[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3982 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3982

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for procedures 
for establishing discretionary spending limits, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 25, 2019

Mr. Flores (for himself and Mr. Womack) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Budget, 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 amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for procedures 
for establishing discretionary spending limits, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop The Ever-growing Wasteful And 
Reckless Deficits Act'' or the ``STEWARD Act''.

SEC. 2. PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHING DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS.

    (a) In General.--Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

       ``procedures to establish limits on discretionary spending

    ``Sec. 316.  (a) In General.--Upon adoption by Congress of a 
concurrent resolution on the budget for a fiscal year under section 301 
or 304 that sets forth a discretionary spending limit for that fiscal 
year, the chair of the Committee on the Budget of the House of 
Representatives shall introduce the joint resolution described in 
subsection (b) and it shall be in order to consider such joint 
resolution in the House anytime after introduction without intervening 
motion.
    ``(b) Title and Text of Joint Resolution.--The joint resolution 
described in subsection (a)--
            ``(1) shall have the following title: `A joint resolution 
        amending section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 
        Deficit Control Act of 1985 to establish the discretionary 
        spending limit for fiscal year ___.', for the fiscal year of 
        the applicable concurrent resolution on the budget for the 
        discretionary spending limit;
            ``(2) may establish a discretionary spending limit for any 
        of the 9 fiscal years following the fiscal year described in 
        paragraph (1); and
            ``(3) shall have in the matter after the resolving clause 
        solely the text contained in the separate section described in 
        subsection (c).
    ``(c) Text for Discretionary Spending Limit.--A concurrent 
resolution on the budget for a fiscal year shall include, as a separate 
section, text setting forth an amendment to section 251(c) of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to establish 
a discretionary spending limit for that fiscal year or any of the 9 
ensuing fiscal years.
    ``(d) Expedited Consideration in House of Representatives.--
            ``(1) Proceeding to consideration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--It shall be in order at any time 
                to move to proceed to consider the joint resolution in 
                the House of Representatives.
                    ``(B) Procedure.--For a motion to proceed to 
                consider the joint resolution--
                            ``(i) all points of order against the 
                        motion are waived;
                            ``(ii) such a motion shall not be in order 
                        after the House of Representatives has disposed 
                        of a motion to proceed on the joint resolution;
                            ``(iii) the previous question shall be 
                        considered as ordered on the motion to its 
                        adoption without intervening motion;
                            ``(iv) the motion shall not be debatable; 
                        and
                            ``(v) a motion to reconsider the vote by 
                        which the motion is disposed of shall not be in 
                        order.
            ``(2) Consideration.--When the House of Representatives 
        proceeds to consideration of the joint resolution--
                    ``(A) the joint resolution shall be considered as 
                read;
                    ``(B) all points of order against the joint 
                resolution and against its consideration are waived;
                    ``(C) the previous question shall be considered as 
                ordered on the joint resolution to its passage without 
                intervening motion except 10 hours of debate equally 
                divided and controlled by the proponent and an 
                opponent;
                    ``(D) an amendment to the joint resolution shall 
                not be in order; and
                    ``(E) a motion to reconsider the vote on passage of 
                the joint resolution shall not be in order.
            ``(3) Vote on passage.--In the House of Representatives, 
        the joint resolution shall be agreed to upon a vote of a 
        majority of the Members present and voting, a quorum being 
        present.
    ``(e) Expedited Consideration in Senate.--
            ``(1) Placement on calendar.--Upon receipt in the Senate, 
        the joint resolution shall be placed immediately on the 
        calendar.
            ``(2) Proceeding to consideration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding rule XXII of the 
                Standing Rules of the Senate, it is in order to move to 
                proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution.
                    ``(B) Procedure.--For a motion to proceed to the 
                consideration of the joint resolution--
                            ``(i) all points of order against the 
                        motion are waived;
                            ``(ii) the motion is not debatable;
                            ``(iii) the motion is not subject to a 
                        motion to postpone;
                            ``(iv) a motion to reconsider the vote by 
                        which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to 
                        shall not be in order; and
                            ``(v) if the motion is agreed to, the joint 
                        resolution shall remain the unfinished business 
                        until disposed of.
            ``(3) Floor consideration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If the Senate proceeds to 
                consideration of the joint resolution--
                            ``(i) all points of order against the joint 
                        resolution (and against consideration of the 
                        joint resolution) are waived;
                            ``(ii) consideration of the joint 
                        resolution, and all debatable motions and 
                        appeals in connection therewith, shall be 
                        limited to not more than 30 hours, which shall 
                        be divided equally between the majority and 
                        minority leaders or their designees;
                            ``(iii) a motion further to limit debate is 
                        in order and not debatable;
                            ``(iv) an amendment to, a motion to 
                        postpone, or a motion to commit the joint 
                        resolution is not in order; and
                            ``(v) a motion to proceed to the 
                        consideration of other business is not in 
                        order.
                    ``(B) Vote on passage.--In the Senate--
                            ``(i) the vote on passage shall occur 
                        immediately following the conclusion of the 
                        consideration of the joint resolution, and a 
                        single quorum call at the conclusion of the 
                        debate if requested in accordance with the 
                        rules of the Senate; and
                            ``(ii) the joint resolution shall be agreed 
                        to upon a vote of a majority of the Members 
                        present and voting, a quorum being present.
                    ``(C) Rulings of the chair on procedure.--Appeals 
                from the decisions of the Chair relating to the 
                application of this subsection or the rules of the 
                Senate, as the case may be, to the procedure relating 
                to the joint resolution shall be decided without 
                debate.
    ``(f) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that if a 
discretionary spending limit for a fiscal year established by any joint 
resolution pursuant to this section is greater than the baseline level 
for that fiscal year, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, 
an amount equal to the difference should be offset.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 301(b) of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) include the matter described in section 316.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents set forth in section 
1(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 315 the following new item:

``Sec. 316. Procedures to establish limits on discretionary 
                            spending.''.
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