Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2014
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on March 18, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2014 - Title I: Fair Value Estimates - (Sec. 101) Amends the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA) (title V of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 [CBA]) to:
rename the FCRA the Fair Value Accounting Act of 2014 (FVAA of 2014); and
revise the budgetary treatment of federal direct loans and loan guarantees to account for them on a fair value basis (currently, a FCRA accrual basis).
Requires the President's budget from FY2017 on to reflect the costs of direct loan and loan guarantee programs.
Requires the budget to also include:
the planned level of new direct loan obligations or loan guarantee commitments associated with each appropriations request; and
for each of FY2017-FY2021, on an agency-by-agency basis, subsidy estimates and costs of direct loan and loan guarantee programs with and without the risk component.
Defines the "risk component" as an amount of the estimated long-term cost to the federal government of a direct loan or loan guarantee (or modification) that is equal to the difference between:
that cost estimated on a fair value basis, applying the guidelines set forth by the Financial Accounting Standards Board in Financial Accounting Standards #157 (or a successor), excluding administrative costs and any incidental effects on governmental receipts or outlays; and
the same cost calculated on a net present value basis (the Treasury discounting component), excluding the same administrative costs and incidental effects.
Revises other requirements for the President's budget, beginning with FY2017, including conditions for new direct loans or loan guarantee commitments. Requires new budget authority for such loans or loan guarantee commitments to be provided in advance in an appropriation Act.
Exempts a direct loan or loan guarantee program that constitutes an entitlement (such as the guaranteed student loan program or the veteran's home loan guaranty program), all existing credit programs of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), or any direct loan or loan guarantee made by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (government-sponsored enterprises or GSEs) from:
The summary continues for 21 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on April 7, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 8, 2014: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Scott Garrett (R-NJ) introduced it on May 8, 2013, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 7 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 8, 2013, 4873 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4538 days ago, on April 8, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers