A bill to amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that the public debt be paid within a period of twenty years and that the level of total budget outlays for any fiscal year not exceed the level of Federal revenues for such year, and for other purposes.
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means.
Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to: (1) prohibit total budget outlays from exceeding the level of Federal revenues in any fiscal year; and (2) require the retirement of the public debt by September 30, 2001, through annual five percent reductions in the level of Federal indebtedness set forth in the second concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1979. Declares that it shall not be in order in either House of Congress to consider or adopt any concurrent resolution on the budget which contravenes such requirements. Permits the Congress to waive such requirements by a concurrent resolution passed by three-fourths of the membership of each House. Amends the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, to require the budget submitted by the President to reflect such requirements on the basis of the best available estimates.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 22, 1979. 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 February 22, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means.
- 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 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 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?
STEWART MCKINNEY (R-CT) introduced it on February 22, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 February 22, 1979, 17414 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17414 days ago, on February 22, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 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