83 FR 3774 - Notice; 2017 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act Annual Report

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 18 (January 26, 2018)

This report is being published as required by the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010. The Act requires that OMB issue an annual report and a sequestration order, if necessary.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3774-3776]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01319]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Notice; 2017 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act Annual Report

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This report is being published as required by the Statutory 
Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010. The Act requires that OMB issue an 
annual report and a sequestration order, if necessary.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin O'Brien. 202-395-3106.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This report can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/paygo/.

    Authority: 2 U.S.C. 934.

Kelly Kinneen,
Assistant Director for Budget.

    This Report is being published pursuant to section 5 of the 
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010, Public Law 111-139, 124 
Stat. 8, 2 U.S.C. 934, which requires that OMB issue an annual PAYGO 
report, including a sequestration order if necessary, no later than 14 
working days after the end of a congressional session.
    This Report describes the budgetary effects of all PAYGO 
legislation enacted during the first session of the 115th Congress and 
presents the 5-year and 10-year PAYGO scorecards maintained by OMB. 
Because neither the 5-year nor 10-year scorecard shows a debit for the 
budget year, which for purposes of this Report is fiscal year 2018,\1\ 
a sequestration order under subsection 5(b) of the PAYGO Act, 2 U.S.C 
Sec.  934(b) is not necessary.
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    \1\ References to years on the PAYGO scorecards are to fiscal 
years.
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    During the first session of the 115th Congress, two laws were 
enacted with emergency requirements under section 4(g) of the PAYGO 
Act, 2 U.S.C. 933(g) that had PAYGO effects. Three laws had estimated 
budgetary effects on direct spending and revenues that were excluded 
from the calculations of the PAYGO scorecards due to provisions 
excluding all or part of the law from section 4(d) of the PAYGO Act, 2 
U.S.C. 933(d).

I. PAYGO Legislation With Budgetary Effects

    PAYGO legislation is authorizing legislation that affects direct 
spending or revenues, and appropriations legislation that affects 
direct spending in the years after the budget year or affects revenues 
in any year.\2\ For a more complete description of the Statutory

[[Page 3775]]

PAYGO Act, see Chapter 8, ``Budget Concepts,'' of the Analytical 
Perspectives volume of the 2018 President's Budget, found on the 
website of the U.S. Government Printing Office (https://www.thefederalregister.org/fdsys/pkg/BUDGET-2018-PER/pdf/BUDGET-2018-PER.pdf).
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    \2\ Provisions in appropriations acts that affect direct 
spending in the years after the budget year (also known as 
``outyears'') or affect revenues in any year are considered to be 
budgetary effects for the purposes of the PAYGO scorecards except if 
the provisions produce outlay changes that net to zero over the 
current year, budget year, and the four subsequent years. As 
specified in section 3 of the PAYGO Act, off-budget effects are not 
counted as budgetary effects. Off-budget effects refer to effects on 
the Social Security trust funds (Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and 
Disability Insurance) and the Postal Service.
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    The 5-year and 10-year PAYGO scorecards for each congressional 
session begin with the balances of costs or savings carried over from 
previous sessions and then tally the costs or savings of PAYGO laws 
enacted in the most recent session. The 5-year PAYGO scorecard for the 
first session of the 115th Congress began with balances of savings of 
$3,579 million in 2018, $3,604 million in 2019, and $2,978 million in 
2020, and with costs of $478 million in 2021. The completed 5-year 
scorecard for the session shows that PAYGO legislation enacted during 
the session was estimated to have PAYGO budgetary effects that 
increased the deficit by an average of $1,089 million each year from 
2018 through 2022.\3\ These new costs on the scorecard decreased the 
balances of savings in each year on the 5-year scorecard from 2018 
through 2020, and increased the balances of costs in 2021. The 5-year 
PAYGO window extended only through 2021 in the second session of the 
114th Congress, so there were no 5-year scorecard balances in 2022 to 
carry over and the 5-year scorecard total is the average $1,089 million 
cost from this session.
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    \3\ As provided in section 4(d) of the PAYGO Act, 2 U.S.C. 
933(d), budgetary effects on the PAYGO scorecards are based on 
congressional estimates for bills including a reference to a 
congressional estimate in the Congressional Record, and for which 
such a reference is indeed present in the Record. Absent such a 
congressional cost estimate, OMB is required to use its own estimate 
for the scorecard. None of the bills enacted during this session had 
such a congressional estimate and therefore OMB was required to 
provide an estimate for all PAYGO laws enacted during the session.
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    The 10-year PAYGO scorecard for the first session of the 115th 
Congress began with balances of savings of $14,468 million in each year 
from 2018 to 2020, $8,097 million in 2021, $7,387 million in 2022, 
$6,252 million in 2023, $6,259 million in 2024, and $4,738 million in 
2025, and with costs of $980 million in 2026. The completed 10-year 
scorecard for the session shows that PAYGO legislation for the session 
increased the deficit by an average of $653 million each year from 2018 
through 2027. These new costs decreased the balances of savings in each 
year on the 10-year scorecard from 2018 through 2025, and increased the 
balances of costs in 2026. The 10-year PAYGO window extended only 
through 2026 in the second session of the 114th Congress, so there were 
no 10-year scorecard balances in 2027 to carry over and the 10-year 
scorecard total is the average $653 million costs from this session.
    In the first session of the 115th Congress, 28 laws were enacted 
that were determined to constitute PAYGO legislation. Of the 28 enacted 
PAYGO laws, 9 laws were estimated to have PAYGO budgetary effects 
(costs or savings) in excess of $500,000 over one or both of the 5-year 
or 10-year PAYGO windows. These were:
     Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, Public Law 115-31;
     Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, 
Public Law 115-44;
     An Act to authorize appropriations and to appropriate 
amounts for the Veterans Choice Program of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, to improve hiring authorities of the Department, to authorize 
major medical facility leases, and for other purposes, Public Law 115-
46;
     Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 
2017, Public Law 115-48;
     Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 
2017, Public Law 115-62;
     Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act 
of 2017, Public Law 115-63;
     Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief 
Requirements Act, 2017, Public Law 115-72;
     National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, 
Public Law 115-91; and
     Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act, Public Law 115-103.
    In addition to the laws identified above, 19 laws enacted in this 
session were estimated to have negligible budgetary effects on the 
PAYGO scorecards--costs or savings of less than $500,000 over both the 
5-year and 10-year PAYGO windows.

II. Budgetary Effects Excluded From the Scorecard Balances

A. Legislation Designated as Emergency Requirements

    As shown on the scorecards, two laws were enacted in the first 
session of the 115th Congress with an emergency designation under the 
Statutory PAYGO Act, and that had PAYGO effects:
     Emergency Aid to American Survivors of Hurricanes Irma and 
Jose Overseas Act, Public Law 115-57; and
     Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act 
of 2017, Public Law 115-63.
    The effects of the provisions in these laws that are designated as 
emergency requirements appear on the scorecard, but are subtracted 
before computing the scorecard totals.
    Two additional laws included an emergency designation under the 
Statutory PAYGO Act, but OMB estimated that the designated portions of 
the laws did not have any PAYGO effects:
     Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria Education Relief Act of 
2017, Public Law 115-64; and
     Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief 
Requirements Act, 2017, Public Law 115-72.

B. Statutory Provisions Excluding Legislation From the Scorecards

    Three laws enacted in the first session of the 115th Congress had 
estimated budgetary effects on direct spending and revenues that were 
excluded from the calculations for the PAYGO scorecards due to 
provisions in law excluding all or part of the law from section 4(d) of 
the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. One law, An Act to provide for 
reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution 
on the budget for fiscal year 2018, Public Law 115-97 (also referred to 
as H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), was excluded entirely from the 
scorecards by Section 5002 of Public Law 115-96.
    In addition, budgetary effects in two laws were excluded by 
provisions excluding certain portions of those laws from the 
scorecards:
     Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 
2017, and for other purposes, Public Law 115-30; and
     An Act to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 
require the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue Department of 
Homeland Security-wide guidance and develop training programs as part 
of the Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign, and for other 
purposes, Public Law 115-96.

III. PAYGO Scorecards

[[Page 3776]]



                                                           Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Scorecards
                                        [In millions of dollars, negative amounts portray decreases in deficits]
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                                               2018       2019       2020       2021       2022
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First Session of the 115th Congress.......      1,089      1,089      1,089      1,089      1,089
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Balances from Previous Sessions...........     -3,579     -3,604     -2,978        478          0
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    Five-year PAYGO Scorecard.............     -2,490     -2,515     -1,889      1,567      1,089
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                                                 2018       2019       2020       2021       2022       2023       2024       2025       2026       2027
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First Session of the 115th Congress.......        653        653        653        653        653        653        653        653        653        653
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Balances from Previous Sessions...........    -14,468    -14,468    -14,468     -8,097     -7,387     -6,252     -6,259     -4,738        980          0
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    Ten-year PAYGO Scorecard..............    -13,815    -13,815    -13,815     -7,444     -6,734     -5,999     -5,606     -4,085      1,633        653
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IV. Sequestration Order

    As shown on the scorecards, the budgetary effects of PAYGO 
legislation enacted in the first session of the 115th Congress, 
combined with the balances from previous sessions of the Congress left 
on each scorecard, resulted in net savings on both the 5-year and the 
10-year scorecard in the budget year, which is 2018 for the purposes of 
this Report. Because the costs for the budget year, as shown on the 
scorecards, do not exceed savings for the budget year, there is no 
``debit'' on either scorecard under section 3 of the PAYGO Act, 2 
U.S.C. 932, and there is no need for a sequestration order.\4\
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    \4\ Joint Committee reductions for 2018 were calculated and 
ordered in a separate report and are not affected by this 
determination. See, https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/sequestration_reports/FY_2018_Sequestration_Update_8-18-17.pdf
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    The savings shown on the scorecards for 2018 will be removed from 
the scorecards that are used to record the budgetary effects of PAYGO 
legislation enacted in the second session of the 115th Congress. The 
totals shown in 2019 through 2027 will remain on the scorecards and 
will be used in determining whether a sequestration order will be 
necessary in the future. On the 5-year scorecard for the second session 
of the 115th Congress, 2019 and 2020 will show balances of savings. The 
years 2021 and 2022 will show balances of costs. On the 10-year 
scorecard, each year from 2019 to 2025 will shows balances of savings. 
The years 2026 and 2027 will show balances of costs.

[FR Doc. 2018-01319 Filed 1-25-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3110-01-P