S. 1290: Spending Cap Act of 2011
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S. 1290: Spending Cap Act of 2011
112th Congress · introduced 2011-06-28 · Economics and Public Finance · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2011-06-28 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Spending Cap Act of 2011
Plain summary
Spending Cap Act of 2011 - Expresses the sense of Congress that it should enact comprehensive tax reform that lowers marginal rates, broadens the base, and simplifies the tax code to increase economic growth while generating revenues that are in line with the historical average of 18% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to establish the discretionary spending limits for FY2012-FY2021 for defense and nondefense categories. Authorizes the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget to adjust such discretionary spending limits, budgetary aggregates in the most recently adopted concurrent budget resolution, and CBA committee allocations if a bill or joint resolution is reported making appropriations for FY2012-FY2017 that provides funding for overseas deployments and activities undertaken as a result of a declaration of war or congressional authorization of force. Limits such adjustments. Makes it out of order in both chambers to consider any legislation that includes any provision that would cause total on-budget mandatory spending to exceed specified discretionary spending limits. Exempts from such limits the mandatory components of: (1) Social Security, function 650; (2) Medicare, function 570; (3) Veterans Benefits and Services, function 700; and (4) Net Interest, function 900. Makes it out of order in both chambers to consider legislation that includes any provision that would cause total mandatory spending for Social Security to exceed specified limits for total outlays for FY2012-FY2021. Makes such requirement inapplicable if the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) determines that projected outlays are expected to exceed such limits due to changes in cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) contained in present law. Makes it out of order in both chambers to consider legislation that includes any provision that would cause total mandatory spending for Medicare or for Veterans Benefits and Service to exceed specified limits for total outlays for FY2012-FY2021. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to make publicly available in the Federal Register an annual report containing expected budget authority and outlays. Requires OMB, if such report shows any category exceeding specified spending caps, to prepare, and the President to issue and include in that report, a sequestration order that reduces budgetary resources by an amount sufficient to bring spending in line with that category's statutory cap. Prescribes requirements for calculating and implementing such sequestration. Authorizes Congress to override a sequestration order through the passage of a law that either waves or supersedes the spending limitations for that category of federal spending for that fiscal year. Subjects any motion in the Senate to move to consideration of a bill to waive, modify, or in any way alter a sequestration order (except for defense spending while the nation is engaged in a justified conflict) to a point of order that can only be waived through an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
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What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Spending Cap Act of 2011
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA] · 0 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (11)
- Appropriation
- Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
- Authorization
- A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
- Bill
- A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
- CBO cost estimate
- The Congressional Budget Office's estimate of how a federal bill would change government spending and revenue. CBO is nonpartisan.
- Federal Register
- The official daily publication of the U.S. government for agency rules, proposed rules, public notices and presidential documents.
- Fiscal year
- The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.
- Joint resolution
- In Texas, the type of measure the Legislature uses to propose a constitutional amendment (marked HJR or SJR). The governor does not sign or veto it; the voters decide. In Congress a joint resolution can also be used like a bill. In Florida, a joint resolution passed by three-fifths of the members of each chamber puts a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
- Resolution
- A formal statement or decision by a legislative body. Simple resolutions often only express an opinion or set rules for one chamber; they do not become law.
- Securities
- Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.
- Statute
- A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.
- Veto
- The power of a president or governor to reject a bill passed by the legislature. Lawmakers can override a veto with a large enough vote (two-thirds of each chamber in Congress).
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-112s1290.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/112/s>
Record fed-us-cong112-s1290 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112