c) Chairman and Vice Chairman; Terms and Conditions of 
Service.--(1) The Council, by majority vote, shall elect from its 
members a chairman and vice chairman, who shall serve for such time and 
under such conditions as the Council may prescribe.
    ``(2) In the absence of the chairman, or in the event of the 
chairman's incapacity, the vice chairman shall act as chairman.
    ``(d) Terms of Office; Reappointment.--(1) The term of office of 
each member of the Council shall be 4 years, except that any such 
member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of 
the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall be 
appointed for the remainder of that term.
    ``(2) No person shall be appointed a member of the Council more 
than twice.
    ``(3) Terms of the members of the Council shall be staggered so as 
to establish a rotating membership according to such method as the 
Board may devise.
    ``(e) Compensation and Reimbursement for Travel, Subsistence, and 
Other Necessary Expenses.--The members of the Council shall receive 
compensation for each day engaged in the actual performance of duties 
vested in the Council at rates of pay not in excess of the daily 
equivalent of the highest rate of basic pay set forth in the General 
Schedule of section 5332(a) of title 5, and shall be reimbursed for 
travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in 
the performance of duties vested in the Council, without regard to 
subchapter 1 of chapter 57 and section 5731 of title 5.

                      ``disclosure of assumptions

    ``Sec. 205. Any report to Congress or to the public made by the 
Office that contains an estimate of the effect that legislation will 
have on revenues or expenditures shall be accompanied by a written 
statement fully disclosing the economic, technical, and behavioral 
assumptions that were made in producing the estimate.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
become effective January 1, 1999.
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