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Congressman Peter J. Lucas, for himself, Congressman E. Herbert Johnston, Congresswoman Grace Hollingsworth, Congressman Patrick Callaghan, Congressman Michael Brewer, Congressman Rick Thomas, Congresswoman Melissa Sanchez and Senator Andrea Martinez proposes
A BILL TO reinstate PAYGO requirements.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled as Follows
Section 1 PAYGO
(1) No Bill shall be considered by the US House of Representatives or the US Senate that is not PAYGO compliant.
(2) A Bill is PAYGO compliant if
(a) the Bill does not require or authorize the spending of any money, or
(b) the amount of money reasonably estimated to be saved by the Bill is equal to or exceeds the amount of money required or authorized to be spent by the Bill
(3) Costs involved in the passage of a bill through Congress, including any reports on the Bill by the Congressional Budget Office and similar agencies, shall be disregarded, as shall the costs of signing ceremonies and the publication and archiving of the passed Act.
(4) Costs involved in taking steps reasonably expected to realize savings that exceed the cost of taking those steps within a period of 5 years shall be discounted.
(5) No person presiding over debate in the US House of Representatives or the US Senate may bring up for debate any Bill that is not PAYGO compliant, nor may such a Bill be brought up by a motion to suspend the rules or by any other mechanism.
(6) If a Bill is passed by the US Congress that is not PAYGO complaint, it shall be treated as if the President had vetoed that Bill at a time when Congress was not in session following the bi-annual Congressional elections.
(7) Any spending resulting from the passage of a Bill that is not PAYGO complaint shall be deemed unlawful. Any Congressman or Senator who voted for or supported such a Bill, knowing the Bill to fail to comply with this Act, may be liable to the Federal Government personally following appropriate due process of law for the reimbursement of a portion of that sum reflective of his contribution to its passage and his ability to pay.
(8) The Congressional authorities shall arrange that all Members of Congress undergo appropriate training on the requirements of this Act.
9) All legislation filed after the date of lawful enactment of this act shall include a "PAYGO Analysis" which will note the estimated net effect of the legislation on the Federal Debt, the time frame being covered, and if not readily apparent, an explanation of how the numbers were derived.
Section 2 Offset
In order to offset spending required under Section 2 (8) of this Act, Funding for Doctoral Dissertations by the Department for Housing and Urban Development shall be terminated (annual saving $230,000).
Section 3. Emergency Override
The provisions of Section 1 of this legislation, for a specific bill, may be suspended by a 60% vote each of the House and Senate. This shall be referred to as a "PAYGO Override Vote", and must occur to bring the legislation to the Floor of each body for debate.
Section 4 Enactment
This Act shall have effect upon being signed into law. It shall not affect any Bill already being debated on that date.
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