Title 2 › Chapter CHAPTER 20A— - STATUTORY PAY-AS-YOU-GO › § 936
Adjusts budget estimates when Congress changes rules in four budget areas: Medicare payments to doctors under the law that updates those payments, the Estate and Gift Tax, the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), and many of the tax changes from EGTRRA or JGTRRA (but not parts made permanent by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, not changes to the Estate and Gift Tax or the AMT, and not income tax rate cuts for people earning more than $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (joint)). These adjustment rules last through December 31, 2011. If a bill changes one of those areas, the budget office must calculate a “current policy adjustment.” For Medicare doctor payments the adjustment compares projected spending under the rules scheduled on December 31, 2009 with a scenario where 2009 nominal payment levels stayed in effect through December 31, 2014 and then the scheduled rates applied. For the Estate and Gift Tax, the adjustment compares revenues under the scheduled law on December 31, 2009 with a scenario where 2009 tax rates and exemptions stayed in place through December 31, 2011 (with exemptions later indexed for inflation). For the AMT, the adjustment compares scheduled revenues with a scenario that raises AMT exemption amounts so the number of people paying AMT does not exceed the number in tax year 2008, through December 31, 2011. For the “middle-class” tax items (a set of EGTRRA/JGTRRA provisions covering things like the 10% bracket, credits for children and education, certain rate brackets, capital gains and dividend rates for taxpayers with AGI up to $200,000/$250,000, and similar items), the adjustment equals the difference between projected revenues and outlays under the scheduled law and what they would be if those provisions were made permanent. If the bill only covers a shorter time, the adjustment is limited to that same covered period. Indexed amounts use the tax-code cost-of-living rule based on calendar year 2008. When estimating, income tax changes are modeled as if the AMT stayed as scheduled on December 31, 2009, and if both AMT and income provisions are in a bill, the AMT is estimated as if the income provisions were made permanent.
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The Congress — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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2 U.S.C. § 936
Title 2 — The Congress
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73