Expedited consideration of cancellation of certain proposed budget items

(a)

In general

Part B of title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) is amended by redesignating sections 1013 through 1017 as sections 1014 through 1018, respectively, and inserting after section 1012 the following new section:

1013.

Expedited consideration of cancellation of certain budget items

(a)

Proposed budget item cancellations

(1)

In general

In addition to the method of rescinding budget authority specified in section 1012, the President may suspend and propose for cancellation, at the time and in the manner provided in subsection (b)— (A)any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority; (B)any item of new direct spending; or (C)any limited tax benefit. (2)

Availability

Items described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1) made available under this section may not be proposed for suspension and cancellation again under this section or section 1012. (b)

Transmittal of special message

(1)

In general

Not later than 3 calendar days after the date of enactment of the law to which the suspension applies, the President may transmit to Congress a special message suspending items provided in that Act described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of subsection (a)(1) and proposing to cancel those items and include with that special message a draft bill for each item that, if enacted, would only cancel that item. That bill shall clearly identify the item that is proposed to be cancelled. (2)

Application

In the case of a proposed cancellation, the special message shall also include— (A)for every item a determination that such cancellation will— (i)reduce the Federal budget deficit; (ii)not impair any essential Government functions; and (iii)not harm the national interest; and (B)any account, department, or establishment of the Government for which budget authority was to have been available for obligation and the specific project or governmental functions involved; (C)the specific States and congressional districts, if any, affected by the cancellation; and (D)the total number of cancellations imposed during the current session of Congress on States and congressional districts identified in subparagraph (C). (3)

Budget authority

Each special message shall specify, with respect to the budget authority proposed to be cancelled, the matters referred to in paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 1012(a). (c)

Procedures for expedited consideration

(1)

In general

(A)

Introduction

Before the close of the second legislative day of the House of Representatives after the date of receipt of a special message transmitted to Congress under subsection (b), the majority leader or minority leader of the House of Representatives shall introduce (by request) the draft bill accompanying that special message. If the bill is not introduced as provided in the preceding sentence, then, on the third legislative day of the House of Representatives after the date of receipt of that special message, any Member of that House may introduce the bill. (B)

Referral

The bill shall be referred to the appropriate committee of the House of Representatives. The committee shall report the bill without substantive revision, and with or without recommendation. The bill shall be reported not later than the seventh legislative day of that House after the date of receipt of that special message. If the committee fails to report the bill within that period, that committee shall be automatically discharged from consideration of the bill, and the bill shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. (C)

Vote on final passage

A vote on final passage of the bill referred to in subparagraph (B) shall be taken in the House of Representatives on or before the close of the 10th legislative day of that House after the date of the introduction of the bill in that House. If the bill is passed, the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall cause the bill to be engrossed, certified, and transmitted to the Senate within one calendar day of the day on which the bill is passed. (2)

Procedures in the house

(A)

Motion to proceed

A motion in the House of Representatives to proceed to the consideration of a bill under this section 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)

Debate

Debate in the House of Representatives on a bill under this section 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 section 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. (3)

Procedures in the senate

(A)

Referral

A bill transmitted to the Senate pursuant to paragraph (1)(C) shall be referred to the appropriate committee. The committee shall report the bill without substantive revision and with or without recommendation. The bill shall be reported not later than the seventh legislative day of the Senate after it receives the bill. A committee failing to report the bill within such period shall be automatically discharged from consideration of the bill, and the bill shall be placed upon the appropriate calendar. (B)

Final passage

A vote on final passage of a bill transmitted to the Senate shall be taken on or before the close of the 10th legislative day of the Senate after the date on which the bill is transmitted. (C)

Motions and debate

(i)

Motions

A motion in the Senate to proceed to the consideration of a bill under this section shall be 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. (ii)

Debate on bill

Debate in the Senate on a bill under this section, and all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall not exceed 10 hours. The time shall be equally divided between, and controlled by, the majority leader and the minority leader or their designees. (iii)

Debate on motions

Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion or appeal in connection with a bill under this section shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the bill, except that in the event the manager of the bill is in favor of any such motion or appeal, the time in opposition thereto, shall be controlled by the minority leader or his designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may, from time under their control on the passage of a bill, allot additional time to any Senator during the consideration of any debatable motion or appeal. (iv)

Motion to limit debate

A motion in the Senate to further limit debate on a bill under this section is not debatable. A motion to recommit a bill under this section is not in order. (d)

Amendments and divisions prohibited

No amendment to a bill considered under this section shall be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. 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) or in the Senate. No motion to suspend the application of this subsection shall be in order in either House, nor shall it be in order in either House to suspend the application of this subsection by unanimous consent. (e)

Requirement to make available for obligation

Any budget item proposed to be cancelled in a special message transmitted to Congress under subsection (b) shall be made available for obligation or take effect on— (1)the earlier of— (A)the day after the date upon which the House of Representatives defeats the bill transmitted with that special message rescinding the amount proposed to be rescinded; or (B)the day after the date upon which the Senate rejects a bill that makes rescissions to carry out the applicable special message of the President; or (2)the effective date of the provision if such effective date occurs after the applicable date in paragraph (1). (f)

Identification of limited tax benefits

(1)

Statement by joint tax committee

(A)

Review

The Joint Committee on Taxation shall review any revenue or reconciliation bill or joint resolution which includes any amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is being prepared for filing by a committee of conference of the 2 Houses, and shall identify whether such bill or joint resolution contains any limited tax benefits. (B)

Statement

The Joint Committee on Taxation shall provide to the committee of conference a statement identifying any such limited tax benefits or declaring that the bill or joint resolution does not contain any limited tax benefits. Any such statement shall be made available to any Member of Congress by the Joint Committee on Taxation immediately upon request. (2)

Statement Included in Legislation

(A)

Requirement

Notwithstanding any other rule of the House of Representatives or any rule or precedent of the Senate, any revenue or reconciliation bill or joint resolution which includes any amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 reported by a committee of conference of the 2 Houses may include, as a separate section of such bill or joint resolution, the information contained in the statement of the Joint Committee on Taxation, but only in the manner set forth in subparagraph (B). (B)

Content

The separate section permitted under subparagraph (A) shall read as follows: Section 1021(a)(3) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 shall ____ apply to ______., with the blank spaces being filled in with— (i)in any case in which the Joint Committee on Taxation identifies limited tax benefits in the statement required under paragraph (1), the word only in the first blank space and a list of all of the specific provisions of the bill or joint resolution identified by the Joint Committee on Taxation in such statement in the second blank space; or (ii)in any case in which the Joint Committee on Taxation declares that there are no limited tax benefits in the statement required under paragraph (1), the word not in the first blank space and the phrase any provision of this Act in the second blank space. (3)

President’s authority

If any revenue or reconciliation bill or joint resolution is signed into law pursuant to Article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the United States— (A)with a separate section described in paragraph (2)(ii), then the President may use the authority granted in this section only to suspend and propose to cancel any limited tax benefit in that law, if any, identified in such separate section; or (B)without a separate section described in paragraph (2)(ii), then the President may use the authority granted in this section to suspend and propose to cancel any limited tax benefit in that law that meets the definition in subsection (g). (4)

Congressional identifications of limited tax benefits

There shall be no judicial review of the congressional identification under paragraphs (1) and (2) of a limited tax benefit in a conference report. (g)

Definitions

In this section: (1)

Appropriation law

The term appropriation law means an Act referred to in section 105 of title 1, United States Code, including any general or special appropriation Act, or any Act making supplemental, deficiency, or continuing appropriations, that has been signed into law pursuant to Article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the United States. (2)

Calendar day

The term calendar day means a standard 24-hour period beginning at midnight. (3)

Cancel

The term cancel or cancellation means— (A)with respect to any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, to rescind; (B)with respect to any item of new direct spending— (i)that is budget authority provided by law (other than an appropriation law), to prevent such budget authority from having legal force or effect; (ii)that is entitlement authority, to prevent the specific legal obligation of the United States from having legal force or effect; or (iii)through the Food Stamp Program, to prevent the specific provision of law that results in an increase in budget authority or outlays for that program from having legal force or effect; and (C)with respect to a limited tax benefit, to prevent the specific provision of law that provides such benefit from having legal force or effect. (4)

Direct spending

The term direct spending means— (A)budget authority provided by law (other than an appropriation law); (B)entitlement authority; and (C)the Food Stamp Program. (5)

Disapproval bill

The term disapproval bill means a bill or joint resolution which only disapproves 1 or more cancellations of dollar amounts of discretionary budget authority, items of new direct spending, or limited tax benefits in a special message transmitted by the President under this part and— (A)the title of which is as follows: A bill disapproving the cancellations transmitted by the President on ____, the blank space being filled in with the date of transmission of the relevant special message and the public law number to which the message relates; (B)which does not have a preamble; and (C)which provides only the following after the enacting clause: That Congress disapproves of cancellations ____, the blank space being filled in with a list by reference number of 1 or more cancellations contained in the President’s special message, as transmitted by the President in a special message on ____, the blank space being filled in with the appropriate date, regarding ____, the blank space being filled in with the public law number to which the special message relates. (6)

Dollar amount of discretionary budget authority

(A)

In general

Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term dollar amount of discretionary budget authority means the entire dollar amount of budget authority— (i)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; (ii)represented separately in any table, chart, or explanatory text included in the statement of managers or the governing committee report accompanying such law; (iii)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; (iv)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; and (v)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 budget authority is provided in an appropriation law. (B)

Exclusion

The term dollar amount of discretionary budget authority does not include— (i)direct spending; (ii)budget authority in an appropriation law which funds direct spending provided for in other law; (iii)any existing budget authority rescinded or canceled in an appropriation law; or (iv)any restriction, condition, or limitation in an appropriation law or the accompanying statement of managers or committee reports on the expenditure of budget authority for an account, program, project, or activity, or on activities involving such expenditure. (7)

Item of new direct spending

The term item of new direct spending means any specific provision of law that is estimated to result in an increase 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. (8)

Legislative day

The term legislative day means, with respect to either House of Congress, any calendar day during which that House is in session. (9)

Limited tax benefit

(A)

In general

The term limited tax benefit means— (i)any negative revenue provision which 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 which 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)

Negative revenue

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)

Special benefit

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)

Construction

For purposes of subparagraph (A)— (i)all businesses and associations which are related within the meaning of sections 707(b) and 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)

Negative revenue provision

For purposes of this paragraph, the term negative revenue provision means any provision which results in a reduction in Federal tax revenues for any 1 of the 2 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. (F)

Other terms

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. (10)

OMB

The term OMB means the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(b)

Exercise of rulemaking powers

Section 904 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 621 note) is amended— (1)by striking and 1017 in subsection (a) and inserting 1013, and 1018; and (2)by striking section 1017 in subsection (d) and inserting sections 1013 and 1018. (c)

Conforming amendments

(1)Section 1011 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 682(5)) is amended— (A)in paragraph (4), by striking 1013 and inserting 1014; and (B)in paragraph (5)— (i)by striking 1016 and inserting 1017; and (ii)by striking 1017(b)(1) and inserting 1018(b)(1). (2)Section 1015 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 685) (as redesignated by section 2(a)) is amended— (A)by striking 1012 or 1013 each place it appears and inserting 1012, 1013, or 1014; (B)in subsection (b)(1), by striking 1012 and inserting 1012 or 1013; (C)in subsection (b)(2), by striking 1013 and inserting 1014; and (D)in subsection (e)(2)— (i)by striking and at the end of subparagraph (A); (ii)by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); (iii)by striking 1013 in subparagraph (C) (as so redesignated) and inserting 1014; and (iv)by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraph:

(B)he has transmitted a special message under section 1013 with respect to a proposed rescission; and

(3)Section 1016 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 686) (as redesignated by section 2(a)) is amended by striking 1012 or 1013 each place it appears and inserting 1012, 1013, or 1014. (d)

Clerical amendments

The table of sections for subpart B of title X of such Act is amended— (1)by redesignating the items relating to sections 1013 through 1017 as items relating to sections 1014 through 1018; and (2)by inserting after the item relating to section 1012 the following new item:

Sec. 1013. Proposed budget item suspensions.