[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 8, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S69]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DAINES:
  S. 44. 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. 44

       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 $21,000,000,000,000, 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 49 of 
     the last 54 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 
     2029, 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 
     projected 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 2020 and 2021.--
       (1) Fiscal year 2020.--
       (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 2020 before April 16, 
     2019, 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, 2019, 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 2020; or
       (ii) the last day of the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress.
       (2) Fiscal year 2021.--
       (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 2021 before April 16, 
     2020, 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, 2020, 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 2021; or
       (ii) the last day of the One Hundred Sixteenth 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 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 Sixteenth 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 2022 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 2022, 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.
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