[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 45 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 45
To reduce a portion of the annual pay of Members of Congress for the
failure to adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget which does not
provide for a balanced budget, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 9, 2025
Mr. Daines introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reduce a portion of the annual pay of Members of Congress for the
failure to adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget which does not
provide for a balanced budget, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Balanced Budget
Accountability Act''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Federal debt exceeds $36,000,000,000,000, continues
to grow rapidly, and is larger than the size of the United
States economy.
(2) The Federal budget has shown an annual deficit in 55 of
the last 60 years.
(3) Deficits and the Federal debt threaten to shatter
confidence in the Nation's economy, suppress job creation and
economic growth, and leave future generations of Americans with
a lower standard of living and fewer opportunities.
(4) It is the duty of Members of Congress to develop and
implement policies, including balancing the Federal budget,
that encourage robust job creation and economic growth in the
United States.
(5) Members of Congress should be held accountable for
failing to pass annual budgets that result in a balanced
budget.
SEC. 2. EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ADOPT RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR BALANCED
BUDGETS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``balanced budget'' means a concurrent
resolution on the budget which provides that for fiscal year
2035, and each fiscal year thereafter to which the concurrent
resolution on the budget applies--
(A) total outlays do not exceed total receipts; and
(B) total outlays are not more than 18 percent of
the projected gross domestic product of the United
States (as determined by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis of the Department of Commerce) for such fiscal
year;
(2) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget;
(3) the term ``Member'' includes a Delegate or Resident
Commissioner to Congress; and
(4) the ``payroll administrator'' of a House of Congress
means--
(A) in the case of the House of Representatives,
the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of
Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the
Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the
Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this section;
and
(B) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of the
Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Secretary
of the Senate who is designated by the Secretary to
carry out this section.
(b) Determination by the Office of Management and Budget.--Upon
adoption by a House of Congress of a concurrent resolution on the
budget for a fiscal year, the Director shall--
(1) determine whether the concurrent resolution on the
budget is a balanced budget; and
(2) submit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives
or the President pro tempore of the Senate (as the case may be)
a certification as to whether or not that House of Congress has
adopted a balanced budget.
(c) Rule for Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027.--
(1) Fiscal year 2026.--
(A) Holding salaries in escrow.--If the Director
does not certify that a House of Congress has adopted a
balanced budget with respect to fiscal year 2026 before
April 16, 2025, during the period described in
subparagraph (B) the payroll administrator of that
House of Congress shall deposit in an escrow account
all payments otherwise required to be made during such
period for the compensation of Members of Congress who
serve in that House of Congress, and shall release such
payments to such Members only upon the expiration of
such period.
(B) Period described.--With respect to a House of
Congress, the period described in this subparagraph is
the period that begins on April 16, 2025, and ends on
the earlier of--
(i) the date on which the Director
certifies that the House of Congress has
adopted a balanced budget with respect to
fiscal year 2026; or
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred
Nineteenth Congress.
(2) Fiscal year 2027.--
(A) Holding salaries in escrow.--If the Director
does not certify that a House of Congress has adopted a
balanced budget with respect to fiscal year 2027 before
April 16, 2026, during the period described in
subparagraph (B) the payroll administrator of that
House of Congress shall deposit in an escrow account
all payments otherwise required to be made during such
period for the compensation of Members of Congress who
serve in that House of Congress, and shall release such
payments to such Members only upon the expiration of
such period.
(B) Period described.--With respect to a House of
Congress, the period described in this subparagraph is
the period that begins on April 16, 2026, and ends on
the earlier of--
(i) the date on which the Director
certifies that the House of Congress has
adopted a balanced budget with respect to
fiscal year 2027; or
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred
Nineteenth Congress.
(3) Withholding and remittance of amounts from payments
held in escrow.--The payroll administrator shall provide for
the same withholding and remittance with respect to a payment
deposited in an escrow account under paragraph (1) or (2) that
would apply to the payment if the payment were not subject to
paragraph (1) or (2).
(4) Release of amounts at end of the congress.--In order to
ensure that this subsection is carried out in a manner that
shall not vary the compensation of Senators or Representatives
in violation of the twenty-seventh amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, the payroll administrator of
a House of Congress shall release for payments to Members of
that House of Congress any amounts remaining in any escrow
account under this section on the last day of the One Hundred
Nineteenth Congress.
(5) Role of secretary of the treasury.--The Secretary of
the Treasury shall provide the payroll administrators of the
Houses of Congress with such assistance as may be necessary to
enable the payroll administrators to carry out this subsection.
(d) Rule for Fiscal Year 2028 and Subsequent Fiscal Years.--If the
Director does not certify that a House of Congress has adopted a
balanced budget with respect to fiscal year 2028, or any fiscal year
thereafter, before April 16 of the fiscal year before such fiscal year,
during pay periods which occur in the same calendar year after that
date each Member of that House shall be paid at an annual rate of pay
equal to $1.
SEC. 3. SUPERMAJORITY REQUIREMENT FOR INCREASING REVENUE.
(a) In General.--In the Senate and the House of Representatives, a
bill, joint resolution, amendment, conference report, or amendment
between the Houses that increases revenue shall only be agreed to upon
an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of that House of
Congress duly chosen and sworn.
(b) Rules of Senate and the House of Representatives.--Subsection
(a) is enacted by Congress--
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate
and House of Representatives, respectively, and as such it is
deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but
applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in
that House in the case of a bill, joint resolution, amendment,
conference report, or amendment between the Houses that
increases revenue, and it supersedes other rules only to the
extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of
either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the
procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and
to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that
House.
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