Balanced Budget Accountability Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Balanced Budget Accountability Act
This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), upon adoption by a chamber of Congress of a concurrent budget resolution for a fiscal year, to determine and submit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President pro tempore of the Senate a certification as to whether that chamber has adopted a balanced budget.
"Balanced budget" means a concurrent budget resolution providing that for FY2027 and each succeeding fiscal year to which the resolution applies total outlays do not exceed total receipts and are not more than 18% of the gross domestic product for such fiscal year.
If OMB does not certify that a chamber has adopted a balanced budget for FY2018 before April 16, 2017, the payroll administrator of each chamber must deposit in an escrow account all payments for compensation of Members of Congress serving in that chamber otherwise required beginning on such date. Such deposits shall be released to such Members on the earlier of: (1) the day on which OMB certifies that the chamber has adopted a balanced budget for FY2018, or (2) the last day of the 115th Congress.
The same requirements shall apply for FY2019 if OMB does not certify that a chamber has adopted a balanced budget for FY2019 before April 16, 2018.
If OMB does not certify that a chamber has adopted a balanced budget for FY2020, or any succeeding fiscal year, before April 16 of the prior fiscal year, each Member of that chamber shall be paid $1 annually for pay periods for the same calendar year after that date.
This bill requires legislation in the House and Senate that increases revenue to be agreed upon only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of that chamber.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on January 11, 2017. 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 January 11, 2017: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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?
Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced it on January 11, 2017, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Republicans.
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 January 11, 2017, 3577 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3577 days ago, on January 11, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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