PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

When a bill, amendment, or conference report is filed, the chair of the House or Senate Budget Committee can change the new budget authority and the expected spending by the amount the budget rules require. Those changes apply while the measure is being considered, become official if the measure is enacted, and must be printed in the Congressional Record as soon as possible. After such an adjustment, the Appropriations Committees may update their spending suballocations. In the House, if a provision is labeled an "emergency" and it adds spending or cuts revenue, the House Budget chair must not count that provision’s budget effects for certain budget and House rules; a move to remove the emergency label is treated specially and related amendment rules apply. In the Senate, any senator can object to an emergency label; if the objection succeeds the label is removed and cannot be offered again from the floor unless three-fifths of the Senate votes to waive that objection. Appeals are limited to one hour and require three-fifths to prevail. Neither House may consider measures that would push discretionary spending past the limits set by the budget rules. If an Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2022 through 2027 funds grants under the job-retraining program in title 42 and the amount for a year exceeds $117,000,000, the Budget Committee chair must adjust the discretionary limits, the Appropriations Committee allocations, and the budget totals to reflect that extra funding. Those adjusted numbers are the official limits for enforcement. The yearly cap on any such adjustment is: 2022—$133,000,000; 2023—$258,000,000; 2024—$433,000,000; 2025—$533,000,000; 2026—$608,000,000; 2027—$633,000,000. After the adjustment, Appropriations Committees may report revised suballocations.

Title 2, §645

The Congress, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Adjustments

After the reporting of a bill or joint resolution or the offering of an amendment thereto or the submission of a conference report thereon, the chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives or the Senate may make appropriate budgetary adjustments of new budget authority and the outlays flowing therefrom in the same amount as required by section 901(b) of this title.

(b)Application of adjustments

The adjustments made pursuant to subsection (a) for legislation shall—

(1)apply while that legislation is under consideration;

(2)take effect upon the enactment of that legislation; and

(3)be published in the Congressional Record as soon as practicable.

(c)Reporting revised suballocations

Following any adjustment made under subsection (a), the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives may report appropriately revised suballocations under section 633(b) of this title to carry out this section.

(d)Emergencies in the House of Representatives

(1)In the House of Representatives, if a reported bill or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference report thereon, contains a provision providing new budget authority and outlays or reducing revenue, and a designation of such provision as an emergency requirement pursuant to 901(b)(2)(A) of this title, the chair of the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives shall not count the budgetary effects of such provision for purposes of this subchapter and subchapter II and the Rules of the House of Representatives.

(2)(A)In the House of Representatives, a proposal to strike a designation under paragraph (1) shall be excluded from an evaluation of budgetary effects for purposes of this subchapter and subchapter II and the Rules of the House of Representatives.

(B)An amendment offered under subparagraph (A) that also proposes to reduce each amount appropriated or otherwise made available by the pending measure that is not required to be appropriated or otherwise made available shall be in order at any point in the reading of the pending measure.

(e)Senate point of order against an emergency designation

(1)In general

When the Senate is considering a bill, resolution, amendment, motion, amendment between the Houses, or conference report, if a point of order is made by a Senator against an emergency designation in that measure, that provision making such a designation shall be stricken from the measure and may not be offered as an amendment from the floor.

(2)Supermajority waiver and appeals

(A)Waiver

Paragraph (1) may be waived or suspended in the Senate only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn.

(B)Appeals

Appeals in the Senate from the decisions of the Chair relating to any provision of this subsection shall be limited to 1 hour, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the appellant and the manager of the bill or joint resolution, as the case may be. An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under this subsection.

(3)Definition of an emergency designation

For purposes of paragraph (1), a provision shall be considered an emergency designation if it designates any item pursuant to section 901(b)(2)(A)(i) of this title.

(4)Form of the point of order

A point of order under paragraph (1) may be raised by a Senator as provided in section 644(e) of this title.

(5)Conference reports

When the Senate is considering a conference report on, or an amendment between the Houses in relation to, a bill, upon a point of order being made by any Senator pursuant to this section, and such point of order being sustained, such material contained in such conference report shall be deemed stricken, and the Senate shall proceed to consider the question of whether the Senate shall recede from its amendment and concur with a further amendment, or concur in the House amendment with a further amendment, as the case may be, which further amendment shall consist of only that portion of the conference report or House amendment, as the case may be, not so stricken. Any such motion in the Senate shall be debatable. In any case in which such point of order is sustained against a conference report (or Senate amendment derived from such conference report by operation of this subsection), no further amendment shall be in order.

(f)Enforcement of discretionary spending caps

It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that would cause the discretionary spending limits as set forth in section 901 of this title to be exceeded.

(g)Adjustment for reemployment services and eligibility assessments

(1)In general

(A)Adjustments

If the Committee on Appropriations of either House reports an appropriation measure for any of fiscal years 2022 through 2027 that provides budget authority for grants under section 506 of title 42, or if a conference committee submits a conference report thereon, the chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives or the Senate shall make the adjustments referred to in subparagraph (B) to reflect the additional new budget authority provided for such grants in that measure or conference report and the outlays resulting therefrom, consistent with subparagraph (D).

(B)Types of adjustments

The adjustments referred to in this subparagraph consist of adjustments to—

(i)the discretionary spending limits for that fiscal year as set forth in the most recently adopted concurrent resolution on the budget;

(ii)the allocations to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives for that fiscal year under section 633(a) of this title; and

(iii)the appropriate budget aggregates for that fiscal year in the most recently adopted concurrent resolution on the budget.

(C)Enforcement

The adjusted discretionary spending limits, allocations, and aggregates under this paragraph shall be considered the appropriate limits, allocations, and aggregates for purposes of congressional enforcement of this Act and concurrent budget resolutions under this Act.

(D)Limitation

No adjustment may be made under this subsection in excess of— (i)

(ii)for fiscal year 2023, $258,000,000;

(iii)for fiscal year 2024, $433,000,000;

(iv)for fiscal year 2025, $533,000,000;

(v)for fiscal year 2026, $608,000,000; and

(vi)for fiscal year 2027, $633,000,000.

(E)Definition

As used in this subsection, the term “additional new budget authority” means the amount provided for a fiscal year, in excess of $117,000,000, in an appropriation measure or conference report (as the case may be) and specified to pay for grants to States under section 506 of title 42.

(2)Report on 633(b) level

Following any adjustment made under paragraph (1), the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives may report appropriately revised suballocations pursuant to section 633(b) of this title to carry out this subsection.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (g)(1)(C), is Pub. L. 115–123, Feb. 9, 2018, 132 Stat. 64, known as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 2018 Amendment note set out under section 1305 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and Tables.

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 115–123 added subsec. (g). 2013—Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 113–67 redesignated subpar. (B) as (A) and substituted “under paragraph (1)” for “under subparagraph (A)”, redesignated subpar. (C) as (B) and substituted “under subparagraph (A)” for “under subparagraph (B)”, and struck out former subpar. (A) which read as follows: “In the House of Representatives, if a reported bill or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference report thereon, contains a provision providing new budget authority and outlays or reducing revenue, and a designation of such provision as an emergency pursuant to paragraph (1), the chair of the Committee on the Budget shall not count the budgetary effects of such provision for purposes of this subchapter and subchapter II and the Rules of the House of Representatives.” 2011—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–25, § 105(a)(1), added subsec. (a) and struck out former subsec. (a) which related to general adjustment provisions and described the matters to be adjusted. Subsecs. (b) to (d). Pub. L. 112–25, § 105(a)(2), (3), added subsec. (d), redesignated former subsecs. (c) and (d) as (b) and (c), respectively, and struck out former subsec. (b) which related to amounts of adjustments. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 112–78, § 511(2), added subsec. (e). Former subsec. (e) redesignated (f). Pub. L. 112–25, § 105(a)(2), (3), added subsec. (e) and struck out former subsec. (e) which defined “continuing disability reviews” and “new budget authority” as used in former subsec. (b)(2). Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 112–78, § 511(1), redesignated subsec. (e) as (f). 1997—Subsec. (b)(6). Pub. L. 105–89 added par. (6).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1997 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 105–89 effective Nov. 19, 1997, except as otherwise provided, with delay permitted if State legislation is required, see section 501 of Pub. L. 105–89, set out as a note under section 622 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.

§645 Adjustments