01.13.14

Budget Points Of Order Against Reed Amendment #2631 To S. 1845

Senate Budget Committee Republican staff, in consultation with the Committee’s Democratic staff, have identified at least four budget points of order that lie against Sen. Jack Reed’s amendment #2631 to S. 1845 (the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act) for violating the FY 2014 deemed spending levels in the Ryan-Murray package. The points of order, which all require 60 votes to waive, are as follows:

  • Senate PAYGO (sec. 201(a), S. Con. Res. 21, the FY 2008 budget resolution, 110th Congress)
    • $18.4 billion increase in the on-budget deficit over the 5-year period FY 2014–2018.
    • $18.3 billion increase in the on-budget deficit over the 10-year period FY 2014–2023.
  • Short-term deficits in excess of $10 billion without a 10-year offset (sec. 404(a), S. Con. Res. 13, the FY 2010 budget resolution, 111th Congress)
    • $16.8 billion increase in the on-budget deficit in 2014 that is not offset over the FY 2014–2023 budget window.
  • Spending in excess of the Finance Committee’s allocation (sec. 302(f), Congressional Budget Act of 1974):
    • $16.8 billion increase in on-budget direct spending in FY 2014.
    • $18.7 billion increase in on-budget direct spending for the 5-year period FY 2014–2018.
    • $18.7 billion increase in on-budget outlays for the 10-year period FY 2014–2023.
  • Budget Committee jurisdiction (sec. 306, Congressional Budget Act of 1974):
    • Section 8 would amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act to extend the mandatory sequester to FY 2024.
    • Section 9 would prevent the $18 billion increase in the on-budget deficit from being entered on the Statutory PAYGO scorecard and the Senate PAYGO scorecard.

Although the Reed amendment includes a provision that would extend the mandatory Budget Control Act sequester by one year, to FY 2024, those savings occur outside the 10-year budget window. Therefore, the provision does not qualify as an offset for purposes of enforcing the Ryan-Murray spending agreement. CBO has confirmed that the amendment increases the on-budget deficit by more than $18 billion during the budget window.

[NOTE: To view this document as a 1-page PDF, please click here.]