[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 24 (Thursday, February 12, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S988-S989]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Gardner, and Mr. 
        Cotton):
  S. 493. 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; 
to the Committee on the Budget.
  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I join Senator Cassidy of Louisiana, 
Senator Gardner of Colorado, and Senator Cotton of Arkansas in 
introducing the Balanced Budget Accountability Act. By establishing the 
principle No Balanced Budget, No Pay, this legislation will bring 
fiscal responsibility to Washington. The American people deserve a 
balanced budget. Unfortunately, Washington remains unwilling to take 
the steps needed to get our country back on solid fiscal ground. The 
Balanced Budget Accountability Act reflects core principles that work: 
common sense business practices that protect hardworking taxpayers and 
making elected officials accountable for delivering results to the 
people they serve. It is what Washington needs to finally balance the 
budget.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 493

       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 Year 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

[[Page S989]]

     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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