This bill changes how the federal budget "baseline" is defined and calculated. It amends section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Under the bill, the baseline would be a projection based on current laws and the assumption that current levels of discretionary appropriations continue. Laws that provide direct spending and receipts are assumed to operate as written. The bill directs that when projecting current-year resources into the budget year, resources designated as emergency requirements and resources from supplemental appropriation laws are excluded. It removes provisions that would adjust the baseline for inflation or any other factor. The bill also makes conforming changes to the Congressional Budget Act and the Social Security Act. Finally, it requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to include alternative fiscal scenarios, prepared in consultation with the House and Senate Budget Committees, in the report required under section 202(e)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act.
This bill changes the technical rules used to make federal budget projections. It directs that baseline projections rely on current laws and assume current discretionary funding levels continue, and that emergency and supplemental funding be excluded from those projections. It also removes adjustments for inflation or other factors. CBO would publish alternative fiscal scenarios in consultation with the congressional budget committees. No publicly available information on specific effects for individual programs or taxpayers is included in the bill text.
No publicly available information on costs, savings, or budgetary effects is included in the bill text or accompanying metadata.
The bill’s short title and the text indicate the sponsor’s intent to clarify baseline rules so projections are based on current law and continuation of current discretionary levels and to remove adjustments such as inflation.
No publicly available information on opposition views or counterarguments is included in the bill text or accompanying metadata.