[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 716 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 716
To require that any debt limit increase be balanced by equal spending
cuts over the next decade.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 23, 2017
Mr. Portman (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Isakson, Mr.
Barrasso, and Mr. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require that any debt limit increase be balanced by equal spending
cuts over the next decade.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction
Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 31.
(a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3101A the following:
``Sec. 3101B. Debt limit control
``(a) Declaration of a Debt Limit Warning.--
``(1) In general.--In the event of a near breach of the
public debt limit established by section 3101, the Secretary of
the Treasury shall issue a debt limit warning to the Committee
on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of
the House of Representatives that shall include a determination
as to when extraordinary measures may be necessary in order to
prolong the funding of the United States Government.
``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Extraordinary measures.--The term
`extraordinary measures' means measures that may be
taken by the Secretary of the Treasury in the event of
a breach of the debt limit by the United States to
prolong the function of the United States Government in
the absence of a debt limit increase.
``(B) Near breach.--The term `near breach' means
the point at which the Secretary of the Treasury
determines that the United States Government will reach
the statutorily prescribed debt limit within 60
calendar days notwithstanding the implementation of
extraordinary measures.
``(b) Presidential Submission of Debt Limit Legislation.--
``(1) Savings recommendations from the president.--Any
formal Presidential request to increase the debt limit under
this section shall include the amount of the proposed debt
limit increase and be accompanied by proposed legislation to
reduce spending over the sum of the current and following 10
years by an amount equal to or greater than the amount of the
requested debt limit increase. Net interest savings may not be
counted towards spending reductions required by this paragraph.
``(2) Calculation.--The spending savings under paragraph
(1) shall be calculated against a budget baseline consistent
with section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985. This baseline shall exclude the
extrapolation of any spending that had been enacted under an
emergency designation.''.
(b) Subchapter Analysis.--The table of sections for chapter 31 of
title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
for section 3101A the following:
``3101B. Debt limit control.''.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL REQUIREMENT TO RESTRAIN SPENDING WHILE RAISING
THE DEBT LIMIT.
(a) In General.--Title III of the Congress and Budget Act of 1974
(2 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended by inserting at the end the
following:
``SEC. 316. DEBT LIMIT INCREASE POINT OF ORDER.
``(a) In General.--
``(1) Point of order.--Except as provided in subsection
(b), it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of
Representatives to consider any bill, joint resolution,
amendment, motion, or conference report that increases the
statutory debt limit unless the bill contains net spending
reductions of an equal or greater amount over the sum of the
current and next 10 fiscal years. Net interest savings may not
be counted towards spending reductions required by this
paragraph.
``(2) Components of net spending reduction.--
``(A) Calculation.--The savings resulting from the
proposed spending reductions under paragraph (1) shall
be calculated by the Congressional Budget Office
against a budget baseline consistent with section 257
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985. This baseline shall exclude the
extrapolation of any spending that had been enacted
under an emergency designation.
``(B) Availability.--The Senate and the House of
Representatives may not vote on any bill, joint
resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report
that increases the public debt limit unless the cost
estimate of that measure prepared by the Congressional
Budget Office has been publicly available on the Web
site of the Congressional Budget Office for at least 24
hours.
``(C) Prohibit timing shifts.--Any provision that
shifts outlays or revenues from within the 10-year
window to outside the window shall not count towards
the budget savings target for purposes of this
subsection.
``(b) Senate Supermajority Waiver and Appeal.--
``(1) Waiver.--In the Senate, subsection (a)(1) may be
waived or suspended only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths
of the Members, duly chosen and sworn.
``(2) Appeal.--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 subsection (a)(1).''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents set forth in
section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of
1974 is amended by inserting after section 315 the following new item:
``Sec. 316. Debt limit increase point of order.''.
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