Sustainable Budget Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1174 To establish a national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Ms. LUMMIS (for herself, Ms. ERNST, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. JOHNSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on the Budget A BILL To establish a national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sustainable Budget 4 Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 8 means the National Commission on Fiscal Responsi- 9 bility and Reform established under subsection (b). 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1174 IS (2) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 1 agency’’ means an establishment in the executive, 2 legislative, or judicial branch of the Federal Govern- 3 ment. 4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 5 the date of the enactment of this Act, there shall be estab- 6 lished within the legislative branch a commission to be 7 known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsi- 8 bility and Reform. 9 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 10 (1) COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION.—The Com- 11 mission shall be composed of 18 members, of 12 whom— 13 (A) 6 shall be appointed by the President, 14 of whom not more than 3 shall be from the 15 same political party; 16 (B) 3 shall be appointed by the majority 17 leader of the Senate, from among current Mem- 18 bers of the Senate; 19 (C) 3 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 20 the House of Representatives, from among cur- 21 rent Members of the House of Representatives; 22 (D) 3 shall be appointed by the minority 23 leader of the Senate, from among current Mem- 24 bers of the Senate; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1174 IS (E) 3 shall be appointed by the minority 1 leader of the House of Representatives, from 2 among current Members of the House of Rep- 3 resentatives. 4 (2) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 5 60 days after the date on which the Commission is 6 established, initial appointments to the Commission 7 shall be made. 8 (3) VACANCY.—A vacancy on the Commission 9 shall be filled in the same manner as the initial ap- 10 pointment. 11 (d) CO-CHAIRPERSONS.—From among the members 12 appointed under subsection (c), the President shall des- 13 ignate 2 members, who shall not be of the same political 14 party, to serve as co-chairpersons of the Commission. 15 (e) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members appointed to the 16 Commission shall have significant depth of experience and 17 responsibilities in matters relating to— 18 (1) government service; 19 (2) fiscal policy; 20 (3) economics; 21 (4) Federal agency management or private sec- 22 tor management; 23 (5) public administration; and 24 (6) law. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1174 IS (f) DUTIES.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall iden- 2 tify policies to— 3 (A) improve the fiscal situation of the Fed- 4 eral Government in the medium term; and 5 (B) achieve fiscal sustainability of the Fed- 6 eral Government in the long term. 7 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out para- 8 graph (1), the Commission shall— 9 (A) propose recommendations designed to 10 balance the budget of the Federal Government, 11 excluding interest payments on the public debt, 12 by the date that is 10 years after the date on 13 which the Commission is established, in order 14 to stabilize the ratio of the public debt to the 15 gross domestic product of the United States at 16 an acceptable level; and 17 (B) propose recommendations that mean- 18 ingfully improve the long-term fiscal outlook of 19 the Federal Government, including changes to 20 address the growth of entitlement spending and 21 the gap between the projected revenues and ex- 22 penditures of the Federal Government. 23 (g) REPORTS AND PROPOSED JOINT RESOLUTION.— 24 (1) IN GENERAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1174 IS (A) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 1 year after the date on which all members of the 2 Commission are appointed under subsection (c), 3 the Commission shall vote on the approval of a 4 final report, which shall contain— 5 (i) the recommendations required 6 under subsection (f)(2); and 7 (ii) a proposed joint resolution imple- 8 menting the recommendations described in 9 clause (i). 10 (B) INTERIM REPORTS.—At any time after 11 the date on which all members of the Commis- 12 sion are appointed and prior to voting on the 13 approval of a final report under subparagraph 14 (A), the Commission may vote on the approval 15 of an interim report containing such rec- 16 ommendations described in subsection (f)(2) as 17 the Commission may provide. 18 (2) APPROVAL OF REPORT.—The Commission 19 may only issue a report under this subsection if— 20 (A) not less than 12 members of the Com- 21 mission approve the report; and 22 (B) of the members approving the report 23 under subparagraph (A), not less than 4 are 24 members of the same political party to which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1174 IS the Speaker of the House of Representatives 1 belongs and not less than 4 are members of the 2 same political party to which the minority lead- 3 er of the House of Representatives belongs. 4 (3) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—With respect to 5 each report approved under this subsection, the 6 Commission shall— 7 (A) submit to Congress the report; and 8 (B) make the report available to the pub- 9 lic. 10 (4) PREPARATION OF JOINT RESOLUTION.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—In drafting the pro- 12 posed joint resolution described in paragraph 13 (1)(A)(ii), the Commission— 14 (i) may use the services of the offices 15 of the Legislative Counsel of the Senate 16 and House of Representatives; and 17 (ii) shall consult with the Comptroller 18 General of the United States and the Di- 19 rector of the Congressional Budget Office. 20 (B) CONSULTATION WITH COMMITTEES.— 21 In drafting the proposed joint resolution de- 22 scribed in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), the co-chair- 23 persons of the Commission, with respect to the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1174 IS contents of the proposed joint resolution, shall 1 consult with— 2 (i) the chairperson and ranking mem- 3 ber of each relevant committee of the Sen- 4 ate and the House of Representatives; 5 (ii) the majority and minority leader 6 of the Senate; and 7 (iii) the Speaker and minority leader 8 of the House of Representatives. 9 (C) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSULTA- 10 TION.—The consultation required under sub- 11 paragraph (B) shall provide the opportunity for 12 each individual described in subparagraph (B) 13 to provide— 14 (i) recommendations for alternative 15 means of addressing the recommendations 16 described in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and 17 (ii) recommendations regarding which 18 recommendations described in paragraph 19 (1)(A)(i) should not be addressed in the 20 proposed joint resolution. 21 (D) RELEVANT COMMITTEES.—For the 22 purpose of this paragraph, the relevant commit- 23 tees of the Senate and the House of Represent- 24 atives shall be— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1174 IS (i) the Committee on Finance of the 1 Senate; 2 (ii) the Committee on Ways and 3 Means of the House of Representatives; 4 (iii) the Committee on Health, Edu- 5 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 6 and 7 (iv) the Committee on Energy and 8 Commerce of the House of Representa- 9 tives. 10 (h) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 11 (1) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold 12 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, 13 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 14 the Commission considers advisable to carry out the 15 duties of the Commission described in subsection (f). 16 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may 18 secure directly from any Federal agency such 19 information as the Commission considers nec- 20 essary to carry out the duties of the Commis- 21 sion described in subsection (f). 22 (B) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Upon 23 request from the co-chairpersons of the Com- 24 mission, the head of a Federal agency shall pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1174 IS vide information described in subparagraph (A) 1 to the Commission. 2 (3) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may 3 use the United States mail in the same manner and 4 under the same conditions as departments and agen- 5 cies of the Federal Government. 6 (4) WEBSITE.— 7 (A) CONTENTS.—The Commission shall es- 8 tablish a website containing— 9 (i) the recommendations required 10 under subsection (f)(2); and 11 (ii) the records of attendance of the 12 members of the Commission for each meet- 13 ing of the Commission. 14 (B) DATE OF PUBLICATION.—Not later 15 than 72 hours after the conclusion of a meeting 16 of the Commission, the Commission shall pub- 17 lish a recommendation or record of attendance 18 described under subparagraph (A) that is made 19 or taken at the meeting on the website estab- 20 lished under such subparagraph. 21 (i) ASSISTANCE OF OTHER LEGISLATIVE BRANCH 22 ENTITIES.—As the Commission conducts the work of the 23 Commission— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1174 IS (1) the Comptroller General shall provide tech- 1 nical assistance to the Commission on findings and 2 recommendations of the Government Accountability 3 Office; 4 (2) the Director of the Congressional Budget 5 Office shall provide technical assistance to the Com- 6 mission on findings and recommendations of the 7 Congressional Budget Office; and 8 (3) the chair of the Joint Committee on Tax- 9 ation shall provide technical assistance to the Com- 10 mission on findings and recommendations of the 11 Joint Committee on Taxation. 12 (j) PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Commission 14 shall serve without compensation. 15 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Com- 16 mission shall be allowed travel expenses, including 17 per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized 18 for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 19 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 20 away from the homes or regular places of business 21 of the members in the performance of services for 22 the Commission. 23 (3) STAFF.— 24 (A) IN GENERAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1174 IS (i) APPOINTMENT.—The co-chair- 1 persons of the Commission may, without 2 regard to civil service laws and regulations, 3 appoint and terminate an executive direc- 4 tor and such other additional personnel as 5 may be necessary to enable the Commis- 6 sion to perform the duties of the Commis- 7 sion. 8 (ii) APPROVAL.—The appointment of 9 an executive director under clause (i) shall 10 be subject to confirmation by the Commis- 11 sion. 12 (B) COMPENSATION.— 13 (i) IN GENERAL.—The co-chair- 14 persons of the Commission may fix the 15 compensation of the executive director and 16 other personnel of the Commission without 17 regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 18 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, 19 United States Code, relating to the classi- 20 fication of positions and General Schedule 21 pay rates. 22 (ii) PAY RATE.—The rate of pay for 23 the executive director and other personnel 24 of the Commission may not exceed the rate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1174 IS payable for level V of the Executive Sched- 1 ule under section 5613 of title 5, United 2 States Code. 3 (4) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 4 Any employee of the Federal Government may be 5 detailed to the Commission— 6 (A) without reimbursement; and 7 (B) without interruption or loss of civil 8 service status or privilege. 9 (5) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER- 10 MITTENT SERVICES.—The co-chairpersons of the 11 Commission may procure temporary and intermit- 12 tent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 13 States Code, at rates for individuals that do not ex- 14 ceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 15 pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule 16 under section 5316 of such title. 17 (k) TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.—The Com- 18 mission shall terminate on the date that is 30 days after 19 the date on which the Commission submits the final report 20 of the Commission under subsection (g)(1)(A). 21 (l) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 22 shall be construed to— 23 (1) impair or otherwise affect— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1174 IS (A) authority granted by law to a Federal 1 agency or a head thereof; or 2 (B) functions of the Director of the Office 3 of Management and Budget relating to budg- 4 etary, administrative, or legislative proposals; or 5 (2) create any right or benefit, substantive or 6 procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any 7 party against the United States, the departments, 8 agencies, entities, officers, employees, or agents of 9 the United States, or any other person. 10 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 12 appropriated to the Commission such sums as may 13 be necessary to carry out this Act. 14 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any sums appropriated 15 under paragraph (1) shall remain available, withou [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]