Alternative Budget Act of 1979
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means.
Alternative Budget Act of 1979 - Amends the Second Liberty Bond Act to direct the President to submit to the Congress an alternate, balanced budget, consistent with the debt ceiling, if the President's proposed budget for any fiscal year would result in either a deficit or an increase in the public debt beyond the ceiling prescribed by statute. Requires such an alternative budget to be accompanied by a clear and understandable explanation of the differences between its provisions and the proposed Presidential budget. Directs the President to submit a plan to the Congress for reducing budget outlays if increases in the public debt ceiling, deficit, or total budget outlays exceed the projections set forth in the second concurrent resolution on the budget in any fiscal year. Requires the Presidential budget to include a report on increased income tax receipts which: (1) differentiates the increases due to inflation from those due to proposed or existing legislation; (2) classifies such increases according to income level and family size; and (3) includes recommendations for legislation to offset such increases.
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 27, 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 27, 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?
BARBER CONABLE (R-NY) introduced it on February 27, 1979, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
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 27, 1979, 17362 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17362 days ago, on February 27, 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