What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to submit reports to Congress after the federal debt limit is increased. The reports must explain the state of the nation's debt and describe the President's plans to reduce it. The bill also requires the Treasury Secretary to provide financial data to certain congressional committees when requested.
Who It Affects
The Secretary of the Treasury, Congress (specifically the Ways and Means Committee, Appropriations Committee and Budget Committee in both the House and Senate, and the Senate Finance Committee), the President and the American public.
Key Provisions
- The Treasury Secretary must submit a report within 60 days after the debt limit is increased that includes the historical and current state of public debt, what is causing future debt growth, and how the United States will pay its debts (Sec. 2)
- The report must explain the President's proposals to reduce debt in the short term (the current year and following three years), medium term (about five to nine years) and long term (about ten to twenty-five years) (Sec. 2)
- The Treasury Secretary must submit a second report within 180 days describing progress on implementing the President's debt reduction proposals (Sec. 2)
- The Treasury Secretary must post the reports on the Treasury Department website where they remain publicly available for at least six months (Sec. 2)
- The Treasury Secretary must provide financial and economic data to the Ways and Means Committee chair or Senate Finance Committee chair within 30 days of a written request, up to four times per fiscal year for each committee (Sec. 3)
What Changes
The Treasury Department must create new reporting requirements and make debt information publicly available on its website. Congressional committees gain the right to request specific Treasury financial data on a regular schedule.
Important Definitions
Extraordinary measures: Actions taken to prevent the public debt from exceeding the legal debt limit (Sec. 3)
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1265
To provide further means of accountability with respect to the United States
debt and promote fiscal responsibility.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 28, 2023
Mr. SMUCKER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To provide further means of accountability with respect to
the United States debt and promote fiscal responsibility.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Debt Solution and Ac-
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countability Act’’.
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SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY REPORT TO CON-
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GRESS AFTER DEBT LIMIT IS INCREASED.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 31 of
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title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
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end the following:
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‘‘§ 3131. Report after debt limit is increased.
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‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 60 days after the
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limit specified under section 3101, as modified by section
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3101A, is increased, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
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submit a report to the Committee on Ways and Means
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of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Appro-
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priations of the House of Representatives, the Committee
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on the Budget of the House of Representatives, the Com-
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mittee on Finance of the Senate, the Committee on Appro-
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priations of the Senate, and the Committee on the Budget
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of the Senate consisting of the following:
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‘‘(1) DEBT REPORT.—A report on the state of
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the public debt, including—
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‘‘(A) the historical levels of the debt, cur-
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rent amount and composition of the debt, and
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future projections of the debt;
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‘‘(B) the drivers and composition of future
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debt; and
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‘‘(C) how the United States will meet debt
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obligations, including principal and interest.
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‘‘(2) STATEMENT OF INTENT.—A detailed ex-
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planation of—
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‘‘(A) proposals of the President to reduce
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the public debt in the short term (the current
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and following three fiscal years), medium term
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(approximately five to nine fiscal years), and
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•HR 1265 IH
long term (approximately ten to twenty-five fis-
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cal years), and proposals of the President to ad-
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just the debt-to-gross domestic product ratio;
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‘‘(B) the impact the increased debt limit
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will have on future Government spending, debt
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service, and the position of the United States
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dollar as the international reserve currency; and
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‘‘(C) projections of fiscal health and sus-
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tainability of major direct-spending entitlement
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programs (including Social Security, Medicare,
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and Medicaid).
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‘‘(b) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not more than 180 days
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after the report described in subsection (a) is submitted,
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the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a detailed re-
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port on the progress of implementing all proposals of the
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President described under paragraph (2)(A).
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‘‘(c) PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Sec-
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retary of the Treasury shall furnish publicly accessible
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links on the web page of the Department of the Treasury
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to each report submitted under this section. Such links
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shall be available for not less than the 6-month period fol-
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lowing the date of such submission.’’.
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis
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for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended
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•HR 1265 IH
by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the
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following:
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‘‘3131. Report after debt limit is increased.’’.
SEC. 3. ACCESS TO CERTAIN TREASURY DEPARTMENT
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DATA.
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Not later than thirty days after receipt of a written
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request from the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and
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Means of the House of Representatives or the Committee
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on Finance of the Senate but no more than four times
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per fiscal year for each, the Secretary of the Treasury
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shall provide to the requesting Chairman financial and
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economic data relevant to determining the amount of the
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public debt of the United States, including—
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(1) cash flow and debt transaction information
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used in preparing the Daily Treasury Statement, in-
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cluding current balances, receipts, and payments;
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(2) operating cash balance projections; and
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(3) relevant information regarding any extraor-
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dinary measures (as defined under section 3131(d)
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of title 31, United States Code) taken to prevent the
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public debt from exceeding the limitation imposed by
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section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, as
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modified by section 3101A of such title.
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Æ
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