H.R. 1092 — Responsible Budgeting Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Responsible Budgeting Act.”

This section revises the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to create a new process for increasing the statutory debt limit under title 31 of the United States Code. Upon adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget under section 301 or 304 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632, 634) that satisfies a required debt-to-GDP reduction ratio, the Clerk of the House of Representatives must prepare a joint resolution increasing the debt limit by the amount needed to raise the limit to the level projected for the last day of the budget year covered by that concurrent resolution. The House and Senate votes on the budget resolution are treated as votes on the joint resolution, and the resolution is deemed passed by both chambers and transmitted for enrollment. This section also establishes a prescribed form for the joint resolution: it must have no preamble, use a specified title, and state only that the limitation under 31 U.S.C. 3101(b) is increased by a dollar amount equal to the increase determined under the bill. It defines the required ratio as one that reduces by not less than 5 percentage points the projected debt-held-by-the-public-to-GDP ratio in the tenth fiscal year after the current fiscal year. It also clarifies that the new procedure does not limit Congress’s existing authority to consider and pass separate debt-limit legislation or affect Members’ and committees’ rights to introduce, consider, and report such legislation. This section further adds a presidential fallback procedure if Congress does not adopt a qualifying budget resolution by the covered date. In that case, the President may submit a written notification to Congress, including a debt reduction proposal with legislative language that satisfies the required ratio, and state that further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments. Upon submission of that notification, the debt limit is increased by the amount needed to raise the limit to the level projected for the last day of the first fiscal year beginning after the covered date, as determined by the Office of Management and Budget using Congressional Budget Office baseline estimates. The increase takes effect 30 calendar days after the notification is submitted unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval during that 30-day period.

This section establishes procedures for congressional consideration of a presidential debt reduction proposal submitted under 31 U.S.C. § 3101B, and requires the proposal to satisfy a required ratio determined by the Office of Management and Budget. In the House of Representatives, the majority or minority leader, or their designees, must introduce the proposal, the House Budget Committee chair must submit it to the Congressional Budget Office within 3 days for a cost estimate, and the Budget Committee must refer the proposal to the appropriate committees, which then have 30 days to submit a general assessment and a legislative proposal within their jurisdiction that meets or exceeds a debt reduction target. The House Budget Committee must report a bill meeting the required ratio within 60 days after the President submits the proposal, and that 60-day period excludes the time the bill is under Congressional Budget Office review. The reported bill may include the President’s proposal, with modifications necessary to meet the required ratio, and the package of committee submissions, also with modifications necessary to meet the required ratio. If the Budget Committee does not report a bill within 60 days after referral and the proposal has been determined to satisfy the required ratio, the committee is discharged and the bill is placed on the appropriate calendar. If the Rules Committee does not report a rule within 7 legislative days after the bill is placed on the calendar, any Member may offer a privileged resolution to bring the bill up for consideration; the bill is then debatable for 2 hours, equally divided, and subject to one motion to recommit. The section also establishes parallel procedures in the Senate for introduction, referral, committee requests, and consideration of the President’s proposal.