119-s45

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 45 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

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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