Budget Scorekeeping Report

Sen. Kent Conrad

Party: D
State: ND

Mr. President, I rise to submit to the Senate a budget scorekeeping report. The report, which covers fiscal year 2012, was prepared by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to Section 308(b) and in aid of Section 311 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended.

The report shows the effects of Congressional action through January 20, 2012, and includes the effects of legislation enacted since passage of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which established allocations, aggregates and other levels for 2011, 2012, 2012-16, and 2012-21. The legislation includes: P.L. 112-29, the America Invents Act; P.L. 112-33, the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-40, an act to extend the Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes; P.L. 112-41, the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; P.L. 112-42, the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act; P.L. 112-43, the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act; P.L. 112-55, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-56, an act to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the imposition of 3 percent withholding, and for other purposes; P.L. 112-74, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-77, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-78, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act, 2012; and P.L. 112-80, an act to amend title 39, U.S.C., to extend the authority of the United States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer research.

The estimates of budget authority, outlays, and revenues are consistent with the technical and economic assumptions of Section 106 of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and CBO's March 2011 baseline.

The estimates show that for fiscal year 2012, spending is $27.5 billion in budget authority and $20 billion in outlays above the levels provided pursuant to the Budget Control Act, while revenues are $0.9 billion below the levels provided pursuant to the Budget Control Act. The overage in spending is the result of P.L. 112-78, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2012, which was passed at the end of last session. While that legislation was fully paid for over 10 years, it increased spending in 2012. Finally, the estimates show that, in total, there has been no net change for Social Security.

I ask unanimous consent that the letter and accompanying tables from CBO be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

Dear Mr. Chairman: The enclosed report shows the effects of Congressional action on the fiscal year 2012 budget and is current through January 20, 2012. This report is submitted under section 308(b) and in aid of section 311 of the Congressional Budget Act, as amended. The estimates of budget authority, outlays, and revenues are consistent with the technical and economic assumptions of section 106 of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law

Administration, which are off-budget, but are appropriated annually.SOURCE: Congressional Budget Office.

TABLE 2. SUPPORTING DETAIL FOR THE SENATE CURRENT LEVEL REPORT FOR ON-BUDGET SPENDING AND REVENUES FOR FISCAL

1,139,264 1,646,622 1,890,921

session of the 112th Congress up to and including the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25) are shown in

the ``Previously Enacted'' section of this table. Because P.L. 112-26 (the Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of

2011) was cleared by Congress for the President's signature before P.L. 112-25, it is also included in that

section.2 For purposes of enforcing section 311 of the Congressional Budget Act in the Senate, the aggregate levels are

provided for in section 106 of P.L. 112-25. These levels, as originally published in the Congressional Record

of September 7, 2011, do not include budget authority, outlays, or revenues for off-budget amounts. As a

result, current level excludes these items.3 Periodically, the Senate Committee on the Budget revises the aggregate totals: Budget authority Outlays Revenues Original Budget Aggregates......................... 2,854,385 2,987,419 1,890,921 Revisions: Adjustments for disaster, emergency, and -396 -4,998 0 overseas contingency operations, and for other purposes (September 16, 2011)................. Adjustments for disaster and overseas 117,885 59,677 0 contingency operations funding (September 21,

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