United States Code/Title 2/Chapter 17A/Subchapter II/Part A

by the United States Government

§ 651. Budget-related legislation not subject to appropriations

(a) Controls on certain budget-related legislation not subject to appropriations It shall not be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill or joint resolution (in the House of Representatives only, as reported), amendment, motion, or conference report that provides—

(1) new authority to enter into contracts under which the United States is obligated to make outlays;

(2) new authority to incur indebtedness (other than indebtedness incurred under chapter 31 of title 31) for the repayment of which the United States is liable; or

(3) new credit authority;

unless that bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report also provides that the new authority is to be effective for any fiscal year only to the extent or in the amounts provided in advance in appropriation Acts.

(b) Legislation providing new entitlement authority

(1) Point of order.— It shall not be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill or joint resolution (in the House of Representatives only, as reported), amendment, motion, or conference report that provides new entitlement authority that is to become effective during the current fiscal year.

(2) If any committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate reports any bill or resolution which provides new entitlement authority which is to become effective during a fiscal year and the amount of new budget authority which will be required for such fiscal year if such bill or resolution is enacted as so reported exceeds the appropriate allocation of new budget authority reported under section 633 (b) of this title in connection with the most recently agreed to concurrent resolution on the budget for such fiscal year, such bill or resolution shall then be referred to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate or may then be referred to the Committee on Appropriations of the House, as the case may be, with instructions to report it, with the committee’s recommendations, within 15 calendar days (not counting any day on which that House is not in session) beginning with the day following the day on which it is so referred. If the Committee on Appropriations of either House fails to report a bill or resolution referred to it under this paragraph within such 15-day period, the committee shall automatically be discharged from further consideration of such bill or resolution and such bill or resolution shall be placed on the appropriate calendar.

(3) The Committee on Appropriations of each House shall have jurisdiction to report any bill or resolution referred to it under paragraph (2) with an amendment which limits the total amount of new spending authority provided in such bill or resolution.

(c) Exceptions

(1) Subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to new authority described in those subsections if outlays from that new authority will flow—

(A) from a trust fund established by the Social Security Act (as in effect on July 12, 1974) [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.]; or

(B) from any other trust fund, 90 percent or more of the receipts of which consist or will consist of amounts (transferred from the general fund of the Treasury) equivalent to amounts of taxes (related to the purposes for which such outlays are or will be made) received in the Treasury under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C. 1 et seq.].

(2) Subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to new authority described in those subsections to the extent that—

(A) the outlays resulting therefrom are made by an organization which is

(i) a mixed-ownership Government corporation (as defined in section 9101 (2) of title 31), or

(ii) a wholly owned Government corporation (as defined in section 9101 (3) of title 31) which is specifically exempted by law from compliance with any or all of the provisions of chapter 91 of title 31, as of December 12, 1985; or

(B) the outlays resulting therefrom consist exclusively of the proceeds of gifts or bequests made to the United States for a specific purpose.

§ 653. Analysis by Congressional Budget Office

The Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall, to the extent practicable, prepare for each bill or resolution of a public character reported by any committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate (except the Committee on Appropriations of each House), and submit to such committee—

(1) an estimate of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out such bill or resolution in the fiscal year in which it is to become effective and in each of the 4 fiscal years following such fiscal year, together with the basis for each such estimate;

(2) a comparison of the estimates of costs described in paragraph (1) with any available estimates of costs made by such committee or by any Federal agency; and

(3) a description of each method for establishing a Federal financial commitment contained in such bill or resolution.

The estimates, comparison, and description so submitted shall be included in the report accompanying such bill or resolution if timely submitted to such committee before such report is filed.

§ 654. Study by Government Accountability Office of forms of Federal financial commitment not reviewed annually by Congress

The Government Accountability Office shall study those provisions of law which provide mandatory spending and report to the Congress its recommendations for the appropriate form of financing for activities or programs financed by such provisions not later than eighteen months after December 12, 1985. Such report shall be revised from time to time.

§ 655. Off-budget agencies, programs, and activities

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, budget authority, credit authority, and estimates of outlays and receipts for activities of the Federal budget which are off-budget immediately prior to December 12, 1985, not including activities of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, shall be included in a budget submitted pursuant to section 1105 of title 31 and in a concurrent resolution on the budget reported pursuant to section 632 or section 635 of this title and shall be considered, for purposes of this Act, budget authority, outlays, and spending authority in accordance with definitions set forth in this Act.

(b) All receipts and disbursements of the Federal Financing Bank with respect to any obligations which are issued, sold, or guaranteed by a Federal agency shall be treated as a means of financing such agency for purposes of section 1105 of title 31 and for purposes of this Act.

§ 656. Member User Group

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consulting with the Minority Leader of the House, may appoint a Member User Group for the purpose of reviewing budgetary scorekeeping rules and practices of the House and advising the Speaker from time to time on the effect and impact of such rules and practices.