1.3: Cap Enforcement
ENFORCE CAPS THROUGH TWO MECHANISMS -- POINT OF ORDER AND ABATEMENT. Other Information:
Require a separate non-amendable vote in House and 60-vote point of order in Senate to spend above the caps. If caps are exceeded,
impose across-the-board abatement by the amount appropriations exceed the caps. Tough discretionary spending caps must be
accompanied by tough enforcement. The Commission recommends establishing a belt-and-suspenders approach that enforces discretionary
caps through both a front-end point of order (to block passage of a bill that exceeds the caps) and a back-end, across-the-board
abatement (to cut spending by an amount sufficient to bring it back in line with the caps if the point of order is waived).
The Senate would not be able to proceed to a vote on final passage of an appropriations bill as amended by the Senate until
there is a final score of the bill from the Budget Committee. If the score shows that the bill would exceed its allocation
or result in the discretionary spending limit being exceeded, it would be in order to consider a motion to re commit the bill
with instructions to reduce spending in the bill. At the end of the session, CBO must certify that discretionary spending
approved by Congress was within the caps. If the caps are not met, OMB will be required to implement an across-the-board abatement.
Any appropriations bill that would cause the caps to be breached – as well as any legislation to suspend an abatement – would
be subject to a point of order blocking passage of the bill. The point of order could be waived only with a separate non-amendable
vote in the House and a separate vote in the Senate requiring 60 votes in favor. A budget resolution recommending discretionary
spending in excess of the caps in any year would lose its privileged status, effectively then requiring 60 votes in the Senate.
Indicator(s):
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