[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 592 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 592

    To grant the power to the President to reduce budget authority.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 16, 1997

   Mr. Hollings (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Biden, and Mr. Robb) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                 Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To grant the power to the President to reduce budget 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 ``The Separate Enrollment and Line 
Item Veto Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. STRUCTURE OF LEGISLATION.

    (a) Appropriations Legislation.--
            (1) The Committee on Appropriations of either the House or 
        the Senate shall not report an appropriation measure that fails 
        to contain such level of detail on the allocation of an item of 
        appropriation proposed by that House as is set forth in the 
        committee report accompanying such bill.
            (2) If an appropriation measure is reported to the House or 
        Senate that fails to contain the level of detail on the 
        allocation of an item of appropriation as required in paragraph 
        (1), it shall not be in order in that House to consider such 
        measure. If a point of order under this paragraph is sustained, 
        the measure shall be recommitted to the Committee on 
        Appropriations of that House.
    (b) Authorization Legislation.--
            (1) A committee of either the House or the Senate shall not 
        report an authorization measure that contains new direct 
        spending or new targeted tax benefits unless such measure 
        presents each new direct spending or new targeted tax benefit 
        as a separate item and the accompanying committee report for 
        that measure shall contain such level of detail as is necessary 
        to clearly identify the allocation of new direct spending or 
        new targeted tax benefits.
            (2) If an authorization measure is reported to the House or 
        Senate that fails to comply with paragraph (1), it shall not be 
        in order in that House to consider such measure. If a point of 
        order under this paragraph is sustained, the measure shall be 
        recommitted to the committee of jurisdiction of that House.
    (c) Conference Reports.--
            (1) A committee of conference to which is committed an 
        appropriations measure shall not file a conference report in 
        either House that fails to contain the level of detail on the 
        allocation of an item of appropriation as is set forth in the 
        statement of managers accompanying that report.
            (2) A committee of conference to which is committed an 
        authorization measure shall not file a conference report in 
        either House unless such measure presents each direct spending 
        or targeted tax benefit as a separate item and the statement of 
        managers accompanying that report clearly identifies each such 
        item.
            (3) If a conference report is presented to the House or 
        Senate that fails to comply with either paragraph (1) or (2), 
        it shall not be in order in that House to consider such 
        conference report. If a point of order under this paragraph is 
        sustained in the House to first consider the conference report, 
        the measure shall be deemed recommitted to the committee of 
        conference.

SEC. 3. WAIVERS AND APPEALS.

    Any provision of section 2 may be waived or suspended in the House 
or Senate only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of 
that House duly chosen and sworn. An affirmative vote of three-fifths 
of the Members duly chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain an 
appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under that 
section.

SEC. 4. SEPARATE ENROLLMENT.

    (a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when any 
appropriation or authorization measure first passes both Houses of 
Congress in the same form, the Secretary of the Senate (in the case of 
a measure originating in the Senate) or the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives (in the case of a measure originating in the House of 
Representatives) shall disaggregate the items as referenced in section 
5(4) and assign each item a new bill number. Henceforth each item shall 
be treated as a separate bill to be considered under the following 
subsections. The remainder of the bill not so disaggregated shall 
constitute a separate bill and shall be considered with the other 
disaggregated bills pursuant to subsection (b).
    (2) A bill that is required to be disaggregated into separate bills 
pursuant to paragraph (1)--
            (A) shall be disaggregated without substantive revision, 
        and
            (B) shall bear the designation of the measure of which it 
        was an item prior to such disaggregation, together with such 
        other designation as may be necessary to distinguish such 
        measure from other measures disaggregated pursuant to paragraph 
        (1) with respect to the same measure.
    (b) The new bills resulting from the disaggregation described in 
paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be immediately placed on the 
appropriate calendar in the House of origination, and upon passage, 
placed on the appropriate calendar in the other House. They shall be 
the next order of business in each House and they shall be considered 
and voted on en bloc and shall not be subject to amendment. A motion to 
proceed to the bills shall be nondebatable. Debate in the House of 
Representatives or the Senate on the bills shall be limited to not more 
than 1 hour, which shall be divided equally between the majority leader 
and the minority leader. A motion further to limit debate is not 
debatable. A motion to recommit the bills is not in order, and it is 
not in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the bills are 
agreed to or disagreed to.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``appropriation measure'' means any general or 
        special appropriation bill or any bill or joint resolution 
        making supplemental, deficiency, or continuing appropriations.
            (2) The term ``authorization measure'' means any measure 
        other than an appropriations measure that contains a provision 
        providing direct spending or targeted tax benefits.
            (3) The term ``direct spending'' shall have the same 
        meaning given to such term in section 250(c)(8) of the Balanced 
        Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
            (4) The term ``item'' means--
                    (A) with respect to an appropriations measure--
                            (i) any numbered section,
                            (ii) any unnumbered paragraph, or
                            (iii) any allocation or suballocation of an 
                        appropriation, made in compliance with section 
                        2(a), contained in a numbered section or an 
                        unnumbered paragraph but shall not include a 
                        provision which does not appropriate funds, 
                        direct the President to expend funds for any 
                        specific project, or create an express or 
                        implied obligation to expend funds and--
                                    (I) rescinds or cancels existing 
                                budget authority;
                                    (II) only limits, conditions, or 
                                otherwise restricts the President's 
                                authority to spend otherwise 
                                appropriated funds; or
                                    (III) conditions on an item of 
                                appropriation not involving a positive 
                                allocation of funds by explicitly 
                                prohibiting the use of any funds; and
                    (B) with respect to an authorization measure--
                            (i) any numbered section, or
                            (ii) any unnumbered paragraph,
                that contains new direct spending or a new targeted tax 
                benefit presented and identified in conformance with 
                section 2(b).
            (5) The term ``targeted tax benefit'' means any provision:
                    (A) estimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation as 
                losing revenue for any one of the three following 
                periods--
                            (i) the first fiscal year covered by the 
                        most recently adopted concurrent resolution on 
                        the budget;
                            (ii) the period of the 5 fiscal years 
                        covered by the most recently adopted concurrent 
                        resolution on the budget; or
                            (iii) the period of the 5 fiscal years 
                        following the first 5 years coveredby the most 
                        recently adopted concurrent resolution on the 
                        budget; and
                    (B) having the practical effect of providing more 
                favorable tax treatment to a particular taxpayer or 
                limited group of taxpayers when compared with other 
                similarly situated taxpayers.

SEC. 6. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    (a) Expedited Review.--
            (1) Any Member of Congress may bring an action, in the 
        United States District Court for the District of Columbia, for 
        declaratory judgment and injunctive relief on the ground that a 
        provision of this Act violates the Constitution.
            (2) A copy of any complaint in an action brought under 
        paragraph (1) shall be promptly delivered to the Secretary of 
        the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and 
        each House of Congress shall have the right to intervene in 
        such action.
            (3) Any action brought under paragraph (1) shall be heard 
        and determined by a three-judge court in accordance with 
        section 2284 of title 28, United States Code.
Nothing in this section or in any other law shall infringe upon the 
right of the House of Representatives or the Senate to intervene in an 
action brought under paragraph (1) without the necessity of adopting a 
resolution to authorize such intervention.
    (b) Appeal to Supreme Court.--Notwithstanding any other provisions 
of law, any order of the United States District Court for the District 
of Columbia which is issued pursuant to an action brought under 
paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be reviewable by appeal directly 
to the Supreme Court of the United States. Any such appeal shall be 
taken by a notice of appeal filed within 10 days after such order is 
entered; and the jurisdictional statement shall be filed within 30 days 
after such order is entered. No stay of an order issued pursuant to an 
action brought under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be issued by 
a single Justice of the Supreme Court.
    (c) Expedited Consideration.--It shall be the duty of the District 
Court for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United 
States to advance on the docket and to expedite to the greatest 
possible extent the disposition of any matter brought under subsection 
(a).
    (d) Severability.--If any provision of this Act, or the application 
of such provision to any person or circumstance is held 
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the application of the 
provisions of such Act to any person or circumstance shall not be 
affected thereby.

SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF EMERGENCY SPENDING.

    (a) Emergency Appropriations.--Section 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by 
adding at the end the following new sentence: ``However, OMB shall not 
adjust any discretionary spending limit under this clause for any 
statute that designates appropriations as emergency requirements if 
that statute contains an appropriation for any other matter, event, or 
occurrence, but that statute may contain rescissions of budget 
authority.''.
    (b) Emergency Legislation.--Section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget 
and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by adding at the 
end the following new sentence: ``However, OMB shall not designate any 
such amounts of new budget authority, outlays, or receipts as emergency 
requirements in the report required under subsection (d) if that 
statute contains any other provisions that are not so designated, but 
that statute may contain provisions that reduce direct spending.''.
    (c) New Point of Order.--Title IV of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

                 ``point of order regarding emergencies

    ``Sec. 408. It shall not be in order in the House of 
Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill or joint resolution, 
or amendment thereto or conference report thereon, containing an 
emergency designation for purposes of section 251(b)(2)(D) or 252(e) of 
the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 if it 
also provides an appropriation or direct spending for any other item or 
contains any other matter, but that bill or joint resolution, 
amendment, or conference report may contain rescissions of budget 
authority or reductions of direct spending, or that amendment may 
reduce amounts for that emergency.''.
    (d) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents set forth in 
section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 
1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 407 the 
following new item:

``Sec. 408. Point of order regarding emergencies.''.

SEC. 8. SAVINGS FROM RESCISSION BILLS USED FOR DEFICIT REDUCTION.

    (a) Not later than 45 days of continuous session after the 
President vetoes an appropriations measure or an authorization measure, 
the President shall--
            (1) with respect to appropriations measures, reduce the 
        discretionary spending limits under section 601 of the 
        Congressional Budget Act of 1974 for the budget year and each 
        outyear by the amount by which the measure would have increased 
        the deficit in each respective year;
            (2) with respect to a repeal of direct spending, or a 
        targeted tax benefit, reduce the balances for the budget year 
        and each outyear under section 252(b) of the Balanced Budget 
        and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 by the amount by 
        which the measure would have increased the deficit in each 
        respective year.
    (b) Exceptions.--
            (1) This section shall not apply if the vetoed 
        appropriations measure or authorization measure becomes law, 
        over the objections of the President, before the President 
        orders the reduction required by subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2).
            (2) If the vetoed appropriations measure or authorization 
        measure becomes law, over the objections of the President, 
        after the President has ordered the reductions required by 
        subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2), then the President shall restore 
        the discretionary spending limits under section 601 of the 
        Congressional Budget Act of 1974 or the balances under section 
        252(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 
        of 1985 to reflect the positions existing before the reduction 
        ordered by the President in compliance with subsection (a).

SEC. 9. EVALUATION AND SUNSET OF TAX EXPENDITURES.

    (a) Legislation for Sunsetting Tax Expenditures.--The President 
shall submit legislation for the periodic review, reauthorization, and 
sunset of tax expenditures with his fiscal year 1999 budget.
    (b) Budget Contents and Submission to Congress.--Section 1105(a) of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following paragraph:
            ``(30) beginning with fiscal year 1999, a Federal 
        Government performance plan for measuring the overall 
        effectiveness of tax expenditures, including a schedule for 
        periodically assessing the effects of specific tax expenditures 
        in achieving performance goals.''.
    (c) Pilot Projects.--Section 1118(c) of title 31, United States 
Code, is amended by--
            (1) striking ``and'' after the semicolon in paragraph (2);
            (2) redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
            (3) adding after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) describe the framework to be utilized by the Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget, after consultation with 
        the Secretary of the Treasury, the Comptroller General of the 
        United States, and the Joint Committee on Taxation, for 
        undertaking periodic analyses of the effects of tax 
        expenditures in achieving performance goals and the 
        relationship between tax expenditures and spending programs; 
        and''.
    (d) Congressional Budget Act.--Title IV of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

                           ``tax expenditures

    ``Sec. 409. It shall not be in order in the House of 
Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, 
amendment, motion, or conference report that contains a tax expenditure 
unless the bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference 
report provides that the tax expenditure will terminate not later than 
10 years after the date of enactment of the tax expenditure.''.

SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The provisions of this Act shall apply to measures passed by the 
Congress beginning with the date of the enactment of this Act and 
ending on September 30, 2002.
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