Informed Lawmaking to Combat Inflation Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3640 To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office to provide an inflation esti- mate with respect to direct spending legislation with a significant impact on the Gross Domestic Product of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 24, 2023 Mrs. HINSON (for herself, Mr. NICKEL, Mr. FINSTAD, and Mr. CUELLAR) in- troduced 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 amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Con- trol Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office to provide an inflation estimate with respect to direct spending legislation with a significant impact on the Gross Domestic Product of the United States, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3640.IH H3640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3640 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Informed Lawmaking 2 to Combat Inflation Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. LEGISLATIVE MANDATED INFLATION ACCOUNT- 4 ABILITY AND REFORM. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title IV of the Congres- 6 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is 7 amended by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘MANDATORY INFLATION FORECASTING 9 ‘‘SEC. 407. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 10 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of the 11 Congressional Budget Office; and 12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘major legislation’ means any bill or 13 joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference re- 14 port thereon, that provides for direct spending and would 15 be projected (in a conventional cost estimate) to cause an 16 annual gross budgetary effect of at least 0.25 percent of 17 projected Gross Domestic Product of the United States, 18 but does not include any such measure that— 19 ‘‘(A) provides for emergency assistance or relief 20 at the request of any State, local, or tribal govern- 21 ment or any official of a State, local, or tribal gov- 22 ernment; or 23 ‘‘(B) is necessary for the national security or 24 the ratification or implementation of international 25 treaty obligations. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3640.IH H3640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3640 IH ‘‘(b) AGENCY ASSISTANCE.—Each department, agen- 1 cy, establishment, or regulatory agency or commission, 2 shall provide to the Director such information and assist- 3 ance as the Director may reasonably request to assist the 4 Director in carrying out this section. 5 ‘‘(c) MANDATORY INFLATION FORECASTING.— 6 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF BILLS TO THE DIREC- 7 TOR.—On the date that a committee of authoriza- 8 tion of the Senate or the House of Representatives 9 orders reported major legislation, the committee 10 shall promptly provide the legislation to the Director 11 for the purpose of carrying out responsibilities de- 12 tailed in paragraph (2). 13 ‘‘(2) MANDATORY REPORTING ON INFLA- 14 TIONARY FORECASTING.—For any major legislation 15 provided to the Director under paragraph (1), the 16 Director shall prepare and submit to the applicable 17 committee a statement estimating the inflationary 18 effects of the legislation, including whether the legis- 19 lation is determined to have no significant impact on 20 inflation, is determined to have quantifiable infla- 21 tionary impact on the consumer price index, or is de- 22 termined likely to have a significant impact on infla- 23 tion but the amount cannot be determined at the 24 time the estimate is prepared. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3640.IH H3640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3640 IH ‘‘(3) AMENDED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLU- 1 TIONS; CONFERENCE REPORTS.—If a bill or joint 2 resolution is passed in an amended form (including 3 if passed by one House as an amendment in the na- 4 ture of a substitute for the text of a bill or joint res- 5 olution from the other House) or is reported by a 6 committee of conference in amended form, and the 7 amended form constitutes major legislation not pre- 8 viously considered by either House, then the chair of 9 the committee that reported the bill or joint resolu- 10 tion or any other committee chair designated by the 11 Speaker of the House of Representatives or the 12 President pro tempore of the Senate (as the case 13 may be), or the committee of conference, respec- 14 tively, shall ensure to the greatest extent practicable 15 that the Director shall prepare a statement as pro- 16 vided in paragraph (2) or a supplemental statement 17 for the bill or joint resolution in that amended form. 18 ‘‘(d) LEGISLATION SUBJECT TO POINT OF ORDER.— 19 It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of 20 Representatives to consider any major legislation reported 21 by a committee unless the committee has published a 22 statement of the Director in accordance with this section. 23 ‘‘(e) PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE HOUSE OF REP- 24 RESENTATIVES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3640.IH H3640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3640 IH ‘‘(1) ENFORCEMENT.—It shall not be in order 1 in the House of Representatives to consider a rule 2 or order that waives the application of subsection 3 (d). 4 ‘‘(2) DISPOSITION OF POINTS OF ORDER.— 5 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION TO THE HOUSE OF 6 REPRESENTATIVES.—This paragraph shall 7 apply only to the House of Representatives. 8 ‘‘(B) THRESHOLD BURDEN.—In order to 9 be cognizable by the Chair, a point of order 10 under subsection (d) or paragraph (1) of this 11 subsection must specify the precise language on 12 which it is premised. 13 ‘‘(C) QUESTION OF CONSIDERATION.—As 14 disposition of points of order under subsection 15 (d) or paragraph (1) of this section, the Chair 16 shall put the question of consideration with re- 17 spect to the proposition that is the subject of 18 the points of order. 19 ‘‘(D) DEBATE AND INTERVENING MO- 20 TIONS.—A question of consideration under this 21 section shall be debatable for 10 minutes by 22 each Member initiating a point of order and for 23 10 minutes by an opponent on each point of 24 order, but shall otherwise be decided without in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3640.IH H3640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3640 IH tervening motion except one that the House ad- 1 journ or that the Committee of the Whole rise, 2 as the case may be. 3 ‘‘(E) EFFECT ON AMENDMENT IN ORDER 4 AS ORIGINAL TEXT.—The disposition of the 5 question of consideration under this subsection 6 with respect to a bill or joint resolution shall be 7 considered also to determine the question of 8 consideration under this subsection with respect 9 to an amendment made in order as original 10 text.’’. 11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 12 in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impound- 13 ment Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after 14 the item relating to section 406 the following: 15 ‘‘Sec. 407. Mandatory inflation forecasting.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3640.IH H3640 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB