[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S280-S281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. DAINES (for himself and Mr. Perdue):
S. 98. 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 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Mr. DAINES. 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. 98
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 $19,000,000,000,000, 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 47 of
the last 52 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. EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ADOPT RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR
BALANCED BUDGETS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``balanced budget'' means a concurrent
resolution on the budget which provides that for fiscal year
2027, and each fiscal year thereafter to which the concurrent
resolution on the budget applies--
(A) total outlays do not exceed total receipts; and
(B) 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;
(2) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget; and
(3) the term ``Member'' includes a Delegate or Resident
Commissioner to Congress.
(b) Determination by the Office of Management and Budget.--
Upon adoption by a House of Congress of a concurrent
resolution on the budget for a fiscal year, the Director
shall--
(1) determine whether the concurrent resolution on the
budget is a balanced budget; and
(2) submit 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 adopted a balanced budget.
(c) Rule for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019.--
(1) Fiscal year 2018.--
(A) Holding salaries in escrow.--If the Director does not
certify that a House of Congress has adopted a balanced
budget with respect to fiscal year 2018 before April 16,
2017, 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, 2017, and ends on the earlier of--
(i) the date on which the Director certifies that the House
of Congress has adopted a balanced budget with respect to
fiscal year 2018; or
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress.
(2) Fiscal year 2019.--
(A) Holding salaries in escrow.--If the Director does not
certify that a House of Congress has adopted a balanced
budget with respect to fiscal year 2019 before April 16,
2018, 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, 2018, and ends on the earlier of--
(i) the date on which the Director certifies that the House
of Congress has adopted a balanced budget with respect to
fiscal year 2019; or
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred Fifteenth 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
[[Page S281]]
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 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 Fifteenth 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.
(d) Rule for Fiscal Year 2020 and Subsequent Fiscal
Years.--If the Director does not certify that a House of
Congress has adopted a balanced budget with respect to fiscal
year 2020, 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.
SEC. 3. 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.
____________________