Tax Expenditure Control Act of 1979
Latest action. Referred to Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.
Tax Expenditure Control Act of 1979 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order for the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill or resolution which enacts a tax expenditure or the increase of an existing tax expenditure unless such enactment is authorized by law. Requires such bills or resolutions to be reported in the House or Senate on or before May 15 preceding the fiscal year the new tax expenditure is to become effective. Prohibits the consideration of a bill or resolution which authorizes new tax expenditures for more than ten consecutive calendar years. Requires that any such a bill or resolution be referred to the committee of the House or Senate, as the case may be, which has jurisdiction over the activity such new tax expenditure is intended to affect. Makes this Act effective the first day of the first session of the 97th Congress. Repeals any tax expenditure enacted before the effective date of this Act on December 31, 1990.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 15, 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 March 15, 1979: Referred to Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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?
JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE) introduced it on March 15, 1979, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
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 March 15, 1979, 17346 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17346 days ago, on March 15, 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers