CBO's Assessment Of Reid's And Boehner's Debt Ceiling Budget Proposal

The House Proposal - Boehner

CBO's analysis summary of John Boehner's (House) revised budget proposal for increasing the US debt limit:

SUMMARY

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the impact on the deficit of the Budget Control Act of 2011, as posted on the Web site of the Committee on Rules on July 25, 2011, with a further amendment proposed on July 27, 2011.The legislation would:

• Establish caps on discretionary spending through 2021,
• Allow for certain amounts of additional spending for "program integrity" initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of improper benefit payments,
• Make changes to the Pell Grant and student loan programs,
• Establish procedures for Congressional consideration of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution,
• Establish procedures to increase the debt limit by up to $2.5 trillion,
• Reinstate and modify certain budget process rules, and
• Create a joint Congressional committee to propose further deficit reduction.

In total, if appropriations in the next 10 years are equal to the caps on discretionary spending and the maximum amount of funding is provided for the program integrity initiatives, CBO estimates that the legislation, with the proposed amendment, would reduce budget deficits by about $915 billion between 2012 and 2021 relative to CBO's March 2011 baseline adjusted for subsequent appropriation action.As requested, CBO has also calculated the net budgetary impact if discretionary savings are measured relative to its January baseline projections.Relative to that baseline, CBO estimates that the legislation would reduce budget deficits by about $1.1 trillion between 2012 and 2021.

The amendment proposed on July 27, 2011, would modify the legislation proposed on July 25, 2011, by eliminating caps on discretionary outlays for fiscal years 2012 and 2013.The amendment also would make minor modifications to the procedures related to further increases in the debt limit.[Emphasis added]

The entire CBO analysis of the Boehner - House proposal is available here.

The Senate Proposal - Reid

CBO's analysis summary of Harry Reid's (Senate) budget proposal for increasing the US debt limit:

SUMMARY

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the impact on the deficit of the Budget Control Act of 2011, as proposed in the Senate on July 25, 2011.The legislation would:

• Establish caps on discretionary spending through 2021, including separate caps on new funding for war-related activities,
• Allow for certain amounts of additional spending for "program integrity" initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of improper benefit payments and enhancing compliance with tax laws,
• Extend and expand authority to auction licenses for parts of the electromagnetic spectrum,
• Make changes to the Pell Grant and student loan programs,
• Reduce certain payments to agricultural producers,
• Increase the debt limit by $2.7 trillion,
• Reinstate and modify certain budget process rules, and
• Create a joint Congressional committee to propose further deficit reduction.
relative to CBO's March 2011 baseline adjusted for subsequent appropriation action.[Emphasis added]