The CBO Scoring Accountability Act requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide ongoing analysis and updates on the costs and revenues of major legislation for 10 years after enactment, ensuring greater transparency and accountability in government spending.
Garland "Andy" Barr
Representative
KY-6
The "CBO Scoring Accountability Act" requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to analyze major legislation for the first 10 years after enactment, including estimates of costs, revenue changes, and comparisons against previous estimates. It mandates a report to Congress if discrepancies between actual costs/revenue and prior estimates exceed 10 percent, ensuring transparency and accountability in legislative financial impacts. Federal departments and agencies are required to provide the CBO director with the information necessary to conduct these analysis. "Major legislation" is defined as any bill projected to result in mandatory spending or federal revenue changes equal to or greater than 0.25 percent of the current projected gross domestic product of the United States for that year.
CBO Gets Long-Term Assignment: New Act Requires 10-Year Cost Check-Ups on Major Legislation
Congress is looking to add a long-term reality check to its budgeting process with the 'CBO Scoring Accountability Act.' This proposed legislation requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – the nonpartisan number crunchers for lawmakers – to go back and analyze the actual costs and revenue impacts of 'major legislation' for a full decade after it becomes law. Think of it as comparing the initial price tag sticker to the actual maintenance costs over time.
Beyond the Initial Price Tag: 10-Year Budget Check-Ups
Right now, the CBO gives lawmakers a forecast before a bill passes, estimating its budget impact. This Act adds a crucial follow-up step. For laws deemed 'major,' the CBO would have to regularly compare those initial predictions against what really happens to federal spending and revenue over the first 10 years, as outlined in the new Section 407 added to the Congressional Budget Act. If the actual numbers are off by 10 percent or more compared to the original estimate, the CBO Director has to report that discrepancy – and explain why – directly to Congress. It’s like getting a project estimate and then having someone track the actual expenses to see how close the initial guess was, aiming for greater fiscal accountability.
What Counts as "Major"? The Quarter-Percent GDP Rule
So, what triggers this decade-long financial scrutiny? The bill defines 'major legislation' pretty specifically: any act projected to result in changes to mandatory spending (think programs like Social Security or Medicare) or federal revenues equal to or greater than 0.25 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for that year. While 0.25% might sound small, applied to the multi-trillion dollar US economy, it represents a significant amount, ensuring this detailed review focuses on laws with substantial, potentially economy-wide budget implications.
Getting the Real Numbers: Agency Cooperation Required
To make these long-term analyses work, the CBO needs accurate data. The Act explicitly requires all federal departments and agencies to provide the CBO Director with the necessary information to conduct these supplemental estimates. This aims to ensure the CBO isn't flying blind when trying to track a law's real-world fiscal footprint years down the line. While this requirement, detailed in the proposed Section 407, could boost transparency and hold initial budget forecasts more accountable, it also translates to more reporting legwork for various federal agencies and a potentially heavier, ongoing workload for the CBO itself.