Discretionary Spending Control Act of 2004
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on the Budget.
Discretionary Spending Control Act of 2004 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to: (1) revise for FY 2004 discretionary spending limits (spending caps) for the highway and mass transit categories; (2) set forth for FY 2005 and 2006 new budget authority and outlays for the general purpose discretionary category, outlays for the highway category and new budget authority and outlays for the mass transit category; and (3) set forth for FY 2007 through 2009 outlays for the highway category and new budget authority and outlays for the mass transit category.
Revises the requirement that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) make adjustments to the highway category to conform to estimated levels of highway receipts.
Sets forth the level of obligation limitations (sum of budget authority and obligation limitations) for the highway and mass transit categories for FY 2004 through 2009.
Provides that, in any of FY 2005 through 2006, discretionary advance appropriations provided in appropriation Acts in excess of $23,558 billion shall be counted against the discretionary spending limits for the fiscal year for which the appropriation Act containing the advance appropriation is enacted.
Provides, under specified conditions, for additional new budget authority in FY 2005 or 2005 for fire suppression and for an adjustment in the discretionary spending limit for FY 2005 for supplemental appropriations for the global war on terrorism.
Requires the estimates set forth in the discretionary sequestration preview and final reports issued by OMB and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to include the current year and each subsequent year through FY 2006 (or FY 2009 solely to enforce the discretionary spending limits for the highway and mass transit categories).
Extends certain budget enforcement requirements through FY 2006 (or 2009 for enforcing the spending caps for the highway and mass transit categories).
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 22, 2004. 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 June 22, 2004: Referred to the House 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 108th Congress (2003-04), 498 of the 8,623 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 5.8 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?
JIM NUSSLE (R-IA) introduced it on June 22, 2004. 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 June 22, 2004, 8115 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 8115 days ago, on June 22, 2004.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 108th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2005 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