2 U.S.C. § 907 — The baseline

Page 275 TITLE 2—THE CONGRESS § 907 section 1076(a)(9) is effective Dec. 31, 2011, and as if in- cluded in Pub. L. 112–81 as enacted. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2010 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 111–203, title III, § 351, July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1546, provided that: ‘‘Except as provided in section 364(a) [amending section 1438 of Title 12, Banks and Banking, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 1438 of Title 12], the amendments made by this subtitle [subtitle E (§§ 351–378) of title III of Pub. L. 111–203, see Tables for classification] shall take ef- fect on the transfer date.’’ [For definition of ‘‘transfer date’’ as used in section 351 of Pub. L. 111–203, set out above, see section 5301 of Title 12, Banks and Banking.] EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–193 effective July 1, 1997, with transition rules relating to State options to accel- erate such date, rules relating to claims, actions, and proceedings commenced before such date, rules relating to closing out of accounts for terminated or substan- tially modified programs and continuance in office of Assistant Secretary for Family Support, and provisions relating to termination of entitlement under AFDC program, see section 116 of Pub. L. 104–193, set out as a note under section 601 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1990 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 101–509 effective on such date as the President shall determine, but not earlier than 90 days, and not later than 180 days, after Nov. 5, 1990, see section 529 [title III, § 305] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out as a note under section 5301 of Title 5, Government Or- ganization and Employees. § 907. The baseline (a) In general For any budget year, the baseline refers to a projection of current-year levels of new budget authority, outlays, revenues, and the surplus or deficit into the budget year and the outyears based on laws enacted through the applicable date. (b) Direct spending and receipts For the budget year and each outyear, the baseline shall be calculated using the following assumptions: (1) In general Laws providing or creating direct spending and receipts are assumed to operate in the manner specified in those laws for each such year and funding for entitlement authority is assumed to be adequate to make all payments required by those laws. (2) Exceptions (A)(i) No program established by a law en- acted on or before August 5, 1997, with esti- mated current year outlays greater than $50,000,000 shall be assumed to expire in the budget year or the outyears. The scoring of new programs with estimated outlays greater than $50,000,000 a year shall be based on scor- ing by the Committees on Budget or OMB, as applicable. OMB, CBO, and the Budget Com- mittees shall consult on the scoring of such programs where there are differences between CBO and OMB. (ii) On the expiration of the suspension of a provision of law that is suspended under sec- tion 7301 of title 7 and that authorizes a pro- gram with estimated fiscal year outlays that are greater than $50,000,000, for purposes of clause (i), the program shall be assumed to continue to operate in the same manner as the program operated immediately before the ex- piration of the suspension. (B) The increase for veterans’ compensation for a fiscal year is assumed to be the same as that required by law for veterans’ pensions un- less otherwise provided by law enacted in that session. (C) Excise taxes dedicated to a trust fund, if expiring, are assumed to be extended at cur- rent rates. (D) If any law expires before the budget year or any outyear, then any program with esti- mated current year outlays greater than $50,000,000 that operates under that law shall be assumed to continue to operate under that law as in effect immediately before its expira- tion. (3) Hospital Insurance Trust Fund Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the receipts and disbursements of the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund shall be included in all calculations required by this Act. (c) Discretionary appropriations For the budget year and each outyear, the baseline shall be calculated using the following assumptions regarding all amounts other than those covered by subsection (b): (1) Inflation of current-year appropriations Budgetary resources other than unobligated balances shall be at the level provided for the budget year in full-year appropriation Acts. If for any account a full-year appropriation has not yet been enacted, budgetary resources other than unobligated balances shall be at the level available in the current year, ad- justed sequentially and cumulatively for ex- piring housing contracts as specified in para- graph (2), for social insurance administrative expenses as specified in paragraph (3), to offset pay absorption and for pay annualization as specified in paragraph (4), for inflation as spec- ified in paragraph (5), and to account for changes required by law in the level of agency payments for personnel benefits other than pay. (2) Expiring housing contracts New budget authority to renew expiring multiyear subsidized housing contracts shall be adjusted to reflect the difference in the number of such contracts that are scheduled to expire in that fiscal year and the number expiring in the current year, with the per-con- tract renewal cost equal to the average cur- rent-year cost of renewal contracts. (3) Social insurance administrative expenses Budgetary resources for the administrative expenses of the following trust funds shall be adjusted by the percentage change in the bene- ficiary population from the current year to that fiscal year: the Federal Hospital Insur- ance Trust Fund, the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, the Unemployment Trust Fund, and the railroad retirement ac- count. Page 276 TITLE 2—THE CONGRESS § 907 (4) Pay annualization; offset to pay absorption Current-year new budget authority for Fed- eral employees shall be adjusted to reflect the full 12-month costs (without absorption) of any pay adjustment that occurred in that fis- cal year. (5) Inflators The inflator used in paragraph (1) to adjust budgetary resources relating to personnel shall be the percent by which the average of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index (wages and salaries, private indus- try workers) for that fiscal year differs from such index for the current year. The inflator used in paragraph (1) to adjust all other budg- etary resources shall be the percent by which the average of the estimated gross domestic product chain-type price index for that fiscal year differs from the average of such esti- mated index for the current year. (6) Current-year appropriations If, for any account, a continuing appropria- tion is in effect for less than the entire cur- rent year, then the current-year amount shall be assumed to equal the amount that would be available if that continuing appropriation cov- ered the entire fiscal year. If law permits the transfer of budget authority among budget ac- counts in the current year, the current-year level for an account shall reflect transfers ac- complished by the submission of, or assumed for the current year in, the President’s origi- nal budget for the budget year. (d) Up-to-date concepts In deriving the baseline for any budget year or outyear, current-year amounts shall be cal- culated using the concepts and definitions that are required for that budget year. (e) Asset sales Amounts realized from the sale of an asset shall not be included in estimates under section 901, 902, or 903 of this title if that sale would re- sult in a financial cost to the Federal Govern- ment as determined pursuant to scorekeeping guidelines. (Pub. L. 99–177, title II, § 257, formerly §§ 251(a)(6)(I), 257, Dec. 12, 1985, 99 Stat. 1092; Pub. L. 100–119, title I, §§ 102(a), (b)(4)–(8), 104(c)(2), 106(b), Sept. 29, 1987, 101 Stat. 754, 773, 774, 777, 780; renumbered § 257 and amended Pub. L. 101–508, title XIII, § 13101(b), (e)(1), (2), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–589, 1388–591, 1388–593; Pub. L. 105–33, title X, § 10209(a), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 710; Pub. L. 113–67, div. A, title I, § 121(9), Dec. 26, 2013, 127 Stat. 1175.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), means Pub. L. 99–177, Dec. 12, 1985, 99 Stat. 1037, which enacted this chapter and sections 654 to 656 of this title, amended sections 602, 622, 631 to 642, and 651 to 653 of this title, sections 1104 to 1106, 1109, and 3101 of Title 31, Money and Finance, and section 911 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, repealed section 661 of this title, enacted provisions set out as notes under section 900 of this title and section 911 of Title 42, and amended provi- sions set out as a note under section 621 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. CODIFICATION Pub. L. 101–508, § 13101(b), redesignated former par. (12) of this section as section 250(c)(21) (now 250(c)(19)) of Pub. L. 99–177, which is classified to section 900(c)(19) of this title. Pub. L. 101–508, § 13101(e)(2), transferred section 251(a)(6)(I) of Pub. L. 99–177, which was classified to sec- tion 901(a)(6)(I) of this title, to subsec. (e) of this sec- tion. AMENDMENTS 2013—Subsec. (b)(2)(A)(i). Pub. L. 113–67 substituted ‘‘differences’’ for ‘‘differenes’’. 1997—Subsec. (b)(2)(A). Pub. L. 105–33, § 10209(a)(1), amended subpar. (A) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (A) read as follows: ‘‘No program with esti- mated current-year outlays greater than $50 million shall be assumed to expire in the budget year or out- years.’’ Subsec. (b)(2)(D). Pub. L. 105–33, § 10209(a)(2), added subpar. (D). Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 105–33, § 10209(a)(3), substituted ‘‘domestic product chain-type price index’’ for ‘‘na- tional product fixed-weight price index’’. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105–33, § 10209(a)(4), added subsec. (e) and struck out former subsec. (e) which read as fol- lows: ‘‘The sale of an asset or prepayment of a loan shall not alter the deficit or produce any net deficit re- duction in the budget baseline, except that the budget baseline estimate shall include asset sales mandated by law before September 18, 1987, and routine, ongoing asset sales and loan prepayments at levels consistent with agency operations in fiscal year 1986;’’. 1990—Pub. L. 101–508, § 13101(e)(1), amended section generally, substituting provisions relating to baseline for provisions relating to definitions. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 101–508, § 13101(e)(2), redesignated section 901(a)(6)(I) of this title as subsec. (e) of this sec- tion, and substituted ‘‘The’’ for ‘‘assuming, for pur- poses of this paragraph and subparagraph (A)(i) of para- graph (3), that the’’. 1987—Pub. L. 100–119, § 102(a), amended section 901 of this title generally, adding subsec. (a)(6)(I). See 1990 Amendment note above. Par. (1). Pub. L. 100–119, § 104(c)(2), struck out provi- sions of former subpar. (A) that ‘‘automatic spending increase’’ meant increases in budget outlays due to changes in indexes in the following Federal programs: ‘‘Black lung benefits (20-8144-0-7-601); ‘‘Central Intelligence Agency retirement and dis- ability system fund (56-3400-0-1-054); ‘‘Civil service retirement and disability fund (24- 8135-0-7-602); ‘‘Comptrollers general retirement system (05-0107-0- 1-801); ‘‘Foreign service retirement and disability fund (19- 8186-0-7-602); ‘‘Judicial survivors’ annuities fund (10-8110-0-7-602); ‘‘Longshoremen’s and harborworkers’ compensation benefits (16-9971-0-7-601); ‘‘Military retirement fund (97-8097-0-7-602); ‘‘National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion retirement (13-1450-0-1-306); ‘‘Pensions for former Presidents (47-0105-0-1-802); ‘‘Railroad retirement tier II (60-8011-0-7-601); ‘‘Retired pay, Coast Guard (69-0241-0-1-403); ‘‘Retirement pay and medical benefits for commis- sioned officers, Public Health Service (75-0379-0-1-551); ‘‘Special benefits, Federal Employees’ Compensa- tion Act (16-1521-0-1-600); ‘‘Special benefits for disabled coal miners (75-0409-0- 1-601); and ‘‘Tax Court judges survivors annuity fund (23-8115- 0-7-602).’’ Par. (7). Pub. L. 100–119, § 102(b)(4), amended par. (7) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (7) read as follows: Page 277 TITLE 2—THE CONGRESS § 907a 1 See References in Text note below. ‘‘The terms ‘sequester’ and ‘sequestration’ (subject to section 902(a)(4) of this title) refer to or mean the can- cellation of new budget authority, unobligated bal- ances, obligated balances, new loan guarantee commit- ments, new direct loan obligations, and spending au- thority as defined in section 651(c)(2) of this title, and the reduction of obligation limitations.’’ Par. (9). Pub. L. 100–119, § 102(b)(5), added par. (9). Par. (10). Pub. L. 100–119, § 106(b), added par. (10). Par. (11). Pub. L. 100–119, § 102(b)(6), added par. (11). Par. (12). Pub. L. 100–119, § 102(b)(7), added par. (12). Pars. (13), (14). Pub. L. 100–119, § 102(b)(8), added pars. (13) and (14). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries DEFINITION OF TERMS USED IN BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT OF 1985 Pub. L. 101–163, title III, § 315, Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1066, provided that: ‘‘Effective in the case of this Act and any subsequent Act making appropriations for the Legislative Branch, for purposes of the Balanced Budg- et and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Public Law 99–177), as amended [see Short Title note set out under section 900 of this title], or any other Act which requires a uniform percentage reduction in accounts in this Act and any subsequent Act making appropria- tions for the Legislative Branch, the accounts under the general heading ‘Senate’, and the accounts under the general heading ‘House of Representatives’, shall each be considered to be one appropriation account and one ‘program, project, and activity’.’’ Pub. L. 100–202, § 101(i) [title III, § 306], Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1329–290, 1329–309, provided that: ‘‘Hereafter, for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Public Law 99–177), as amended [see Short Title note set out under section 900 of this title], the term ‘program, project, and activity’ shall be synonymous with each appropriation account in this Act [see Tables for classification], except that the accounts under the general heading ‘House of Rep- resentatives’ shall be considered one appropriation ac- count and one ‘program, project, and activity’, and the accounts under the general heading ‘Senate’ shall be considered one appropriation account and one ‘pro- gram, project, and activity’.’’ COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS IN CERTAIN FEDERAL BENEFITS Pub. L. 99–509, title VII, § 7001, Oct. 21, 1986, 100 Stat. 1948, provided that benefits payable in calendar years 1987 to 1991 under programs listed in this section, in- cluding any cost-of-living adjustments, were not sub- ject to modification, suspension, or reduction in such calendar years pursuant to a Presidential order. § 907a. Suspension in event of war or low growth (a) Procedures in event of low-growth report (1) Trigger Whenever CBO issues a low-growth report under section 254(i) [2 U.S.C. 904(i)], the Major- ity Leader of the House of Representatives may, and the Majority Leader of the Senate shall, introduce a joint resolution (in the form set forth in paragraph (2)) declaring that the conditions specified in section 254(i) are met and suspending the relevant provisions of this title,1 titles III and VI 1 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 [2 U.S.C. 631 et seq.], and section 1103 of title 31. (2) Form of joint resolution (A) The matter after the resolving clause in any joint resolution introduced pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be as follows: ‘‘That the Congress declares that the conditions specified in section 254(j) 1 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 are met, and the implementation of the Congres- sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, and part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 are modified as described in section 258(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con- trol Act of 1985.’’ (B) The title of the joint resolution shall be ‘‘Joint resolution suspending certain provi- sions of law pursuant to section 258(a)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con- trol Act of 1985.’’; and the joint resolution shall not contain any preamble. (3) Committee action Each joint resolution introduced pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be referred to the appro- priate committees of the House of Representa- tives or the Committee on the Budget of the Senate, as the case may be; and such Com- mittee shall report the joint resolution to its House without amendment on or before the fifth day on which such House is in session after the date on which the joint resolution is introduced. If the Committee fails to report the joint resolution within the five-day period referred to in the preceding sentence, it shall be automatically discharged from further con- sideration of the joint resolution, and the joint resolution shall be placed on the appro- priate calendar. (4) Consideration of joint resolution (A) A vote on final passage of a joint resolu- tion reported to the Senate or discharged pur- suant to paragraph (3) shall be taken on or be- fore the close of the fifth calendar day of ses- sion after the date on which the joint resolu- tion is reported or after the Committee has been discharged from further consideration of the joint resolution. If prior to the passage by one House of a joint resolution of that House, that House receives the same joint resolution from the other House, then— (i) the procedure in that House shall be the same as if no such joint resolution had been received from the other House, but (ii) the vote on final passage shall be on the joint resolution of the other House. When the joint resolution is agreed to, the Clerk of the House of Representatives (in the case of a House joint resolution agreed to in the House of Representatives) or the Secretary of the Senate (in the case of a Senate joint resolution agreed to in the Senate) shall cause the joint resolution to be engrossed, certified, and transmitted to the other House of the Congress as soon as practicable. (B)(i) In the Senate, a joint resolution under this paragraph shall be privileged. It shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to. (ii) Debate in the Senate on a joint resolu- tion under this paragraph, and all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than five hours.