The No Bias in the Baseline Act modifies how the federal government calculates budget baselines, which are projections used to measure the cost of new legislation. Under current law, the baseline assumes that discretionary spending (like defense or agency operations) will increase with inflation each year, while this bill changes that to assume discretionary spending will remain flat at current levels. The bill also removes several adjustments that baseline calculations currently make for inflation and other factors, and eliminates certain exceptions for emergency spending. Additionally, the legislation requires the Congressional Budget Office to prepare alternative fiscal scenarios showing different budget outcomes when preparing its reports to Congress. These changes affect how Congress evaluates whether new bills will increase or decrease overall federal spending, potentially making proposed legislation appear more expensive under the new baseline methodology. The bill includes conforming changes to Social Security Act provisions and related budget laws but does not specify any direct funding or implementation timeline.
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