Government Economy and Spending Reform Act of 1979

Government Economy and Spending Reform Act of 1979 - Title I: Authorizations of New Budget Authority - Terminates on specified dates budget authority for all Government programs except health care services, general retirement, and disability insurance, and Federal employee retirement and disability programs which are funded by trust funds. Declares out of order in either the Senate or the House of Representatives any legislation which authorizes new budget authority not in compliance with this Act. Requires the Committees on Appropriations and the Committees on the Budget of both Houses of Congress to identify each program's functional and subfunctional category, the committees having legislative jurisdiction over such program, and whether such program operates under permanent authorizations and budget authority. Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress by April 1, 1977, on specified programs with respect to the laws under which such program is carried on, and the amount of new budget authority received by such program during the four fiscal years ending before April 1, 1977. Makes the budget termination provisions of this Act effective on the first day of the Ninety-fifth Congress. Title II: Early Elimination of Inactive and Duplicate Programs - Requires the Comptroller General to study all Government programs and report to Congress any programs which have duplicate objectives or for which no outlays have been made for the last two fiscal years. Directs the standing Committees of both Houses to consider such reports and act to eliminate inactive or duplicative programs by March 15, 1978. Title III: Quadrennial Program Review and Evaluation - Sets forth a timetable for Congressional zero-base review of new budget authority. Requires review by standing committees of the Congress every four years of each program's cost, effectiveness, and the extent to which such program duplicates or is similar to any other program. States that such review shall include a comprehensive evaluation of the merits of such program to determine if it warrants continuation. Requires justification of any recommendation to fund any program which has objectives similar to or the same as another program's objectives. Directs the Comptroller General and the Congressional Budget Office to provide Congress with information and analysis of programs being reviewed under this Act. Requires the President to similarly review the merits of continuing programs contained in the annual Budget and to include a report on such review with the Budget transmitted to Congress. Title IV: Continuing Review and Evaluation - Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress the result of any audit which shows a substantial deficiency in achievement of the objectives of any Government program. Requires subsequent audits, a report of which must be submitted to Congress, until such deficiency has been eliminated. Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, to require the inclusion in the Budget of a statement of the specific objectives of each Government program, and a comparison, in each subsequent Budget, of the achievement of such objectives for the last completed fiscal year with the planned objectives of such year. Title V: Miscellaneous - States that those provisions of this Act which direct the operation of either House are enacted as an exercise of the rulemaking power of such House and recognizes the right of either House to change such rules.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 15, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

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