Line Item Veto Act

by the 104th Congress of the United States

104^TH UNITED STATES CONGRESS
2^ND SESSION

An Act
To give the President line item veto authority with respect to appropriations, new direct spending, and limited tax benefits.

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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as the ``Line Item Veto Act´´.

Sec. 2. Line Item Veto Authority.

(a) IN GENERAL.—

Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new part:

``Part C — Line Item Veto

``Sec. 1021. Line Item Veto Authority.

``(a) IN GENERAL.— Notwithstanding the provisions of parts A and B, and subject to the provisions of this part, the President may, with respect to any bill or joint resolution that has been signed into law pursuant to Article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the United States, cancel in whole—

``(1) any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority;

``(2) any item of new direct spending; or

``(3) any limited tax benefit;

``if the President—

``(A) determines that such cancellation will—

``(i) reduce the Federal budget deficit;

``(ii) not impair any essential Government functions; and

``(iii) not harm the national interest; and

``(B) notifies the Congress of such cancellation by transmitting a special message, in accordance with section 1022, within five calendar days (excluding Sundays) after the enactment of the law providing the dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, item of new direct spending, or limited tax benefit that was canceled.

``(b) IDENTIFICATION OF CANCELLATIONS.— In identifying dollar amounts of discretionary budget authority, items of new direct spending, and limited tax benefits for cancellation, the President shall—

``(1) consider the legislative history, construction, and purposes of the law which contains such dollar amounts, items, or benefits;

``(2) consider any specific sources of information referenced in such law or, in the absence of specific sources of information, the best available information; and

``(3) use the definitions contained in section 1026 in applying this part to the specific provisions of such law.

``(c) EXCEPTION FOR DISAPPROVAL BILLS.— The authority granted by subsection (a) shall not apply to any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, item of new direct spending, or limited tax benefit contained in any law that is a disapproval bill as defined in section 1026.

``Sec. 1022. Special Messages.

``(a) IN GENERAL.— For each law from which a cancellation has been made under this part, the President shall transmit a single special message to the Congress.

``(b) CONTENTS.—

``(1) The special message shall specify—

``(A) the dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, item of new direct spending, or limited tax benefit which has been canceled, and provide a corresponding reference number for each cancellation;

``(B) the determinations required under section 1021(a), together with any supporting material;

``(C) the reasons for the cancellation;

``(D) to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated fiscal, economic, and budgetary effect of the cancellation;

``(E) all facts, circumstances and considerations relating to or bearing upon the cancellation, and to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated effect of the cancellation upon the objects, purposes and programs for which the canceled authority was provided; and

``(F) include the adjustments that will be made pursuant to section 1024 to the discretionary spending limits under section 601 and an evaluation of the effects of those adjustments upon the sequestration procedures of section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

``(2) In the case of a cancellation of any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority or item of new direct spending, the special message shall also include, if applicable—

``(A) any account, department, or establishment of the Government for which such budget authority was to have been available for obligation and the specific project or governmental functions involved;

``(B) the specific States and congressional districts, if any, affected by the cancellation; and

``(C) the total number of cancellations imposed during the current session of Congress on States and congressional districts identified in subparagraph (B).

``(c) Transmission of Special Messages to House and Senate.—

``(1) The President shall transmit to the Congress each special message under this part within five calendar days (excluding Sundays) after enactment of the law to which the cancellation applies. Each special message shall be transmitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate on the same calendar day. Such special message shall be delivered to the Clerk of the House of Representatives if the House is not in session, and to the Secretary of the Senate if the Senate is not in session.

``(2) Any special message transmitted under this part shall be printed in the first issue of the Federal Register published after such transmittal.

``Sec. 1023. Cancellation Effective Unless Disapproved.

``(a) IN GENERAL.— The cancellation of any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, item of new direct spending, or limited tax benefit shall take effect upon receipt in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the special message notifying the Congress of the cancellation. If a disapproval bill for such special message is enacted into law, then all cancellations disapproved in that law shall be null and void and any such dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, item of new direct spending, or limited tax benefit shall be effective as of the original date provided in the law to which the cancellation applied.

``(b) COMMENSURATE REDUCTIONS IN DISCRETIONARY BUDGET AUTHORITY.— Upon the cancellation of a dollar amount of discretionary budget authority under subsection (a), the total appropriation for each relevant account of which that dollar amount is a part shall be simultaneously reduced by the dollar amount of that cancellation.

``Sec. 1024. Deficit Reduction.

``(a) IN GENERAL.—

``(1) DISCRETIONARY BUDGET AUTHORITY.— OMB shall, for each dollar amount of discretionary budget authority and for each item of new direct spending canceled from an appropriation law under section 1021(a)—

``(A) reflect the reduction that results from such cancellation in the estimates required by section 251(a)(7) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 in accordance with that Act, including an estimate of the reduction of the budget authority and the reduction in outlays flowing from such reduction of budget authority for each outyear; and

``(B) include a reduction to the discretionary spending limits for budget authority and outlays in accordance with the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 for each applicable fiscal year set forth in section 601(a)(2) by amounts equal to the amounts for each fiscal year estimated pursuant to subparagraph (A).

``(2) DIRECT SPENDING AND LIMITED TAX BENEFITS.—

``(A) OMB shall, for each item of new direct spending or limited tax benefit canceled from a law under section 1021(a), estimate the deficit decrease caused by the cancellation of such item or benefit in that law and include such estimate as a separate entry in the report prepared pursuant to section 252(d) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

``(B) OMB shall not include any change in the deficit resulting from a cancellation of any item of new direct spending or limited tax benefit, or the enactment of a disapproval bill for any such cancellation, under this part in the estimates and reports required by sections 252(b) and 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

``(b) ADJUSTMENTS TO SPENDING LIMITS.— After ten calendar days (excluding Sundays) after the expiration of the time period in section 1025(b)(1) for expedited congressional consideration of a disapproval bill for a special message containing a cancellation of discretionary budget authority, OMB shall make the reduction included in subsection (a)(1)(B) as part of the next sequester report required by section 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

``(c) EXCEPTION.— Subsection (b) shall not apply to a cancellation if a disapproval bill or other law that disapproves that cancellation is enacted into law prior to 10 calendar days (excluding Sundays) after the expiration of the time period set forth in section 1025(b)(1).

``(d) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATES.— As soon as practicable after the President makes a cancellation from a law under section 1021(a), the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall provide the Committees on the Budget of the House of Representatives and the Senate with an estimate of the reduction of the budget authority and the reduction in outlays flowing from such reduction of budget authority for each outyear.

``Sec. 1025. Expedited Congressional Consideration of Disapproval Bills.

``(a) RECEIPT AND REFERRAL OF SPECIAL MESSAGE.— Each special message transmitted under this part shall be referred to the Committee on the Budget and the appropriate committee or committees of the Senate and the Committee on the Budget and the appropriate committee or committees of the House of Representatives. Each such message shall be printed as a document of the House of Representatives.

``(b) TIME PERIOD FOR EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—

``(1) There shall be a congressional review period of 30 calendar days of session, beginning on the first calendar day of session after the date on which the special message is received in the House of Representatives and the Senate, during which the procedures contained in this section shall apply to both Houses of Congress.

``(2) In the House of Representatives the procedures set forth in this section shall not apply after the end of the period described in paragraph (1).

``(3) If Congress adjourns at the end of a Congress prior to the expiration of the period described in paragraph (1) and a disapproval bill was then pending in either House of Congress or a committee thereof (including a conference committee of the two Houses of Congress), or was pending before the President, a disapproval bill for the same special message may be introduced within the first five calendar days of session of the next Congress and shall be treated as a disapproval bill under this part, and the time period described in paragraph (1) shall commence on the day of introduction of that disapproval bill.

``(c) INTRODUCTION OF DISAPPROVAL BILLS.—

``(1) In order for a disapproval bill to be considered under the procedures set forth in this section, the bill must meet the definition of a disapproval bill and must be introduced no later than the fifth calendar day of session following the beginning of the period described in subsection (b)(1).

``(2) In the case of a disapproval bill introduced in the House of Representatives, such bill shall include in the first blank space referred to in section 1026(6)(C) a list of the reference numbers for all cancellations made by the President in the special message to which such disapproval bill relates.

``(d) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—

``(1) Any committee of the House of Representatives to which a disapproval bill is referred shall report it without amendment, and with or without recommendation, not later than the seventh calendar day of session after the date of its introduction. If any committee fails to report the bill within that period, it is in order to move that the House discharge the committee from further consideration of the bill, except that such a motion may not be made after the committee has reported a disapproval bill with respect to the same special message. A motion to discharge may be made only by a Member favoring the bill (but only at a time or place designated by the Speaker in the legislative schedule of the day after the calendar day on which the Member offering the motion announces to the House his intention to do so and the form of the motion). The motion is highly privileged. Debate thereon shall be limited to not more than one hour, the time to be divided in the House equally between a proponent and an opponent. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption without intervening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order.

``(2) After a disapproval bill is reported or a committee has been discharged from further consideration, it is in order to move that the House resolve into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for consideration of the bill. If reported and the report has been available for at least one calendar day, all points of order against the bill and against consideration of the bill are waived. If discharged, all points of order against the bill and against consideration of the bill are waived. The motion is highly privileged. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. During consideration of the bill in the Committee of the Whole, the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. General debate shall proceed, shall be confined to the bill, and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by a proponent and an opponent of the bill. The bill shall be considered as read for amendment under the five-minute rule. Only one motion to rise shall be in order, except if offered by the manager. No amendment to the bill is in order, except any Member if supported by 49 other Members (a quorum being present) may offer an amendment striking the reference number or numbers of a cancellation or cancellations from the bill. Consideration of the bill for amendment shall not exceed one hour excluding time for recorded votes and quorum calls. No amendment shall be subject to further amendment, except pro forma amendments for the purposes of debate only. At the conclusion of the consideration of the bill for amendment, the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote on passage of the bill shall not be in order.

``(3) Appeals from decisions of the Chair regarding application of the rules of the House of Representatives to the procedure relating to a disapproval bill shall be decided without debate.

``(4) It shall not be in order to consider under this subsection more than one disapproval bill for the same special message except for consideration of a similar Senate bill (unless the House has already rejected a disapproval bill for the same special message) or more than one motion to discharge described in paragraph (1) with respect to a disapproval bill for that special message.

``(e) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.—

``(1) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.— Any disapproval bill introduced in the Senate shall be referred to the appropriate committee or committees. A committee to which a disapproval bill has been referred shall report the bill not later than the seventh day of session following the date of introduction of that bill. If any committee fails to report the bill within that period, that committee shall be automatically discharged from further consideration of the bill and the bill shall be placed on the Calendar.

``(2) DISAPPROVAL BILL FROM HOUSE.— When the Senate receives from the House of Representatives a disapproval bill, such bill shall not be referred to committee and shall be placed on the Calendar.

``(3) CONSIDERATION OF SINGLE DISAPPROVAL BILL.— After the Senate has proceeded to the consideration of a disapproval bill for a special message, then no other disapproval bill originating in that same House relating to that same message shall be subject to the procedures set forth in this subsection.

``(4) AMENDMENTS.—

``(A) AMENDMENTS IN ORDER.— The only amendments in order to a disapproval bill are—

``(i) an amendment that strikes the reference number of a cancellation from the disapproval bill; and

``(ii) an amendment that only inserts the reference number of a cancellation included in the special message to which the disapproval bill relates that is not already contained in such bill.

``(B) WAIVER OR APPEAL.— An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senators, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required in the Senate—

``(i) to waive or suspend this paragraph; or

``(ii) to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under this paragraph.

``(5) MOTION NONDEBATABLE.— A motion to proceed to consideration of a disapproval bill under this subsection shall not be debatable. It shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion to proceed was adopted or rejected, although subsequent motions to proceed may be made under this paragraph.

``(6) LIMIT ON CONSIDERATION.—

``(A) After no more than 10 hours of consideration of a disapproval bill, the Senate shall proceed, without intervening action or debate (except as permitted under paragraph (9)), to vote on the final disposition thereof to the exclusion of all amendments not then pending and to the exclusion of all motions, except a motion to reconsider or to table.

``(B) A single motion to extend the time for consideration under subparagraph (A) for no more than an additional five hours is in order prior to the expiration of such time and shall be decided without debate.

``(C) The time for debate on the disapproval bill shall be equally divided between the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or their designees.

``(7) DEBATE ON AMENDMENTS.— Debate on any amendment to a disapproval bill shall be limited to one hour, equally divided and controlled by the Senator proposing the amendment and the majority manager, unless the majority manager is in favor of the amendment, in which case the minority manager shall be in control of the time in opposition.

``(8) NO MOTION TO RECOMMIT.— A motion to recommit a disapproval bill shall not be in order.

``(9) DISPOSITION OF SENATE DISAPPROVAL BILL.— If the Senate has read for the third time a disapproval bill that originated in the Senate, then it shall be in order at any time thereafter to move to proceed to the consideration of a disapproval bill for the same special message received from the House of Representatives and placed on the Calendar pursuant to paragraph (2), strike all after the enacting clause, substitute the text of the Senate disapproval bill, agree to the Senate amendment, and vote on final disposition of the House disapproval bill, all without any intervening action or debate.

``(10) CONSIDERATION OF HOUSE MESSAGE.— Consideration in the Senate of all motions, amendments, or appeals necessary to dispose of a message from the House of Representatives on a disapproval bill shall be limited to not more than four hours. Debate on each motion or amendment shall be limited to 30 minutes. Debate on any appeal or point of order that is submitted in connection with the disposition of the House message shall be limited to 20 minutes. Any time for debate shall be equally divided and controlled by the proponent and the majority manager, unless the majority manager is a proponent of the motion, amendment, appeal, or point of order, in which case the minority manager shall be in control of the time in opposition.

``(f) Consideration in Conference.—

``(1) CONVENING OF CONFERENCE.— In the case of disagreement between the two Houses of Congress with respect to a disapproval bill passed by both Houses, conferees should be promptly appointed and a conference promptly convened, if necessary.

``(2) HOUSE CONSIDERATION.—

``(A) Notwithstanding any other rule of the House of Representatives, it shall be in order to consider the report of a committee of conference relating to a disapproval bill provided such report has been available for one calendar day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays, unless the House is in session on such a day) and the accompanying statement shall have been filed in the House.

``(B) Debate in the House of Representatives on the conference report and any amendments in disagreement on any disapproval bill shall each be limited to not more than one hour equally divided and controlled by a proponent and an opponent. A motion to further limit debate is not debatable. A motion to recommit the conference report is not in order, and it is not in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the conference report is agreed to or disagreed to.

``(3) SENATE CONSIDERATION.— Consideration in the Senate of the conference report and any amendments in disagreement on a disapproval bill shall be limited to not more than four hours equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or their designees. A motion to recommit the conference report is not in order.

``(4) LIMITS ON SCOPE.—

``(A) When a disagreement to an amendment in the nature of a substitute has been referred to a conference, the conferees shall report those cancellations that were included in both the bill and the amendment, and may report a cancellation included in either the bill or the amendment, but shall not include any other matter.

``(B) When a disagreement on an amendment or amendments of one House to the disapproval bill of the other House has been referred to a committee of conference, the conferees shall report those cancellations upon which both Houses agree and may report any or all of those cancellations upon which there is disagreement, but shall not include any other matter.

``Sec. 1026. Definitions.

``As used in this part:

``(1) APPROPRIATION LAW.— The term ``appropriation law´´ means an Act referred to in section 105 of title 1, United States Code, including any general or special appropriation Act, or any Act making supplemental, deficiency, or continuing appropriations, that has been signed into law pursuant to Article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the United States.

``(2) CALENDAR DAY.— The term ``calendar day´´ means a standard 24-hour period beginning at midnight.

``(3) CALENDAR DAYS OF SESSION.— The term ``calendar days of session´´ shall mean only those days on which both Houses of Congress are in session.

``(4) CANCEL.— The term ``cancel´´ or ``cancellation´´ means—

``(A) with respect to any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, to rescind;

``(B) with respect to any item of new direct spending—

``(i) that is budget authority provided by law (other than an appropriation law), to prevent such budget authority from having legal force or effect;

``(ii) that is entitlement authority, to prevent the specific legal obligation of the United States from having legal force or effect; or

``(iii) through the food stamp program, to prevent the specific provision of law that results in an increase in budget authority or outlays for that program from having legal force or effect; and

``(C) with respect to a limited tax benefit, to prevent the specific provision of law that provides such benefit from having legal force or effect.

``(5) DIRECT SPENDING.— The term ``direct spending´´ means—

``(A) budget authority provided by law (other than an appropriation law);

``(B) entitlement authority; and

``(C) the food stamp program.

``(6) DISAPPROVAL BILL.— The term ``disapproval bill´´ means a bill or joint resolution which only disapproves one or more cancellations of dollar amounts of discretionary budget authority, items of new direct spending, or limited tax benefits in a special message transmitted by the President under this part and—

``(A) the title of which is as follows: ``A bill disapproving the cancellations transmitted by the President on XXXX´´, the blank space being filled in with the date of transmission of the relevant special message and the public law number to which the message relates;

``(B) which does not have a preamble; and

``(C) which provides only the following after the enacting clause: ``That Congress disapproves of cancellations XXXX´´, the blank space being filled in with a list by reference number of one or more cancellations contained in the President's special message, ``as transmitted by the President in a special message on XXXX´´, the blank space being filled in with the appropriate date, ``regarding XXXX.´´, the blank space being filled in with the public law number to which the special message relates.

``(7) DOLLAR AMOUNT OF DISCRETIONARY BUDGET AUTHORITY.—

``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term ``dollar amount of discretionary budget authority´´ means the entire dollar amount of budget authority—

``(i) specified in an appropriation law, or the entire dollar amount of budget authority required to be allocated by a specific proviso in an appropriation law for which a specific dollar figure was not included;

``(ii) represented separately in any table, chart, or explanatory text included in the statement of managers or the governing committee report accompanying such law;

``(iii) required to be allocated for a specific program, project, or activity in a law (other than an appropriation law) that mandates the expenditure of budget authority from accounts, programs, projects, or activities for which budget authority is provided in an appropriation law;

``(iv) represented by the product of the estimated procurement cost and the total quantity of items specified in an appropriation law or included in the statement of managers or the governing committee report accompanying such law; and

``(v) represented by the product of the estimated procurement cost and the total quantity of items required to be provided in a law (other than an appropriation law) that mandates the expenditure of budget authority from accounts, programs, projects, or activities for which budget authority is provided in an appropriation law.

``(B) The term ``dollar amount of discretionary budget authority´´ does not include—

``(i) direct spending;

``(ii) budget authority in an appropriation law which funds direct spending provided for in other law;

``(iii) any existing budget authority rescinded or canceled in an appropriation law; or

``(iv) any restriction, condition, or limitation in an appropriation law or the accompanying statement of managers or committee reports on the expenditure of budget authority for an account, program, project, or activity, or on activities involving such expenditure.

``(8) ITEM OF NEW DIRECT SPENDING.— The term ``item of new direct spending´´ means any specific provision of law that is estimated to result in an increase in budget authority or outlays for direct spending relative to the most recent levels calculated pursuant to section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

``(9) LIMITED TAX BENEFIT.—

``(A) The term ``limited tax benefit´´ means—

``(i) any revenue-losing provision which provides a Federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, or preference to 100 or fewer beneficiaries under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in any fiscal year for which the provision is in effect; and

``(ii) any Federal tax provision which provides temporary or permanent transitional relief for 10 or fewer beneficiaries in any fiscal year from a change to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

``(B) A provision shall not be treated as described in subparagraph (A)(i) if the effect of that provision is that—

``(i) all persons in the same industry or engaged in the same type of activity receive the same treatment;

``(ii) all persons owning the same type of property, or issuing the same type of investment, receive the same treatment; or

``(iii) any difference in the treatment of persons is based solely on—

``(I) in the case of businesses and associations, the size or form of the business or association involved;

``(II) in the case of individuals, general demographic conditions, such as income, marital status, number of dependents, or tax return filing status;

``(III) the amount involved; or

``(IV) a generally-available election under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

``(C) A provision shall not be treated as described in subparagraph (A)(ii) if—

``(i) it provides for the retention of prior law with respect to all binding contracts or other legally enforceable obligations in existence on a date contemporaneous with congressional action specifying such date; or

``(ii) it is a technical correction to previously enacted legislation that is estimated to have no revenue effect.

``(D) For purposes of subparagraph (A)—

``(i) all businesses and associations which are related within the meaning of sections 707(b) and 1563(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be treated as a single beneficiary;

``(ii) all qualified plans of an employer shall be treated as a single beneficiary;

``(iii) all holders of the same bond issue shall be treated as a single beneficiary; and

``(iv) if a corporation, partnership, association, trust or estate is the beneficiary of a provision, the shareholders of the corporation, the partners of the partnership, the members of the association, or the beneficiaries of the trust or estate shall not also be treated as beneficiaries of such provision.

``(E) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ``revenue-losing provision´´ means any provision which results in a reduction in Federal tax revenues for any one of the two following periods—

``(i) the first fiscal year for which the provision is effective; or

``(ii) the period of the 5 fiscal years beginning with the first fiscal year for which the provision is effective.

``(F) The terms used in this paragraph shall have the same meaning as those terms have generally in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, unless otherwise expressly provided.

``(10) OMB.— The term ``OMB´´ means the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

``Sec. 1027. Identification of Limited Tax Benefits.

``(a) STATEMENT BY JOINT TAX COMMITTEE.— The Joint Committee on Taxation shall review any revenue or reconciliation bill or joint resolution which includes any amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is being prepared for filing by a committee of conference of the two Houses, and shall identify whether such bill or joint resolution contains any limited tax benefits. The Joint Committee on Taxation shall provide to the committee of conference a statement identifying any such limited tax benefits or declaring that the bill or joint resolution does not contain any limited tax benefits. Any such statement shall be made available to any Member of Congress by the Joint Committee on Taxation immediately upon request.

``(b) STATEMENT INCLUDED IN LEGISLATION.—

``(1) Notwithstanding any other rule of the House of Representatives or any rule or precedent of the Senate, any revenue or reconciliation bill or joint resolution which includes any amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 reported by a committee of conference of the two Houses may include, as a separate section of such bill or joint resolution, the information contained in the statement of the Joint Committee on Taxation, but only in the manner set forth in paragraph (2).

``(2) The separate section permitted under paragraph (1) shall read as follows: ``Section 1021(a)(3) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 shall XXXX apply to XXXXXX.´´, with the blank spaces being filled in with—

``(A) in any case in which the Joint Committee on Taxation identifies limited tax benefits in the statement required under subsection (a), the word ``only´´ in the first blank space and a list of all of the specific provisions of the bill or joint resolution identified by the Joint Committee on Taxation in such statement in the second blank space; or

``(B) in any case in which the Joint Committee on Taxation declares that there are no limited tax benefits in the statement required under subsection (a), the word ``not´´ in the first blank space and the phrase ``any provision of this Act´´ in the second blank space.

``(c) PRESIDENT'S AUTHORITY.— If any revenue or reconciliation bill or joint resolution is signed into law pursuant to Article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the United States—

``(1) with a separate section described in subsection (b)(2), then the President may use the authority granted in section 1021(a)(3) only to cancel any limited tax benefit in that law, if any, identified in such separate section; or

``(2) without a separate section described in subsection (b)(2), then the President may use the authority granted in section 1021(a)(3) to cancel any limited tax benefit in that law that meets the definition in section 1026.

``(d) CONGRESSIONAL IDENTIFICATIONS OF LIMITED TAX BENEFITS.— There shall be no judicial review of the congressional identification under subsections (a) and (b) of a limited tax benefit in a conference report.´´.

Sec. 3. Judicial Review.

(a) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—

(1) Any Member of Congress or any individual adversely affected by part C of title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 may bring an action, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief on the ground that any provision of this part violates the Constitution.

(2) A copy of any complaint in an action brought under paragraph (1) shall be promptly delivered to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and each House of Congress shall have the right to intervene in such action.

(3) Nothing in this section or in any other law shall infringe upon the right of the House of Representatives to intervene in an action brought under paragraph (1) without the necessity of adopting a resolution to authorize such intervention.

(b) APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia which is issued pursuant to an action brought under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be reviewable by appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the United States. Any such appeal shall be taken by a notice of appeal filed within 10 calendar days after such order is entered; and the jurisdictional statement shall be filed within 30 calendar days after such order is entered. No stay of an order issued pursuant to an action brought under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be issued by a single Justice of the Supreme Court.

(c) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—

It shall be the duty of the District Court for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States to advance on the docket and to expedite to the greatest possible extent the disposition of any matter brought under subsection (a).

Sec. 4. Conforming Amendments.

(a) SHORT TITLES.—

Section 1(a) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by—

(1) striking ``and´´ before ``title X´´ and inserting a period;

(2) inserting ``Parts A and B of´´ before ``title X´´; and

(3) inserting at the end the following new sentence: ``Part C of title X may be cited as the `Line Item Veto Act of 1996´.´´.

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

The table of contents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following:

``Part C — Line Item Veto

``Sec. 1021. Line Item Veto Authority.

``Sec. 1022. Special Messages.

``Sec. 1023. Cancellation Effective Unless Disapproved.

``Sec. 1024. Deficit Reduction.

``Sec. 1025. Expedited Congressional Consideration of Disapproval Bills.

``Sec. 1026. Definitions.

``Sec. 1027. Identification of Limited Tax Benefits.´´.

(c) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.—

Section 904(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by striking ``and 1017´´ and inserting ``, 1017, 1025, and 1027´´.

Sec. 5. Effective Dates.

This Act and the amendments made by it shall take effect and apply to measures enacted on the earlier of—

(1) the day after the enactment into law, pursuant to Article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the United States, of an Act entitled ``An Act to provide for a seven-year plan for deficit reduction and achieve a balanced Federal budget.´´; or

(2) January 1, 1997;

and shall have no force or effect on or after January 1, 2005.

Approved April 9, 1996.

Legislative History

• S. 4, (H.R. 2)

• HOUSE REPORTS:
  • No. 104-11, Pt. 1 (Comm. on Rules) accompanying H.R. 2
  • No. 104-11, Pt. 2 (Comm. on Government Reform and Oversight) accompanying H.R. 2
  • No. 104-491 (Comm. of Conference)
• SENATE REPORTS:
  • No. 104-9 (Comm. on the Budget)
  • No. 104-13 (Comm. on Governmental Affairs)
• CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 141 (1995):
  • Feb. 2, 3, 6, H.R. 2 considered and passed House.
  • Mar. 20-23, S. 4 considered and passed Senate.
  • May 17, considered and passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 2.
• CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 142 (1996):
  • Mar. 27, Senate agreed to conference report.
  • Mar. 28, House agreed to conference report pursuant to H. Res. 391.
• WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 32 (1996):
  • Apr. 9, Presidential remarks and statement.

• The line-item veto was declared unconstitutional in Clinton v. City of New York  524 U.S. 417 (1998).