Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 284 To provide for a biennial budget process and a biennial appropriations process and to enhance oversight and the performance of the Federal Government. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BARRASSO, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Ms. HAS- SAN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget A BILL To provide for a biennial budget process and a biennial appropriations process and to enhance oversight and the performance of the Federal Government. 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 ‘‘Biennial Budgeting 4 and Appropriations Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REVISION OF TIMETABLE. 6 Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 7 (2 U.S.C. 631) is amended to read as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 284 IS ‘‘TIMETABLE 1 ‘‘SEC. 300. (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 2 subsection (b), the timetable with respect to the congres- 3 sional budget process for any Congress (beginning with 4 the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress) is as follows: 5 ‘‘First Session On or before: Action to be completed: First Monday in February ........ President submits budget recommendations. February 15 ............................... Congressional Budget Office submits report to Budget Committees. Not later than 6 weeks after budget submission. Committees submit views and estimates to Budget Committees. April 1 ....................................... Budget Committees report concurrent resolu- tion on the biennial budget. May 15 ....................................... Congress completes action on concurrent res- olution on the biennial budget. May 15 ....................................... Biennial appropriation bills may be consid- ered in the House. June 10 ...................................... House Appropriations Committee reports last biennial appropriation bill. June 30 ...................................... House completes action on biennial appro- priation bills. August 1 .................................... Congress completes action on reconciliation legislation. October 1 ................................... Biennium begins. ‘‘Second Session On or before: Action to be completed: February 15 ............................... President submits budget review. Not later than 6 weeks after President submits budget re- view. Congressional Budget Office submits report to Budget Committees. The last day of the session ........ Congress completes action on bills and reso- lutions authorizing new budget authority for the succeeding biennium. ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of any first session 6 of Congress that begins in any year immediately following 7 a leap year and during which the term of a President (ex- 8 cept a President who succeeds himself or herself) begins, 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 284 IS the following dates shall supersede those set forth in sub- 1 section (a): 2 ‘‘First Session On or before: Action to be completed: First Monday in April ............... President submits budget recommendations. April 20 ..................................... Committees submit views and estimates to Budget Committees. May 15 ....................................... Budget Committees report concurrent resolu- tion on the biennial budget. June 1 ........................................ Congress completes action on concurrent res- olution on the biennial budget. July 1 ......................................... Biennial appropriation bills may be consid- ered in the House. July 20 ....................................... House completes action on biennial appro- priation bills. August 1 .................................... Congress completes action on reconciliation legislation. October 1 ................................... Biennium begins.’’. SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET 3 AND IMPOUNDMENT CONTROL ACT OF 1974. 4 (a) DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.—Section 2(2) of the 5 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 6 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘each 7 year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennially’’. 8 (b) DEFINITIONS.— 9 (1) BUDGET RESOLUTION.—Section 3(4) of 10 such Act (2 U.S.C. 622(4)) is amended by striking 11 ‘‘fiscal year’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘bi- 12 ennium’’. 13 (2) BIENNIUM.—Section 3 of such Act (2 14 U.S.C. 622) is further amended by adding at the 15 end the following new paragraph: 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 284 IS ‘‘(12) The term ‘biennium’ means the period of 1 2 consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of 2 any odd-numbered year.’’. 3 (c) BIENNIAL CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE 4 BUDGET.— 5 (1) SECTION HEADING.—The section heading of 6 section 301 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632) is amended 7 by striking ‘‘ANNUAL’’ and inserting ‘‘BIENNIAL’’. 8 (2) CONTENTS OF RESOLUTION.—Section 9 301(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(a)) is amended— 10 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) 11 by— 12 (i) striking ‘‘April 15 of each year’’ 13 and inserting ‘‘May 15 of each odd-num- 14 bered year’’; 15 (ii) striking ‘‘the fiscal year beginning 16 on October 1 of such year’’ the first place 17 it appears and inserting ‘‘the biennium be- 18 ginning on October 1 of such year’’; and 19 (iii) striking ‘‘the fiscal year beginning 20 on October 1 of such year’’ the second 21 place it appears and inserting ‘‘each fiscal 22 year in such period’’; 23 (B) in paragraph (6)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 284 IS (i) by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘for purposes’’; and 2 (ii) by striking ‘‘for the fiscal year’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year in the 4 biennium’’; and 5 (C) in paragraph (7)— 6 (i) by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘for purposes’’; and 8 (ii) by striking ‘‘for the fiscal year’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year in the 10 biennium’’. 11 (3) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—Section 301(b)(3) 12 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(b)(3)) is amended by 13 striking ‘‘for such fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘for ei- 14 ther fiscal year in such biennium’’. 15 (4) VIEWS OF OTHER COMMITTEES.—Section 16 301(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(d)) is amended by 17 inserting ‘‘(or, if applicable, as provided by section 18 300(b))’’ after ‘‘United States Code’’. 19 (5) HEARINGS.—Section 301(e)(1) of such Act 20 (2 U.S.C. 632(e)(1)) is amended by— 21 (A) striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘biennium’’; and 23 (B) inserting after the second sentence the 24 following: ‘‘On or before April 1 of each odd- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 284 IS numbered year (or, if applicable, as provided by 1 section 300(b)), the Committee on the Budget 2 of each House shall report to its House the con- 3 current resolution on the budget referred to in 4 subsection (a) for the biennium beginning on 5 October 1 of that year.’’. 6 (6) GOALS FOR REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT.— 7 Section 301(f) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(f)) is 8 amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ each place it ap- 9 pears and inserting ‘‘biennium’’. 10 (7) ECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS.—Section 11 301(g)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 632(g)(1)) is 12 amended by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and insert- 13 ing ‘‘for a biennium’’. 14 (8) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con- 15 tents set forth in section 1(b) of such Act is amend- 16 ed by striking the item relating to section 301 and 17 inserting the following: 18 ‘‘Sec. 301. Biennial adoption of concurrent resolution on the budget.’’. (d) COMMITTEE ALLOCATIONS.—Section 302 of such 19 Act (2 U.S.C. 633) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)— 21 (A) in paragraph (1), by— 22 (i) striking ‘‘for the first fiscal year of 23 the resolution,’’ and inserting ‘‘for each 24 fiscal year in the biennium,’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 284 IS (ii) striking ‘‘for that period of fiscal 1 years’’ and inserting ‘‘for all fiscal years 2 covered by the resolution’’; and 3 (iii) striking ‘‘for the fiscal year of 4 that resolution’’ and inserting ‘‘for each 5 fiscal year in the biennium’’; and 6 (B) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking ‘‘April 7 15’’ and inserting ‘‘May 15 or June 1 (under 8 section 300(b))’’; 9 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘budget year’’ 10 and inserting ‘‘biennium’’; 11 (3) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal 12 year’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘for each 13 fiscal year in the biennium’’; 14 (4) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘for a fiscal 15 year’’ and inserting ‘‘for a biennium’’; 16 (5) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘the first 17 fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year of the bi- 18 ennium’’; 19 (6) in subsection (f)(2)(A), by— 20 (A) striking ‘‘the first fiscal year’’ and in- 21 serting ‘‘each fiscal year of the biennium’’; and 22 (B) striking ‘‘the total of fiscal years’’ and 23 inserting ‘‘the total of all fiscal years covered by 24 the resolution’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 284 IS (7) in subsection (g)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘April’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘May’’. 2 (e) SECTION 303 POINT OF ORDER.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(a) of such Act 4 (2 U.S.C. 634(a)) is amended by— 5 (A) striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and insert- 6 ing ‘‘for a biennium’’; 7 (B) striking ‘‘the first fiscal year’’ and in- 8 serting ‘‘each fiscal year of the biennium’’; and 9 (C) striking ‘‘that fiscal year’’ each place it 10 appears and inserting ‘‘that biennium’’. 11 (2) EXCEPTIONS IN THE HOUSE.—Section 12 303(b)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 634(b)(1)) is 13 amended— 14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘the 15 budget year’’ and inserting ‘‘the biennium’’; 16 and 17 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘the 18 fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘the biennium’’. 19 (3) APPLICATION TO THE SENATE.—Section 20 303(c)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 634(c)(1)) is 21 amended by— 22 (A) striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘biennium’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 284 IS (B) striking ‘‘that year’’ and inserting 1 ‘‘each fiscal year of that biennium’’. 2 (f) PERMISSIBLE REVISIONS OF CONCURRENT RESO- 3 LUTIONS ON THE BUDGET.—Section 304 of such Act (2 4 U.S.C. 635) is amended— 5 (1) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ the first two places 6 it appears and inserting ‘‘biennium’’; and 7 (2) by striking ‘‘for such fiscal year’’ and in- 8 serting ‘‘for such biennium’’. 9 (g) PROCEDURES FOR CONSIDERATION OF BUDGET 10 RESOLUTIONS.—Section 305 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 636) 11 is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘fiscal 13 year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennium’’; and 14 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘fiscal 15 year’’ and inserting ‘‘biennium’’. 16 (h) COMPLETION OF HOUSE ACTION ON APPROPRIA- 17 TION BILLS.—Section 307 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 638) is 18 amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘each year’’ and inserting ‘‘each 20 odd-numbered year’’; 21 (2) by striking ‘‘annual’’ and inserting ‘‘bien- 22 nial’’; 23 (3) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘bi- 24 ennium’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 284 IS (4) by striking ‘‘that year’’ and inserting ‘‘that 1 odd-numbered year’’. 2 (i) COMPLETION OF ACTION ON REGULAR APPRO- 3 PRIATION BILLS.—Section 309 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 4 640) is amended— 5 (1) by inserting ‘‘of any odd-numbered year’’ 6 after ‘‘July’’; 7 (2) by striking ‘‘annual’’ and inserting ‘‘bien- 8 nial’’; 9 (3) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘bi- 10 ennium’’; and 11 (4) by striking ‘‘such year’’ and inserting ‘‘such 12 odd-numbered year’’. 13 (j) RECONCILIATION PROCESS.—Section 310(a) of 14 such Act (2 U.S.C. 641(a)) is amended— 15 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 16 striking ‘‘any fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘any bien- 17 nium’’; and 18 (2) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘such fiscal 19 year’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘any fiscal 20 year covered by such resolution’’. 21 (k) SECTION 311 POINT OF ORDER.— 22 (1) IN THE HOUSE.—Section 311(a)(1) of such 23 Act (2 U.S.C. 642(a)(1)) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 284 IS (A) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘for a biennium’’; 2 (B) by striking ‘‘the first fiscal year’’ each 3 place it appears and inserting ‘‘either fiscal 4 year of the biennium’’; and 5 (C) by striking ‘‘that first fiscal year’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’. 7 (2) IN THE SENATE.—Section 311(a)(2) of 8 such Act (2 U.S.C. 642(a)(2)) is amended— 9 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘for 10 the first fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘for either 11 fiscal year of the biennium’’; and 12 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 13 (i) by striking ‘‘that first fiscal year’’ 14 the first place it appears and inserting 15 ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’; and 16 (ii) by striking ‘‘that first fiscal year 17 and the ensuing fiscal years’’ and inserting 18 ‘‘all fiscal years’’. 19 (3) SOCIAL SECURITY LEVELS.—Section 20 311(a)(3) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 642(a)(3)) is 21 amended by— 22 (A) striking ‘‘for the first fiscal year’’ and 23 inserting ‘‘each fiscal year in the biennium’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S284.IS S284 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 284 IS (B) striking ‘‘that fiscal year and the ensu- 1 ing fiscal years’’ and inserting ‘‘all fiscal 2 years’’. 3 (l) MDA POINT OF ORDER.—Section 312(c) of such 4 Act (2 U.S.C. 643) is amended— 5 (1) by str [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]