Fiscal Responsibility and Long-Term Economic Security Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6996 To establish the Joint Select Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Long- Term Economic Security. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mr. ROUDA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish the Joint Select Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Long-Term Economic Security. 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 ‘‘Fiscal Responsibility 4 and Long-Term Economic Security Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. 6 Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 7 (2 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following new section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6996 IH ‘‘ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON FIS- 1 CAL RESPONSIBILITY AND LONG-TERM ECONOMIC 2 SECURITY 3 ‘‘SEC. 316. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 ‘‘(1) JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE.—The term 5 ‘joint select committee’ means the Joint Select Com- 6 mittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Long-Term Eco- 7 nomic Security established under subsection (b)(1). 8 ‘‘(2) JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE BILL.—The 9 term ‘joint select committee bill’ means a bill con- 10 sisting of the proposed legislative language of the 11 joint select committee recommended under sub- 12 section (b)(3)(B) and introduced under subsection 13 (e)(1). 14 ‘‘(3) FISCAL IMBALANCE.—The term ‘fiscal im- 15 balance’ means the gap between the projected reve- 16 nues and expenditures of the Government. 17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT SELECT COM- 18 MITTEE.— 19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 20 the legislative branch a joint select committee to be 21 known as the ‘Joint Select Committee on Fiscal Re- 22 sponsibility and Long-Term Economic Security’. 23 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6996 IH ‘‘(A) REVIEW.—The joint select committee 1 shall review the fiscal imbalance of the Govern- 2 ment, including— 3 ‘‘(i) analyses of projected expendi- 4 tures; 5 ‘‘(ii) analyses of projected revenues; 6 and 7 ‘‘(iii) analyses of the current and 8 long-term actuarial financial condition of 9 the Government. 10 ‘‘(B) IDENTIFY FACTORS.—The joint select 11 committee shall identify factors that affect the 12 long-term fiscal imbalance of the Government. 13 ‘‘(C) ANALYZE POTENTIAL COURSES OF 14 ACTION.—The joint select committee shall ana- 15 lyze potential courses of action to address fac- 16 tors that affect the long-term fiscal imbalance 17 of the Government. 18 ‘‘(D) PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS AND 19 LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE.—In consultation with 20 the applicable committees of subject-matter ju- 21 risdiction, the joint select committee shall pro- 22 vide recommendations and legislative language 23 that will significantly improve the long-term fis- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6996 IH cal imbalance of the Government, including rec- 1 ommendations addressing— 2 ‘‘(i) expenditures; 3 ‘‘(ii) revenues; and 4 ‘‘(iii) the current and long-term actu- 5 arial financial condition of the Govern- 6 ment. 7 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The joint select com- 9 mittee shall address the Nation’s long-term fis- 10 cal imbalances, consistent with the purposes de- 11 scribed in paragraph (2), and shall submit the 12 report and recommendations required under 13 subparagraph (B). 14 ‘‘(B) REPORT, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND 15 LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE.— 16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 17 months after the date of enactment of the 18 Fiscal Responsibility and Long-Term Eco- 19 nomic Security Act, the joint select com- 20 mittee shall vote on a report that con- 21 tains— 22 ‘‘(I) a detailed statement of the 23 findings, conclusions, and rec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6996 IH ommendations of the joint select com- 1 mittee; 2 ‘‘(II) the assumptions, scenarios, 3 and alternatives considered in reach- 4 ing such findings, conclusions, and 5 recommendations; and 6 ‘‘(III) proposed legislative lan- 7 guage to carry out such recommenda- 8 tions as described in paragraph 9 (2)(D). 10 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL OF REPORT.—The re- 11 port of the joint select committee sub- 12 mitted under clause (i) shall require the 13 approval of not fewer than 10 out of 16 14 members that includes not fewer than 5 15 members from the political party of the 16 Speaker of the House and not fewer than 17 5 members of the opposing political party. 18 ‘‘(iii) ADDITIONAL VIEWS.—A member 19 of the joint select committee who gives no- 20 tice of an intention to file supplemental, 21 minority, or additional views at the time of 22 final joint select committee approval of the 23 report under clause (ii), shall be entitled to 24 not less than 3 calendar days in which to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6996 IH file such views in writing with the staff di- 1 rector of the joint select committee. Such 2 views shall then be included in the joint se- 3 lect committee report and printed in the 4 same volume, or part thereof, and their in- 5 clusion shall be noted on the cover of the 6 report. In the absence of timely notice, the 7 joint select committee report may be print- 8 ed and transmitted immediately without 9 such views. 10 ‘‘(iv) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT.— 11 Not later than 7 days after the vote of the 12 joint select committee under clause (i), the 13 joint select committee shall submit its bill 14 and final report to the Speaker of the 15 House and the majority and minority lead- 16 ers of both Houses. 17 ‘‘(v) REPORT TO BE MADE PUBLIC.— 18 Upon the approval or disapproval of the 19 joint select committee report pursuant to 20 clause (ii), the joint select committee shall 21 promptly make the full report, and a 22 record of the vote, available to the public. 23 ‘‘(4) MEMBERSHIP.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6996 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The joint select com- 1 mittee shall be composed of 16 members des- 2 ignated pursuant to subparagraph (B). 3 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION.—Members of the joint 4 select committee shall be designated as follows: 5 ‘‘(i) The majority leader of the Senate 6 shall designate 4 members from among 7 Members of the Senate. 8 ‘‘(ii) The minority leader of the Sen- 9 ate shall designate 4 members from among 10 Members of the Senate. 11 ‘‘(iii) The Speaker of the House of 12 Representatives shall designate 8 members 13 from among Members of the House of 14 Representatives of whom 4 shall be upon 15 the recommendation of the minority leader. 16 ‘‘(C) CO-CHAIRS.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—There shall be 2 18 Co-Chairs of the joint select committee. 19 The Speaker of the House in coordination 20 with the minority leader of the Senate 21 shall designate one Co-Chair among the 22 voting members of the joint select com- 23 mittee. The majority leader of the Senate 24 in coordination with the minority leader of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6996 IH the House shall designate the second Co- 1 Chair among the members of the joint se- 2 lect committee. The Co-Chairs shall be ap- 3 pointed not later than 30 days after the 4 date of enactment of this section. 5 ‘‘(ii) STAFF DIRECTOR.—The Co- 6 Chairs, acting jointly, shall hire the staff 7 director of the joint select committee. 8 ‘‘(D) DATE.—Members of the joint select 9 committee shall be designated by not later than 10 90 days after the date of enactment of this sec- 11 tion. 12 ‘‘(E) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—Members 13 shall be designated for the life of the joint se- 14 lect committee. Any vacancy in the joint select 15 committee shall not affect its powers, but shall 16 be filled not later than 15 days after the date 17 on which the vacancy occurs in the same man- 18 ner as the original designation. 19 ‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATION.— 20 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH RULES 21 AND REGULATIONS.—The Co-Chairs, in con- 22 sultation with the other members of the joint 23 select committee, may establish rules and regu- 24 lations for the conduct of joint select committee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6996 IH business, if such rules and regulations are not 1 inconsistent with this section or the Rules of 2 the House of Representatives or the Standing 3 Rules of the Senate. 4 ‘‘(B) QUORUM.—Nine members of the 5 joint select committee shall constitute a quorum 6 for purposes of voting, meeting, and holding 7 hearings. 8 ‘‘(C) VOTING.— 9 ‘‘(i) PROXY VOTING.—No proxy voting 10 shall be allowed on behalf of the members 11 of the joint select committee. 12 ‘‘(ii) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OF- 13 FICE AND JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION 14 ESTIMATES.—The Congressional Budget 15 Office and Joint Committee on Taxation 16 shall provide estimates of the joint select 17 committee report and recommendations (as 18 described in paragraph (2)(D)) in accord- 19 ance with section 308(a) and 201(f) of the 20 Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The 21 joint select committee may not vote on any 22 version of the report, recommendations, or 23 legislative language unless a final estimate 24 is available for consideration by all the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6996 IH members at least 72 hours prior to the 1 vote. 2 ‘‘(D) MEETINGS.— 3 ‘‘(i) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later 4 than 45 days after the appointment of the 5 Co-Chairs, the joint select committee shall 6 hold its first meeting. 7 ‘‘(ii) MEETINGS.—The joint select 8 committee shall meet at the call of the Co- 9 Chairs or at least 10 of its members. 10 ‘‘(iii) AGENDA.—An agenda shall be 11 provided to the joint select committee 12 members at least 3 legislative days in ad- 13 vance of any meeting. Joint select com- 14 mittee members who want to have items 15 placed on the agenda for consideration 16 shall notify the staff director as early as 17 possible, but not less than 48 hours in ad- 18 vance of a scheduled meeting. 19 ‘‘(E) HEARINGS.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The joint select 21 committee may, for the purpose of carrying 22 out this section, hold such hearings, sit 23 and act at such times and places, take 24 such testimony, receive such evidence, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6996 IH administer such oaths the joint select com- 1 mittee considers advisable. 2 ‘‘(ii) HEARING PROCEDURES AND RE- 3 SPONSIBILITIES OF CO-CHAIRS.— 4 ‘‘(I) ANNOUNCEMENT.—The 5 joint select committee Co-Chairs shall 6 make public announcement of the 7 date, place, time, and subject matter 8 of any hearing to be conducted at 9 least 3 legislative days in advance of 10 such hearing, unless the Co-Chairs de- 11 termine that there is good cause to 12 begin such hearing at an earlier date. 13 ‘‘(II) WRITTEN STATEMENT.—A 14 witness appearing before the joint se- 15 lect committee, including the Sec- 16 retary of the Treasury, shall file a 17 written statement of proposed testi- 18 mony at least 2 days prior to appear- 19 ance, unless the requirement is waived 20 by the Co-Chairs, following their de- 21 termination that there is good cause 22 for failure of compliance. 23 ‘‘(F) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon 24 written request of the Co-Chairs, a Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6996 IH agency shall provide technical assistance to the 1 joint select committee in order for the joint se- 2 lect committee to carry out its duties. 3 ‘‘(c) STAFF OF JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE.— 4 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION OF 5 SHARED STAFF.—The Co-Chairs may appoint and 6 fix the compensation of a staff director and such 7 other personnel as may be necessary to enable the 8 joint select committee to carry out its functions, 9 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United 10 States Code, governing appointments in the competi- 11 tive service, but at rates not to exceed the daily rate 12 paid a person occupying a position at level III of the 13 Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, 14 United States Code. 15 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL STAFF FOR JOINT SELECT 16 COMMITTEE MEMBERS.—Each member of the joint 17 select committee may appoint 1 additional dedicated 18 staff and fix the compensation of such dedicated 19 personnel without regard to the provisions of title 5, 20 United States Code, governing appointments in the 21 competitive service, but at rates not to exceed the 22 daily rate paid a person occupying a position at level 23 III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6996.IH H6996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 6996 IH title 5, United States Code. Dedicated staff shall re- 1 port to each appointing member. 2 ‘‘(3) ADVISORY PANEL.—The joint select com- 3 mittee may establish an advisory panel consisting of 4 volunteers with knowledge and expertise relevant to 5 the joint select committee’s purpose. Membership of 6 the Advisory Panel, and the scope of the Panel’s ac- 7 tivities, shall be decided by the Co-Chairs in con- 8 sultation with the other members of the joint select 9 committee. 10 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The joint select committee 12 shall terminate 90 days after the joint select com- 13 mittee submits the report required under subsection 14 (b)(3)(B). 15 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]