[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 493 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 493
To reduce a portion of the annual pay of Members of Congress for the
failure to adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget which does not
provide for a balanced budget, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 12, 2015
Mr. Daines (for himself, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Gardner, and Mr. Cotton)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Budget
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reduce a portion of the annual pay of Members of Congress for the
failure to adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget which does not
provide for a balanced budget, 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; FINDINGS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Balanced Budget
Accountability Act''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Federal debt exceeds $18,000,000,000,000, continues
to grow rapidly, and is larger than the size of the United
States economy.
(2) The Federal budget has shown an annual deficit in 45 of
the last 50 years.
(3) Deficits and the Federal debt threaten to shatter
confidence in the Nation's economy, suppress job creation and
economic growth, and leave future generations of Americans with
a lower standard of living and fewer opportunities.
(4) It is the duty of Members of Congress to develop and
implement policies, including balancing the Federal budget,
that encourage robust job creation and economic growth in the
United States.
(5) Members of Congress should be held accountable for
failing to pass annual budgets that result in a balanced
budget.
SEC. 2. REQUIRING ADOPTION OF BUDGET RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR BALANCED
BUDGETS.
(a) Adoption of Budget Resolution.--Each House of Congress shall
adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget for a fiscal year which
provides that, for each fiscal year for which a budget is provided
under the resolution (beginning not later than with the budget for
fiscal year 2025)--
(1) total outlays do not exceed total receipts; and
(2) total outlays are not more than 18 percent of the gross
domestic product of the United States (as determined by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce) for
such fiscal year.
(b) Certification by Congressional Budget Office.--Upon the
adoption by a House of Congress of a concurrent resolution on the
budget for a fiscal year, the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office shall transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives or
the President pro tempore of the Senate (as the case may be) a
certification as to whether or not that House of Congress has met the
requirements of subsection (a) with respect to the resolution.
(c) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to the
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016 and each
succeeding fiscal year.
SEC. 3. EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ADOPT RESOLUTION.
(a) Rule for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017.--
(1) Fiscal year 2016.--
(A) Holding salaries in escrow.--If the Director
does not certify that a House of Congress has met the
requirements of section 2(a) with respect to fiscal
year 2016 before April 16, 2015, during the period
described in subparagraph (B) the payroll administrator
of that House of Congress shall deposit in an escrow
account all payments otherwise required to be made
during such period for the compensation of Members of
Congress who serve in that House of Congress, and shall
release such payments to such Members only upon the
expiration of such period.
(B) Period described.--With respect to a House of
Congress, the period described in this subparagraph is
the period that begins on April 16, 2015, and ends on
the earlier of--
(i) the date on which the Director
certifies that the House of Congress has met
the requirements of section 2(a) with respect
to fiscal year 2016; or
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred
Fourteenth Congress.
(2) Fiscal year 2017.--
(A) Holding salaries in escrow.--If the Director
does not certify that a House of Congress has met the
requirements of section 2(a) with respect to fiscal
year 2017 before April 16, 2016, during the period
described in subparagraph (B) the payroll administrator
of that House of Congress shall deposit in an escrow
account all payments otherwise required to be made
during such period for the compensation of Members of
Congress who serve in that House of Congress, and shall
release such payments to such Members only upon the
expiration of such period.
(B) Period described.--With respect to a House of
Congress, the period described in this subparagraph is
the period that begins on April 16, 2016, and ends on
the earlier of--
(i) the date on which the Director
certifies that the House of Congress has met
the requirements of section 2(a) with respect
to fiscal year 2017; or
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred
Fourteenth Congress.
(3) Withholding and remittance of amounts from payments
held in escrow.--The payroll administrator shall provide for
the same withholding and remittance with respect to a payment
deposited in an escrow account under paragraph (1) or (2) that
would apply to the payment if the payment were not subject to
paragraph (1) or (2).
(4) Release of amounts at end of the congress.--In order to
ensure that this subsection is carried out in a manner that
shall not vary the compensation of Senators or Representatives
in violation of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, the payroll administrator of
a House of Congress shall release for payments to Members of
that House of Congress any amounts remaining in any escrow
account under this section on the last day of the One Hundred
Fourteenth Congress.
(5) Role of secretary of the treasury.--The Secretary of
the Treasury shall provide the payroll administrators of the
Houses of Congress with such assistance as may be necessary to
enable the payroll administrators to carry out this subsection.
(6) Payroll administrator defined.--In this subsection, the
``payroll administrator'' of a House of Congress means--
(A) in the case of the House of Representatives,
the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of
Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the
Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the
Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this section;
and
(B) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of the
Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Secretary
of the Senate who is designated by the Secretary to
carry out this section.
(b) Rule for Fiscal Year 2018 and Subsequent Fiscal Years.--If the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office does not certify that a
House of Congress has met the requirements of section 2(a) with respect
to fiscal year 2018, or any fiscal year thereafter, before April 16 of
the fiscal year before such fiscal year, during pay periods which occur
in the same calendar year after that date each Member of that House
shall be paid at an annual rate of pay equal to $1.
(c) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office; and
(2) the term ``Member'' includes a Delegate or Resident
Commissioner to Congress.
SEC. 4. SUPERMAJORITY REQUIREMENT FOR INCREASING REVENUE.
(a) In General.--In the Senate and the House of Representatives, a
bill, joint resolution, amendment, conference report, or amendment
between the Houses that increases revenue shall only be agreed to upon
an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of that House of
Congress duly chosen and sworn.
(b) Rules of Senate and the House of Representatives.--Subsection
(a) is enacted by Congress--
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate
and House of Representatives, respectively, and as such it is
deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but
applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in
that House in the case of a bill, joint resolution, amendment,
conference report, or amendment between the Houses that
increases revenue, and it supersedes other rules only to the
extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of
either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the
procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and
to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that
House.
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