Budget Process Enhancement Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 111 To remove the discretionary inflater from the baseline and to provide that the salaries of Members of a House of Congress will be held in escrow if that House has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2024. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. BIGGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on House Administra- tion, and Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To remove the discretionary inflater from the baseline and to provide that the salaries of Members of a House of Congress will be held in escrow if that House has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2024. 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 ‘‘Budget Process En- 4 hancement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H111.IH H111 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 111 IH TITLE I—CHANGES IN THE 1 BASELINE 2 SEC. 101. CHANGES IN THE BASELINE. 3 Section 257(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emer- 4 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended— 5 (1) in the second sentence of paragraph (1), by 6 striking everything that follows ‘‘current year,’’ and 7 inserting ‘‘excluding resources designated as an 8 emergency requirement and any resources provided 9 in supplemental appropriation laws.’’; 10 (2) by striking paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and 11 (5); 12 (3) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para- 13 graph (2); and 14 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 15 lowing new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(3) NO ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—No 17 adjustment shall be made for inflation or for any 18 other factor.’’. 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H111.IH H111 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 111 IH TITLE II—BUDGET ACCOUNT- 1 ABILITY OF MEMBERS OF 2 CONGRESS 3 SEC. 201. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 4 IN ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO AGREE TO 5 BUDGET RESOLUTION. 6 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—If by April 15, 2023, a 8 House of Congress has not agreed to a concurrent 9 resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2024 pursu- 10 ant to section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act 11 of 1974, during the period described in paragraph 12 (2) the payroll administrator of that House of Con- 13 gress shall deposit in an escrow account all pay- 14 ments otherwise required to be made during such 15 period for the compensation of Members of Congress 16 who serve in that House of Congress, and shall re- 17 lease such payments to such Members only upon the 18 expiration of such period. 19 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a 20 House of Congress, the period described in this 21 paragraph is the period which begins on April 16, 22 2023, and ends on the earlier of— 23 (A) the day on which the House of Con- 24 gress agrees to a concurrent resolution on the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H111.IH H111 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 111 IH budget for fiscal year 2024 pursuant to section 1 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; 2 or 3 (B) the last day of the One Hundred 4 Eighteenth Congress. 5 (3) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF 6 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 7 payroll administrator shall provide for the same 8 withholding and remittance with respect to a pay- 9 ment deposited in an escrow account under para- 10 graph (1) that would apply to the payment if the 11 payment were not subject to paragraph (1). 12 (4) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE 13 CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is 14 carried out in a manner that shall not vary the com- 15 pensation of Senators or Representatives in violation 16 of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the 17 Constitution of the United States, the payroll ad- 18 ministrator of a House of Congress shall release for 19 payments to Members of that House of Congress 20 any amounts remaining in any escrow account under 21 this section on the last day of the One Hundred 22 Eighteenth Congress. 23 (5) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— 24 The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the pay- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H111.IH H111 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 111 IH roll administrators of the Houses of Congress with 1 such assistance as may be necessary to enable the 2 payroll administrators to carry out this section. 3 (b) TREATMENT OF DELEGATES AS MEMBERS.—In 4 this section, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ includes a 5 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 6 (c) PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR DEFINED.—In this 7 section, the term ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of 8 Congress means— 9 (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, 10 the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 11 Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the 12 Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by 13 the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this 14 section; and 15 (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of 16 the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Sec- 17 retary of the Senate who is designated by the Sec- 18 retary to carry out this section. 19 SEC. 202. DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH STATU- 20 TORY REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT THE PRESI- 21 DENT’S BUDGET. 22 Not later than 3 days after the President’s budget 23 is due, the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel 24 Management shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H111.IH H111 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 111 IH (1) make an annual determination of whether 1 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg- 2 et (OMB) and the President are in compliance with 3 section 1105 of title 31, United States Code; and 4 (2) provide a written notification of such deter- 5 mination to the Chairs of the Committee on the 6 Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the 7 Senate and the Chairs of the Committee on the 8 Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the 9 House of Representatives. 10 SEC. 203. NO PAY UPON FAILURE TO TIMELY SUBMIT THE 11 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET TO CONGRESS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 13 sion of law, no funds may be appropriated or otherwise 14 be made available from the United States Treasury for 15 the pay of the Director of OMB, Deputy Director of OMB, 16 and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB during 17 any period of noncompliance determined by the Inspector 18 General of the Office of Personnel Management under sec- 19 tion 202. 20 (b) NO RETROACTIVE PAY.—The Director of OMB, 21 Deputy Director of OMB, and the Deputy Director for 22 Management of OMB may not receive pay for any period 23 of noncompliance determined by the Inspector General of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H111.IH H111 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 111 IH the Office of Personnel Management under section 202 1 at any time after the end of that period. 2 SEC. 204. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3 Sections 202 and 203 shall take effect upon the date 4 of enactment of this Act. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H111.IH H111 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB