[House Report 107-200]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress Rept. 107-200
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session Part 1
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COMMISSION ON FEDERAL BUDGET CONCEPTS ACT OF 2001
_______
September 5, 2001.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Nussle, from the Committee on the Budget, submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 981]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Budget, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 981) to provide a biennial budget for the United State
Government, having considered the same, report favorably
thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended
do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Commission on Federal Budget Concepts
Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) President Lyndon Johnson created the Commission on
Federal Budget Concepts in 1967 by executive order to assess
the basic budget concepts that underlie the Federal budget
process;
(2) the Commission's report provided a common framework for
the development, presentation, and execution of the Federal
budget for the ensuing decades;
(3) since the release of that report, the Federal Government
has experienced major changes in the scope of its financial
commitments, the nature of its various budget transactions, the
role of Congress in budget decisions, and the imposition of
special controls over spending and revenue; and
(4) in view of these changes, a new Commission on Federal
Budget Concepts should be created to assess the present state
of budget concepts and forge a bipartisan consensus for
necessary changes.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish the Commission
on Federal Budget Concepts to review, evaluate, and make
recommendations respecting the budget concepts that underlie the
Federal budget and the Federal budget process and to assess the
feasibility of changing from an annual to a biennial budget cycle.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION ON FEDERAL BUDGET CONCEPTS.
There is established a commission to be known as the Commission on
Federal Budget Concepts (hereinafter referred to as the
``Commission'').
SEC. 4. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION.
(a) Duties of the Commission.--
(1) The duties of the Commission shall include--
(A) an identification of activities, entities, and
transactions to be included in the Federal budget and
the criteria for making such determinations;
(B) an assessment of the appropriate measures of
Federal financial commitments to allocate resources and
establish fiscal policy;
(C) an evaluation of the differences between user
fees and revenue, and between various forms of user
fees, and the circumstances when such fees should be
accounted for as offsetting spending or adding to
revenue;
(D) an appraisal of the appropriate usage of cash and
accrual-based measures for various types of Federal
financial commitments, such as Government insurance,
loan guarantees, and leasing;
(E) recommendations of the appropriate means for
recognizing the cost of acquisition and disposition of
various types of nonfinancial assets;
(F) an evaluation of appropriate measures of Federal
debt, borrowing, and means of financing;
(G) an assessment of the adequacy of the current
account and fund structure for recording revenue and
expenditures for specific classes of governmental
activities;
(H) recommendations for changes in Federal budget
practices to accommodate the Federal Accounting
Standards Advisory Board's recommended accounting
standards;
(I) recommendations for changes in budget practices
to reflect the Federal Government's multi-year
acquisitions;
(J) the appropriate means of accounting for the
financial risk the Federal Government incurs from
contractual and implied commitments; and
(K) an assessment of the value and feasibility of
changing the Federal budget cycle from annual to
biennial.
(2) Exceptions.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the
Commission shall make no findings, conclusions, or
recommendations respecting the following:
(A) Social security and medicare.
(B) Budget estimates and projections that assume that
selected tax policies will increase gross domestic
product and thereby cause an indirect increase in
revenue, or that assume that increased spending for
human resources or capital development will cause an
indirect reduction in spending for other programs.
(C) Government-sponsored enterprises.
(b) Powers of the Commission.--
(1) Conduct of business.--The Commission may hold hearings,
take testimony, receive evidence, and undertake such other
activities necessary to carry out its duties.
(2) Access to information.--The Commission may secure
directly from any department of agency of the United States
information necessary to carry out its duties. Upon request of
the Chair of the Commission, the head of that department or
agency shall furnish that information to the Commission.
(3) Postal service.--The Commission may use the United States
mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other
departments and agencies of the United States.
SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP.
(a) Membership.--The Commission shall be composed of 14 voting
members and 2 nonvoting members, as follows:
(1) Three members appointed by the chairman of the Committee
on the Budget of the Senate.
(2) Three members appointed by the chairman of the Committee
on the Budget of the House of Representatives.
(3) Three members appointed by the ranking member of the
Committee on the Budget of the Senate.
(4) Three members appointed by the ranking member of the
Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives.
(5) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (or
his designee).
(6) The Secretary of the Treasury (or his designee).
(7) The Comptroller General of the United States (or his
designee) and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
(or his designee), who shall be nonvoting members.
(b) Qualifications and Term.--
(1) Qualifications.--Members appointed to the Commission
pursuant to subsection (a) shall--
(A) have expertise and experience in the fields or
disciplines related to the subject areas to be
considered by the Commission; and
(B) not be Members of Congress.
(2) Term of appointment.--The term of an appointment to the
Commission shall be for the life of the Commission.
(3) Chair and vice chair.--The member of the Commission
serving under subsection (a)(5) shall be the Chair of the
Commission. A Vice Chair may be elected from among the voting
members of the Commission and shall assume the duties of the
Chair in the Chair's absence.
(c) Meetings; Quorum; and Vacancies.--
(1) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet at least once a
month on a day to be decided by the Commission. The Commission
may meet at such other times at the call of the Chair or of a
majority of its voting members. The meetings of the Commission
shall be open to the public, unless by public vote, the
Commission shall determine to close a meeting or any portion of
a meeting to the public.
(2) Quorum.--A majority of the voting membership shall
constitute a quorum of the Commission, except that 3 or more
voting members may conduct hearings.
(3) Vacancies.--A vacancy on the Commission shall be filled
in the same manner in which the original appointment was filled
under subsection (a).
(d) Compensation and Expenses.--Members of the Commission shall serve
without pay for their service on the Commission, but may receive travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates
authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57
of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 6. STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.
(a) Staff.--With the advance approval of the Commission, the
executive director may appoint such personnel as is appropriate. The
staff of the Commission shall be appointed without regard to political
affiliation and without regard to the provisions of title 5, United
States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and may
be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter
III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classifications and General
Schedule pay rates.
(b) Executive Director.--The Chairman shall appoint an executive
director, who shall be paid the rate of basic pay for level II of the
Executive Schedule.
(c) Experts and Consultants.--With the advance approval of the
Commission, the executive director may procure temporary and
intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States
Code.
(d) Technical and Administrative Assistance.--Upon the request of the
Commission--
(1) the head of any agency, office, or establishment within
the executive or legislative branches of the United States
shall provide, without reimbursement, such technical assistance
as the Commission determines is necessary to carry out its
duties; and
(2) the Administrator of the General Services Administration
shall provide, on a reimbursable basis, such administrative
support services as the Commission may require.
(e) Detail of Federal Personnel.--Upon the request of the Commission,
the head of an agency, office, or establishment in the executive or
legislative branch of the United States is authorized to detail,
without reimbursement, any of the personnel of that agency, office, or
establishment to the Commission to assist the Commission in carrying
out its duties. Any such detail shall not interrupt or otherwise affect
the employment status or privileges of that employee.
(f) CBO.--The Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall
provide the Commission with its latest research on the accuracy of its
past budget and economic projections as compared to those of the Office
of Management and Budget and, if possible, those of private sector
forecasters. The Commission shall work with the Directors of the
Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget in
their efforts to explain the factors affecting the accuracy of budget
projections.
SEC. 7. REPORT.
Not later than November 15, 2002, the Commission shall transmit a
report to the President and to each House of Congress. The report shall
contain a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the
Commission, together with its recommendations for such legislative or
administrative actions as it considers appropriate. No finding,
conclusion, or recommendation may be made by the Commission unless
approved by a majority of those voting (including in such majority at
least two members serving under paragraph (2), (3), (5), or (6) of
section 5(a) and at least two members serving under paragraph (1) or
(4) of such section), a quorum being present. At the request of any
Commission member, the report shall include that member's dissenting
findings, conclusions, or recommendations.
SEC. 8. TERMINATION.
The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the date of transmission
of the report required in section 7.
SEC. 9. FUNDING.
There are authorized to be appropriated not more than $1,000,000 to
carry out this Act. Sums so appropriated shall remain available until
expended.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to establish the Commission on Federal Budget
Concepts.
BRIEF SUMMARY
H.R. 981, the ``Commission on Federal Budget Concepts Act
of 2001,'' establishes a 16-member commission to review,
evaluate, and make recommendations respecting the budget
concepts that underlie the Federal budget and the Federal
budget process.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On March 3, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson established a
Commission of experts to evaluate budget concepts that underlie
the Federal budget and the budget process. This Commission was
known as the President's Commission on Budget Concepts. The
Commission delivered its report to President Johnson in October
of 1967.
The 1967 Commission recommended the institution of a
unitary budget that would include all receipts, expenditures,
and direct lending activity. The practice in 1967 was for the
President to submit three different budgets to Congress
(administrative, consolidated cash, and national income and
product accounts), which worked to obscure the overall budget
picture. The Commission's additional recommendations included:
broadening the definition of appropriations
to include all types of obligating authority;
including all Federal programs in the
budget;
reporting expenditures and receipts as they
become due rather than when the payments are actually
made or received. In other words, moving from cash
accounting to accrual accounting;
distinguishing loans from expenditures in
the calculation of the surplus or deficit;
excluding insurance and loan guarantees from
budget totals;
treating non-tax receipts that are
enterprise oriented as offsets to their related
expenditures;
providing more frequent mid-session updates
on the budget projections; and
extending budget estimates farther into the
future.
In addition, the Commission strongly recommended against
the creation of a capital budget.
The Johnson Administration adopted the Commission's most
significant recommendation and presented a unitary budget to
Congress for fiscal year 1969. In addition, the Commission's
recommendations serve as the foundation for most budgetary
concepts used at the present time. Despite the success of the
1967 Commission, no similar Commission has been established
since then.
In the 106th and 107th Congresses, Representative George P.
Radanovich introduced bills to establish the National
Commission on Budget Concepts. These bills, H.R. 5233 (106th
Congress) and H.R. 2307 (107th Congress), were referred to the
House Committee on the Budget.
At a House Budget Committee hearing, ``H.R. 853, The
Comprehensive Budget Process Reform Act of 1999,'' on May 20,
1999, Dan L. Crippen, the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office, testified in favor of establishing a new Commission on
Budget Concepts. Director Crippen testified:
Finally, the extensive changes proposed by the bill
also suggest a broader issue of budget process reform
that I think should be addressed. It is time to convene
a new Commission on Federal Budget Concepts. In
general, Federal budget concepts are based on the
recommendations of the 1967 President's Commission on
Budget Concepts. Although the Commission's guidelines
continue to apply broadly in the budget process, they
do not address certain fundamental issues that
lawmakers and budget scorekeepers currently face. For
example, various proposals to reform Social Security,
especially those that call for personal retirement
accounts, raise thorny issues about the appropriate
budgetary treatment. Further, the dividing line between
Federal spending and revenue law has become blurred, as
evidenced by the increasing use of refundable tax
credits as a device for expanding budgetary resources.
The use of public private partnerships, such as those
involving military housing and various lease-purchase
arrangements, also raises questions of budgetary
treatment for which the Commission's original
recommendations provide little or no guidance.
These and other issues put budget scorekeepers in a
difficult position as they seek to apply outdated or
incomplete concepts to novel policies. That situation
suggests the need to reevaluate current budgetary
concepts and to try to reach a consensus on changes
that will make them clearer and more comprehensive.
At a June 27, 2001 House Budget Committee hearing,
``Forthcoming Extension/Modification of the Budget Enforcement
Act,'' Director Crippen again testified to the need for a new
budget concepts commission. Director Crippen followed up on his
June 27 testimony with a letter dated July 5, 2001. In this
letter, Director Crippen enclosed a list of potential topics
for a new budget concepts commission.
At a July 19, 2001 House Budget Committee hearing,
``Structural Reform of the Federal Budget Process,'' the Deputy
Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Barry B. Anderson,
testified in favor of establishing a new budget process
commission. Deputy Director Anderson testified that the 1967
Commission's report left a number of ``thorny'' questions that
could be resolved by a new Commission on Budget Concepts.
Deputy Director Anderson explained many of the issues that
remain unresolved and urged the Committee to support the
establishment of a new Commission.
On August 3, 2001, Chairman Jim Nussle and Ranking Minority
Member John M. Spratt Jr. offered an amendment in the nature of
a substitute to H.R. 981, the ``Budget Responsibility and
Efficiency Act of 2001,'' during the House Budget Committee
markup on that bill. The amendment in the nature of a
substitute, the ``Commission on Federal Budget Concepts Act of
2001,'' replaced the entire text of H.R. 981. The Committee
adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute by a voice
vote. Also by a voice vote, the Committee ordered H.R. 981, as
amended, reported to the House of Representatives.
BACKGROUND
In 1967, the President's Commission on Budget Concepts
issued a report making recommendations for modifications of the
Federal budget process. The recommendations were largely
adopted through legislative or executive action. The impact of
the report has been lasting and beneficial. In adopting many of
the recommendations, the Federal budget changed markedly both
in form and content. Perhaps the main recommendation made by
the commission was to replace the system used at the time with
a single, summary budget statement, rather than three or more
different budgets.
Before the changes made pursuant to the commission's
report, three different federal budgets were produced and used
during the 1960s: the administrative budget, the consolidated
cash budget, and the national income and product accounts
budget. The commission's recommendations helped to create a
unitary Federal budget.
Other recommendations included making the budget part of a
broad financial plan and including appropriations, receipts,
outlays, net lending, and the means of financing the deficit.
It recommended shifting from cash-based budgeting to accrual
budgeting for specific classes of obligations. This last item
was adopted for loans and loan guarantees and continues to be
considered for use in other appropriate areas. The commission
also suggested that a distinction be made between loans and
other expenses in the budget, an identification of loan
subsidies, and for a means of financing section in the budget.
Yet, since the issuance of the report, there have been
major changes in the the budget process and in the scope of the
Federal government. Since the late 1960s, the Federal
government has moved away from simply purchasing goods and
services and toward the provision of entitlements and other
benefits. In addition, a radical transformation in information
technology now allows those who participate in creating the
Federal budget to take advantage of new forms of data and to
analyze it at a more efficient and rapid pace. Since the 1967
Commission made its recommendations, Congress has taken a more
expansive role in determining and establishing budget
priorities.
In 1974, Congress enacted the Congressional Budget and
Impoundment Control Act that significantly changed the process
whereby decisions are made and legislation considered on the
respective floors of Congress. Prior to that year, no
comprehensive legislative document was prepared to guide
members of Congress as to the overall appropriate spending and
revenue levels. In addition, the practice of the President
``impounding,'' or refusing to spend appropriated funds, was
ended. This asserted a Congressional role in an overall
budgetary framework--a role Congress had been conducting
piecemeal through various appropriation bills.
This was followed by significant legislative reforms in
1985 with the passage of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act, and in 1990 with the Budget Enforcement
Act. These two additions to the U.S. Code provided Congress
with a means to attempt to control deficits. Congressional and
other Federal spending decision makers are now faced with the
expiration of elements of the budget process that have served
for just over a decade. The major enforcement procedures
produced under these two acts, and which were extended in 1993
and 1997, will expire at the end of 2002. Those procedures,
which cap discretionary spending, appropriations, and require
offsets for tax and entitlement legislation, have provided a
companion structure to the Congressional budget process for
budgetary decision making.
The significant changes in the way the Federal government
budgets, the newly decisive participation of Congress in
budgetary decision making, and the greatly increased complexity
of government programs are all reasons that the budget process
needs to be re-evaluated. However, fundamental changes in
budgeting procedures should not take place in isolation. In
reforming this process, a newly created budget concepts
commission will assist Congress in coming to decisions in a
deliberate, comprehensive way, rather than through piecemeal
changes.
These and other changes call for reconstituting a budget
commission that could, where necessary, reconcile procedures
and conventions to the new budget environment, and reaffirm
those that transcend changes brought on by specific budgetary
needs. A commission is uniquely suited to establishing a
consensus as what should be included in the budget and how such
obligations should be recorded. It offers a forum for experts
of all political persuasions to establish a conceptual
framework for making budgetary decisions apart from the highly
charged discussions on specific budget priorities.
Finally, the Budget Committee believes that an agreement on
basic budget concepts is an important prerequisite for reforms
in the process by which the Congress makes budgetary decisions.
It seems reasonable that Congress and the President should
first reach an agreement on what commitments should be
reflected in the budget and how these commitments should be
measured before they turn their attention to the procedures by
which they prioritize these commitments.
SECTION-BY-SECTION
Section 1. Short title
This provides that the act may be cited as the ``Commission
on Federal Budget Concepts Act of 2001''.
Section 2. Findings and purpose
(a) Findings
Subsection (a) sets forth four findings that provide the
context for a new Concepts Commission. They are as follows: (1)
President Lyndon Johnson created the Commission on Federal
Budget Concepts in 1967 by executive order to assess the basic
budget concepts that underlie the Federal budget process; (2)
the Commission's report provided a common framework for the
development, presentation, and execution of the Federal budget
for the ensuing decades; (3) since the release of that report,
the Federal Government has experienced major changes in the
scope of its financial commitments, the nature of its various
budget transactions, the role of Congress in budget decisions,
and the imposition of special controls over spending and
revenue; and (4) in view of these changes, a new Commission on
Federal Budget Concepts should be created to assess the present
state of budget concepts and forge a bipartisan consensus for
necessary changes.
(b) Purpose
This subsection states that the purpose of the act is to
establish the Commission on Federal Budget Concepts, which is
to review, evaluate, and make recommendations respecting the
budget concepts that underlie the Federal budget and the
Federal budget process and to assess the feasibility of
changing from an annual to a biennial budget cycle.
Section 3. Establishment of Commission on Federal Budget Concepts
This section establishes the Commission on Federal Budget
Concepts.
Section 4. Powers and duties of Commission
(a) Duties of the Commission
This subsection delineates the duties of the commission.
They are as follows: (1) an identification of activities,
entities, and transactions to be included in the Federal budget
and the criteria for making such determinations; (2) an
assessment of the appropriate measures of Federal financial
commitments to allocate resources and establish fiscal policy;
(3) an evaluation of the differences between user fees and
revenue, and among various forms of user fees, and the
circumstances when such fees should be accounted for as
offsetting spending or adding to revenue; (4) an appraisal of
the appropriate usage of cash and accrual-based measures for
various types of Federal financial commitments, such as
Government insurance, loan guarantees, and leasing; (5)
recommendations on the appropriate means for recognizing the
cost of acquisition and disposition of various types of
nonfinancial assets; (6) an evaluation of appropriate measures
of Federal debt, borrowing, and means of financing; (7) an
assessment of the adequacy of the current account and fund
structure for recording revenue and expenditures for specific
classes of governmental activities; (8) recommendations for
changes in Federal budget practices to accommodate the Federal
Accounting Standards Advisory Board's recommended accounting
standards; (9) recommendations for changes in budget practices
to reflect the Federal Government's multi-year acquisitions;
(10) the appropriate means of accounting for the financial risk
the Federal Government incurs from contractual and implied
commitments; and (11) an assessment of the value and
feasibility of changing the Federal budget cycle from annual to
biennial. This list is not exclusive and it is expected that
the members may raise additional subjects on their own.
This subsection also includes several exceptions to the
duties of the Commission. It provides that it may make no
findings, conclusions, or recommendations respecting the
following: (1) Social security and medicare; (2) budget
estimates and projections that assume that selected tax
policies will increase gross domestic product and thereby cause
an indirect increase in revenue, or that assume that increased
spending for human resources or capital development will cause
an indirect reduction in spending for other programs; and (3)
government-sponsored enterprises.
(b) Powers of the Commission
Subsection (b) enumerates the specific powers of the
Commission. The Commission may hold hearings, take testimony,
receive evidence, and undertake any other activities necessary
to carry out its duties. It is authorized to receive from a
United States government agency any information necessary to
carry out its duties. If the Chair of the Commission so
requests, the head of a department or agency must furnish
information to the Commission. It also provides that the
Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner
and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies
of the United States.
Section 5. Membership
(a) Membership
The Commission will have 16 members, including two non-
voting members. Twelve of the members will be appointees. The
Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees and the
Ranking Members of the House and Senate Budget Committees will
each appoint three members to the Commission. The Director of
the Office of Management and Budget and the Secretary of the
Treasury or their designees will also be Members of the
Commission.
In addition, the Comptroller General of the United States
and the Director of Congressional Budget Office or their
designees will be non-voting Members of the Commission.
(b) Qualifications and term
Subsection (b) stipulates that Members appointed to the
Commission must have expertise and experience in the fields and
disciplines related to the budget concepts under consideration.
Members of Congress may not be appointed to the Commission.
Commission members will be appointed for the life of the
Commission.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget or the
member serving as the Director's designee will chair the
Commission. The Commission may also elect a Vice Chairman to
serve in case of the Chairman's absence. The Comptroller
General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
will not be eligible to be the Vice Chairman.
(c) Meetings; quorums; and vacancies
Subsection (c) requires the Commission to meet at least
once a month. The Commission may meet on additional days at the
call of the Chair or by a majority of the Commission's voting
members. Meetings must be open to the public unless the
Commission votes to close a meeting to the public.
A majority of the Commission's voting membership will
constitute a minimum quorum for conducting any business, but
three voting members will be sufficient for taking testimony.
Vacancies will be filled in the same manner as the original
appointment.
(b) Compensation and expenses
Commission members will not be paid for their services.
However, Commission members may receive travel expenses. Travel
expenses will be paid at rates authorized for Federal
employees.
Section 6. Staff and support services
(a) Staff
With the approval of the Commission, the executive director
may appoint appropriate personnel. Staff appointments will be
made without regard to political affiliation. In addition,
staff may be paid without regard to personnel classifications
and General Schedule pay rates.
(b) Executive director
The Chairman will appoint an executive director. The
executive director will be paid the basic rate of pay for level
II of the Executive schedule--$145,100 in 2001.
(c) Experts and consultants
With the approval of the Commission, the executive director
may also hire consultants and experts pursuant to such
restrictions on contracts as required by Title 5 of the United
States Code.
(d) Technical and administrative assistance
Subsection (d) directs Executive and Legislative agencies
to provide technical assistance to the Commission as requested.
Such assistance will be provided without reimbursement from the
Commission. The General Service Agency will provide
administrative support services as requested by the Commission.
The Commission will reimburse the General Service Agency for
the cost of such services.
(e) Detail of Federal personnel
Legislative and Executive agencies and offices are
authorized to detail personnel to the Commission if requested
by the Commission. Agencies and offices will not be reimbursed
for the detail.
(f) CBO
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is required to
provide the Commission with CBO's latest research on the
accuracy of its budget forecasts and economic projections. The
CBO is further required to compare its forecasts and
projections with those prepared by the Office of Management and
Budget and where possible with private sector projections. The
Commission will cooperate with the Directors of the
Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and
Budget in their efforts to explain the reasons for the accuracy
of budget projections.
Section 7. Report
Section 7 directs the Commission to deliver its final
report to the President and Congress by November 15, 2002. The
report is required to contain a detailed statement of the
Commission's findings and conclusions. The Commission is also
required to report its recommendations for legislative and
administrative actions.
The report must be approved by a majority of the
Commission's voting members. It is the intent of the Committee
that the majority voting to approve the report will include at
least two members from each major political party. The bill
requires that the reporting majority include at least two
members from among those members appointed by the Chairman of
the Senate Budget Committee and the Ranking Minority Member of
the House Budget Committee. Likewise the reporting majority
must also include two members from the group including the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary
of the Treasury, and those members appointed by the House
Budget Committee Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member of
the Senate Budget Committee.
Any Commission member may include dissenting findings,
conclusions or recommendations in the Commission's final
report.
Section 8. Termination
The Commission will terminate thirty days after it delivers
its final report to the Congress and the President of the
United States.
Section 9. Funding
The bill authorizes up to $1 million to be appropriated for
the purposes of the Commission established by this bill.
EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS
The Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute is explained in
the body of this report.
APPLICATION OF LAW TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a
description of the application of this bill to the legislative
branch. This bill establishes a Commission on Federal Budget
Concepts to review, evaluate, and make recommendations
respecting budget concepts that underlie the Federal budget and
the Federal budget process and to assess the feasibility of
changing from an annual to a biennial budget. The bill does not
permit Members of Congress to be appointed as Members of the
Commission, but employees of the legislative branch may be
appointed as Members of the Commission and may also be detailed
to the staff of the Commission.
UNFUNDED MANDATE STATEMENT
Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement of
whether the provisions of the reported bill include unfunded
mandates. This bill establishes a Commission on Federal Budget
Concepts to review, evaluate, and make recommendations
respecting budget concepts that underlie the Federal budget and
the Federal budget process and to assess the feasibility of
changing from an annual to a biennial budget. As such, the bill
does not contain any unfunded mandates.
ROLLCALL VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee Report to include for
each record vote on a motion to report the measure or matter
and on any amendments offered to the measure or matter, the
total number of votes for and against, and the names of the
Members voting for and against. No recorded votes were taken on
H.R. 981. An Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute was
adopted by voice vote. H.R. 981 was ordered to be reported by
voice vote.
STATEMENT OF OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the
Constitutional authority for this legislation is provided in
Article I, section 8, clause 18, which grants Congress the
general legislative power to make all laws necessary and proper
for carrying into execution the enumerated powers of Congress.
COMMITTEE ESTIMATE
Clauses 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out
H.R. 981. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides that
this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included
in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act. An estimate
prepared by the Congressional Budget Office is included below.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE
H.R. 981--Commission on Federal Budget Concepts Act of 2001
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 981 would cost $1
million over the 2002-2003 period, assuming appropriation of
the authorized amount. The bill would not affect direct
spending or receipts, so pay-as-you-go procedures would not
apply. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
H.R. 981 would establish a Commission on Federal Budget
Concepts and would authorize the appropriation of $1 million
for its activities. The commission would be directed to review,
evaluate, and make recommendations on the budget concepts that
underlie the federal budget and budget process and to assess
the feasibility of converting from an annual to a biennial
budget cycle. The bill would prohibit the commission from
addressing or making recommendations on Social Security,
Medicare, certain macroeconomic effects of policy changes, or
government-sponsored enterprises. The commission would be
required to report to the President and the Congress no later
than November 15, 2002, and would terminate 30 days after
transmitting its report.
The commission would be composed of 14 voting members,
including the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
and the Secretary of the Treasury. The Comptroller General and
the Director of the Congressional Budget Office would serve as
nonvoting members. Members of the commission would serve
without compensation. The chairman would be authorized to
appoint an executive director, who could hire temporary staff
and procure other services as authorized by law. Federal
agencies could provide technical and administrative support
under certain conditions. CBO estimates that the costs incurred
by federal agencies would not be significant.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sandy Davis.
This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In accordance with Clause (3)(c)(4) of House Rule XIII, the
goals of H.R. 981 are to establish a Commission on Federal
Budget Concepts that will review, evaluate, and make
recommendations respecting budget concepts that underlie the
Federal budget and the Federal budget process and to assess the
feasibility of changing from an annual to a biennial budget.
The Committee expects the Office of Management and Budget to
comply with H.R. 981 and implement the changes to the law in
accordance with these stated goals.
NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES
In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee finds that H.R.
981 would result in no new or increased budget authority,
entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or revenues.
SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS
I submit the attached letter as ``Supplemental Views'' to
be included in the Budget Committee's report on the Commission
on Federal Budget Concepts Act of 2001, the bill voted out of
committee as a substitute to H.R. 981, the Budget
Responsibility and Efficiency Act of 2001.
John M. Spratt, Jr.
Enclosure.
House of Representatives,
Committee on the Budget,
Washington, DC, August 1, 2001.
Dear Budget Committee Colleague: When the Committee takes
up H.R. 981 tomorrow, we will offer a bipartisan substitute
amendment to create a Commission on Federal Budget Concepts.
This letter is intended to explain our proposal, and to urge
your support for our amendment.
First, we are considering H.R. 981--the Budget
Responsibility and Efficiency Act of 2001, cosponsored by our
friends and Committee colleagues Charlie Bass and Bob Clement--
under conditions we would not have chosen. Through an
unprecedented procedure, we have been required to act on this
biennial budgeting bill by September 5, or be discharged from
further consideration of it. We do not want to see the
jurisdiction of the Committee on the Budget eroded through
inaction. Equally important, we do not believe such a
fundamental change in budgeting procedures should be considered
in isolation. The budget process needs to be reformed in a
comprehensive way. Adopting a piecemeal change such as this
risks creating the illusion that budget process reform is
complete--and depriving us of any further reform opportunities.
Regarding the merits of biennial budgeting, we respect the
earnest arguments of its proponents, but we have doubts that it
can provide the returns promised. We believe that the
difficulties Congress faces every autumn arise not from the
frequency of the budget process, but because of the passionate
disagreements over fiscal policy and how to allocate those
resources across competing priorities. We fear that, by
limiting the opportunities for Congress to adapt the budget to
constantly changing economic conditions and needs of the
voters, this bill could make it far more difficult to keep the
budget in balance. We are concerned that biennial budgeting
might actually reduce effective oversight, by reducing the
number of times Appropriations subcommittees weigh the funding
requests of Federal agencies--which are the times those
agencies are most attentive to Congressional concerns.
But regardless of our positions on biennial budgeting, we
do need to overhaul not only how we conduct the process, but
also how we think and talk about the budget, and how we analyze
it. That is the reason for the Commission on Federal Budget
Concepts that we propose. Not since the 1967 Budget
Commission--which laid the cornerstone of our current budget--
have we assessed the concepts that underlie the budget. It is
doubtful we can adequately update the budget process while
retaining basic budget measurement concepts that are more than
3 decades old. Some fundamental budget issues remain
unresolved, causing the budget to measure some commitments and
receipts inaccurately. These inaccuracies encourage Congress to
adopt policies that make sense only because they are
inaccurately reflected in the budget.
The Commission we propose would, among other things,
reassess the appropriate measures of Federal spending; evaluate
differences between ``revenues'' and various forms of user
fees; appraise the appropriate use of cash and accrual-based
measures for various long-term Federal commitments; assess the
adequacy of the current Government account and fund structure;
review potential changes in budget practices to reflect the
Federal Government's multiyear commitments for various
acquisitions; and assess the value and feasibility of moving to
a biennial budget cycle. By resolving these and other issues,
the Congress will be able to adopt more transparent budgets
that encourage better policies.
We have agreed on the need for this Commission, its
purview, its Membership, and its structure. We urge your
support for our amendment.
Sincerely,
Jim Nussle,
Chairman.
John M. Spratt, Jr.,
Ranking Member.