Budget Points Of Order

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Budget Act Points Of Order In The Senate For Enforcing The FY 2012 Budget Resolution As Deemed By Sec. 106 Of The Budget Control Act (PL 112-25)

  • Points of order in bold require three-fifths of Members duly chosen and sworn to waive or appeal. If the presiding officer sustains the point of order, the entire measure cannot be considered any further in the Senate.
  • Points of order in blue are “surgical.” If the presiding officer sustains the point of order, the offending provision(s) are struck from the bill or amendment, but the rest of the legislative text remains.
  • All years are fiscal years.
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Points of order applicable to all legislation under the following sections of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

302(c) Appropriations: Prohibits consideration of legislation from the Appropriations Committee until the committee files its spending sub-allocations pursuant to section 302(b).

302(f) Allocations: Prohibits consideration of legislation that exceeds an authorizing committee’s section 302(a) allocation for 2012 or 2013, the total for 2013-2017, or the total for 2013-2022. For the Appropriations Committee only: Prohibits consideration of legislation that exceeds each subcommittee’s 302(b) sub-allocation for security and non-security categories for 2012 or 2013.

303(a) New Spending, Revenue or Debt Limit Legislation: Prohibits consideration of any new spending, revenue, or debt limit legislation for a year until a budget resolution covering that year has been agreed to.

303(c) No Budget—No Appropriations: Prohibits consideration of any appropriations legislation for 2013 or later years until the budget resolution for each of those years has been agreed to and a section 302(a) allocation has been made to the Appropriations Committee.

306 Budget Committee Jurisdiction: Prohibits consideration of any legislation within the jurisdiction of the Budget Committee that was not reported or discharged from the Budget Committee.

311(a)(2) Spending and Revenue Aggregates: Prohibits consideration of legislation that exceeds the aggregate spending levels in the budget resolution for 2012 or 2013; or causes the aggregate revenue level to fall below the level in the budget resolution for 2012 or 2013, the total for 2013-2017, or the total for 2013-2022.

311(a)(3) Social Security Aggregates: Prohibits consideration of legislation that would cause a decrease in Social Security surpluses or an increase in Social Security deficits relative to the levels set out in the budget resolution for 2012 or 2013, the total for 2013-2017, or the total for 2013-2022.

314(e) Emergency designation: Permits any Senator to strike an emergency designation in an appropriation bill made pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA), as amended. EXCEPTION: Does not apply to provisions within appropriation bills designated as being for disaster relief under section 251(b)(2)(D) or for Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism under section 251(b)(2)(A) of BBEDCA. Nor does it apply to mandatory spending or revenue measures (refer instead to the point of order available under section 403(e) of the 2010 budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 13, 111th Congress)).

314(f) Statutory Discretionary Spending Caps: Prohibits consideration of any measure that would cause budget authority for any year to exceed the discretionary limits (total, as well as security and non-security categories) set forth in Sec. 251(c) and revised by Sec. 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act (BBEDCA), as amended.

401(a) New Borrowing Authority: Prohibits consideration of legislation providing new contract authority, borrowing authority, or credit authority that is not limited to amounts provided in advance in an appropriation act.

401(b)(1) New Entitlement Authority: Prohibits consideration of legislation providing new entitlement authority that is to become effective during the current year.

425(a)(1) No Unfunded Mandates without CBO estimate: Prohibits consideration of any committee-reported legislation unless a CBO estimate of any federal intergovernmental or private sector mandates has been printed in the committee report or the Congressional Record.

425(a)(2) No Unfunded Mandates in Excess of Limit: Prohibits consideration of any legislation that contains an unfunded intergovernmental mandate in excess of the statutory limit ($73 million) for the five consecutive years following the mandate’s effective date, inclusive.

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Point of order applicable to all legislation under S. Con. Res. 21 (110th Congress), the FY 2008 budget resolution

201(a) Senate Pay-As-You-Go: Prohibits consideration of direct spending or revenue legislation that would cause or increase an on-budget deficit for the sum of 2012-2017, or the sum of 2012-2022.

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Points of order applicable to all legislation under the following sections of S. Con. Res. 70 (110th Congress), the FY 2009 budget resolution

311(b) Long-term Deficits: Prohibits consideration of legislation that would cause a net increase in the deficit in excess of $5 billion in any of the four 10-year periods: 2023-2032, 2033-2042, 2043-2052, and 2053-2062.

314(a) Changes in Mandatory Programs (ChiMPs) in Appropriation Acts: Prohibits consideration of appropriation measures that include changes in mandatory programs that would have been scored as mandatory in any other legislation, if all of the following conditions are met: (1) it would increase BA in at least one of the nine years after 2013 and over the total of the ten years 2013-2022; (2) it would increase net outlays over the nine years 2014-2022; and (3) the sum of all such provisions would increase net outlays over the nine years 2014-2022. EXCEPTION: Not applicable to any ChiMP enacted in each of the three prior years.

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Points of order applicable to all legislation under the following sections of S. Con Res. 13 (111th Congress), the FY 2010 budget resolution

403(e) Emergency designation: Permits a Senator to strike an emergency designation attached to provisions affecting mandatory spending or revenues only. Does not apply to emergency designations attached to discretionary appropriations pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act (BBEDCA), as amended (refer instead to the point of order provided in section 314(e) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974).

404(a) Short-Term Deficits: Prohibits consideration of legislation (except appropriation bills) that would cause a net increase in the deficit in excess of $10 billion in any year 2012-2022 unless it is fully offset over that period.

405(a) Surface Transportation Funding: Prohibits consideration of legislation that extends the authority or reauthorizes surface transportation programs if it appropriates budget authority from sources other than the Highway Trust Fund (including the Mass Transit Account of such fund).

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Points of order applicable only to consideration of budget resolutions and/or reconciliation bills under the following sections of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

301(g) Assumptions: Prohibits more than one set of economic and technical assumptions in a budget resolution.

301(i) Social Security: Prohibits consideration of a budget resolution that would decrease the Social Security surplus in any year covered by the resolution.

305(b)(2) Germaneness: Prohibits the consideration of non-germane amendments to a budget resolution and, by cross reference in section 310(e), to reconciliation legislation. An amendment is germane per se if it: (i) changes numbers; (ii) changes dates; (iii) is a motion to strike. Other amendments determined on a case-by-case basis.

305(c)(4) Germaneness/Disagreement between Houses: Prohibits the consideration of non-germane amendments to amendments reported in disagreement between the House and the Senate with respect to a budget resolution and, by cross reference in section 310(e), to reconciliation legislation.

305(d) Mathematical Consistency: Prohibits a vote on the adoption of a budget resolution that is not mathematically consistent.

310(d)(2) Noncompliance: Prohibits consideration of amendments to reconciliation legislation that, on net, would increase the deficit relative to the applicable reconciliation instruction. Exception: a motion to strike, regardless of its budgetary effect, is always in order.

310(g) Social Security: Prohibits consideration of reconciliation legislation that contains changes in the Social Security program.

313 Byrd Rule: Prohibits consideration of extraneous provision(s) in reconciliation legislation.

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Point of order applicable only to consideration of reconciliation bills under S. Con. Res. 21 (110th Congress), the FY 2008 budget resolution

202(a) Reconciliation for deficit reduction only: Prohibits consideration of reconciliation legislation that would cause or increase a deficit or reduce a surplus over 2013-2017 or 2013-2022.

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