S. 45 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Jan 9, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryTies Congress pay to balanced budgets
This bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to certify whether Congress has adopted a balanced budget each year. If a chamber doesn't pass a balanced budget by mid-April, members of that chamber face salary penalties. For the current Congress, their salaries would be held in escrow until a balanced budget is passed. For future Congresses, members would be paid just $1 a year for the rest of that calendar year if a balanced budget isn't certified.
How it affects you
This directly affects members of Congress and how they're paid, but doesn't change laws or services that apply to the rest of the public. The bill is essentially a mechanism to incentivize Congress to pass a balanced budget by putting financial pressure on the lawmakers themselves.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Jan 9, 2025)
Balanced Budget Accountability Act
This bill withholds Members of Congress's salaries in each chamber if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) does not certify that the chamber has adopted a balanced budget. The bill also requires that revenue increases be agreed upon by an affirmative three-fifths vote in each chamber.
Balanced budget means a concurrent budget resolution providing that for FY2035 and each succeeding fiscal year to which the resolution applies total outlays do not exceed total receipts and are not more than 18% of the projected gross domestic product for such fiscal year.
For the 119th Congress, if OMB does not certify that a chamber has adopted a balanced budget for the next fiscal year before April 16, salaries of Members of that chamber must be held in escrow until passage of a balanced budget or, if none is passed, the conclusion of the 119th Congress.
For subsequent Congresses, if OMB does not certify that a chamber has adopted a balanced budget for the next fiscal year before April 16, each Member of that chamber shall be paid at the rate of $1 annually for the remainder of the calendar year.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 45
A BILL
Balanced Budget Accountability Act
Sponsor: Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) · Introduced Jan 9, 2025 · Congress · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Jan 9, 2025: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.”