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Proposal:A bill to establish the Federal Rainy Day Fund to control emergency spending.

This proposal is archived and closed to further debate. It was introduced in the 117th Congress, which has concluded, and the bill was not enacted into law.
Geographic Scope
National

Description

This bill establishes a Federal Rainy Day Fund to fund emergency spending. Under the bill, an emergency is any occasion or instance for which federal assistance is needed to supplement state and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property, public health, and safety; or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States.

The bill authorizes annual appropriations to the fund that are equal to 2% of the amount of the previous year's nonemergency discretionary spending.

In addition, the bill modifies or establishes various budget enforcement procedures to address spending from the fund. For example, the bill

  • establishes a point of order to prohibit the fund from being used for nonemergency spending,
  • establishes a point of order against provisions that provide emergency spending from the general fund of the Treasury when unobligated funds are available in the rainy day fund, and
  • repeals a provision that currently requires adjustments to discretionary spending limits to accommodate emergency spending.

Finally, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office to report on the relationship between emergency, disaster, and wildfire spending, including any recommendations to modify the spending that qualifies as emergency spending.

Bill Title

A bill to establish the Federal Rainy Day Fund to control emergency spending.

Linked Goals

Steps

  • 2021-04-27: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
  • 2021-04-27: Introduced in Senate

Projected Outcome

A more informed proposal or public response aligned with the Promote General Welfare goal.