I 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3414 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 14, 2011 Mr. Huizenga of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules and Oversight and Government Reform, 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 provide for greater transparency and honesty in the Federal budget process.

1.

Short title and table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Honest Budget Act. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. Sec. 2. No budget—no appropriations. Sec. 3. No phony emergency designations. Sec. 4. Strengthen the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990. Sec. 5. No changes in mandatory programs in appropriation bills. Sec. 6. Don’t count rescissions that don’t save money. Sec. 7. Prohibition on step increases for Federal employee compensation. Sec. 8. Point of order against advance appropriations. Sec. 9. Prohibit timing shifts. Sec. 10. Budget scoring rule relating to transfers from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund that increase public indebtedness.

2.

No budget—no appropriations

Section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 note) is amended— (1)in subsection (c)(1), by inserting after Sections the following: 303(c),; and (2)in subsection (d)(2), by inserting after sections the following: 303(c),.

3.

No phony emergency designations

(a)

Emergency requirement in a bill, joint resolution, or conference report

(1)

In general

In the House of Representatives, it shall not be in order to consider any bill, joint resolution, or conference report that designates as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 or section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 any provision that creates discretionary or direct spending or decreases revenues. (2)

Exception

For purposes of this subsection, a conference report may include an emergency designation only if it was also adopted in the House version of the measure subject to the conference report. (b)

Emergency requirement in an amendment

(1)

In general

In the House of Representatives, it shall not be in order to consider any bill, joint resolution, or conference report that designates as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 or section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 any provision that creates discretionary or direct spending or decreases revenues. (2)

Waiver

A point of order against an amendment under this subsection may be waived or suspended only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn.

4.

Strengthen the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990

Title V of the Congressional Budget Act of 1990 is amended to read as follows: .

5.

No changes in mandatory programs in appropriation bills

Section 302(f)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended to read as follows: (1)

In the House of Representatives

After a concurrent resolution on the budget is agreed to, it shall not be in order in the House of Representatives to consider any bill or joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that— (A)(i)in the case of any committee except the Committee on Appropriations, would cause the applicable allocation of new budget authority or outlays under subsection (a) for the first fiscal year or the total of fiscal years to be exceeded; or (ii)in the case of the Committee on Appropriations would cause the applicable suballocation of new budget authority or outlays under subsection (b) to be exceeded; or (B)includes one or more provisions that would have been estimated as affecting direct spending or receipts under section 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 were they included in legislation other than appropriations legislation, if such provision does not result in net outlay savings over the total of the period of the current year, the budget year, and all fiscal years covered under the most recently adopted concurrent resolution on the budget. .

6.

Don’t count rescissions that don’t save money

Section 312(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 643(a)) is amended— (1)by striking For purposes and inserting the following: (1)

In general

For purposes ; and (2)by adding at the end the following: (2)

Exclusion

In making determinations under paragraph (1), the committee shall not count rescissions of budget authority that do not result in outlay savings over the period of fiscal years covered by the concurrent resolution on the budget. .

7.

Prohibition on step increases for Federal employee compensation

(a)

Periodic step increases

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no periodic step increase under section 5335 of title 5, United States Code, which (but for this subsection) would otherwise take effect during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2012, shall be made. (b)

Additional step increases

The head of an agency may not grant additional step increases under section 5336 of title 5, United States Code, during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2012.

8.

Point of order against advance appropriations

(a)

In general

(1)

Point of order

Except as provided in subsection (b), it shall not be in order in the House of Representatives to consider any bill, joint resolution, motion, amendment, or conference report that would provide an advance appropriation. (2)

Definition

In this section, the term advance appropriation means any new budget authority provided in a bill or joint resolution making appropriations for fiscal year 2012 that first becomes available for any fiscal year after 2012, or any new budget authority provided in a bill or joint resolution making general appropriations or continuing appropriations for each of the budget years 2012 through 2022, that first becomes available for any fiscal year after the budget year. (b)

Exceptions

Advance appropriations may be provided as follows: (1)For fiscal years 2013 through 2022 in an aggregate amount not to exceed $28,852,000,000 in new budget authority in each year for the following programs, projects, activities, or accounts: (A)Employment and Training Administration. (B)Job Corps. (C)Education for the Disadvantaged. (D)School Improvement. (E)Children and Family Services (Head Start). (F)Special Education. (G)Career, Technical, and Adult Education. (H)Financial Services and General Government: Payment to Postal Service. (I)Transportation, Housing and Urban Development: Tenant-based Rental Assistance Project-based Rental Assistance. (2)For the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (3)For the Department of Veterans Affairs for the Medical Services, Medical Support and Compliance, and Medical Facilities accounts of the Veterans Health Administration. (c)

Supermajority waiver

In the House of Representatives, subsection (a)(1) may be waived or suspended only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. (d)

Form of point of order

A point of order under subsection (a) may be raised by a Member as provided in section 313(e) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. (e)

Conference reports

When the House of Representatives is considering a conference report on, or an amendment between the Houses in relation to, a bill, upon a point of order being made by any Senator pursuant to this section, and such point of order being sustained, such material contained in such conference report shall be deemed stricken, and the House shall proceed to consider the question of whether the House shall recede from its amendment and concur with a further amendment, or concur in the Senate amendment with a further amendment, as the case may be, which further amendment shall consist of only that portion of the conference report or Senate amendment, as the case may be, not so stricken. Any such motion in the House shall be debatable. In any case in which such point of order is sustained against a conference report (or House amendment derived from such conference report by operation of this subsection), no further amendment shall be in order.

9.

Prohibit timing shifts

In the House of Representatives, for purposes of enforcement of points of order established under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and applicable concurrent resolutions on the budget, a provision in any bill, resolution, amendment, motion, amendment between the Houses, or conference report that shifts outlays or revenues from one year to another by a date change to act as an offset for other provisions that increase the deficit for a time period shall not count.

10.

Budget scoring rule relating to transfers from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund that increase public indebtedness

In the House of Representatives, for purposes of enforcement of points of order established under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and applicable concurrent resolutions on the budget, a bill, resolution, amendment, motion, amendment between the Houses, or conference report that transfers funds from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund and that increases the level of indebtedness that is subject to the current applicable statutory public debt limit shall be counted by the chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives as new budget authority and outlays equal to the amount of the transfer in the fiscal year the transfer occurs.