{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr3442-114/featured_debt-management-and-fiscal-responsibility-act-of-2015-1455068289.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr3442-114/featured_large_debt-management-and-fiscal-responsibility-act-of-2015-1455068289.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr3442-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-09-08","title_override":"Should the Treasury Have a Plan for Reducing the National Debt Before Raising the Debt Limit?","summary_override":"

This bill would require the Secretary of the Treasury to provide a report to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee before any date on which the Secretary believes the U.S. will reach the statutory debt limit.

Within the report, the Secretary must address the following:

The historic, current, and project levels of the debt;
The drivers and composition of future debt;
How the U.S. will meet debt obligations if the debt limit is raised.

The Secretary would also be required to provide both of the committees with a detailed explanation of:

Proposals of the President to reduce the debt in the short-, medium-, and long-term in addition to a progress report on implementing them;
The impact an increased debt limit will have on future government spending, debt service, and the position of the U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency;
Projections of the fiscal health and sustainability of major entitlement programs including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

All information provided by the Secretary during their appearances before congressional committees and any written materials must be made publicly available on the Dept. of the Treasury’s website.

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The Secretary must also provide a detailed explanation of:\n\n proposals to reduce the debt and a progress report on implementing them; the impact an increased debt limit will have on future spending, debt service, and the posi...","summarized":true,"cost":500000,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that implementing this bill would cost less than $500,000 over the 2016-2020 period.","impact":"The House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the Dept. of the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Treasury.","argument_for":"By requiring the Treasury to report to Congress about the national debt and ways to reduce it before the debt limit is reached, lawmakers can take steps to prevent the national debt from continuing to accumulate.","argument_against":"There’s already plenty of communication between the Dept. of the Treasury and Congress about the debt limit without this report being made a requirement, and lawmakers don’t need to be told how to reduce the debt.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr3442-114","bill_id":"hr3442-114","formal_id":"H.R. 3442","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2016-02-22T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2016-02-11T21:43:30.000Z","debated_on":"2016-02-08T00:00:00.000Z","congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/3442","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr3442rfs/html/BILLS-114hr3442rfs.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr3442-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/3442/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2016-02-22","related_bill_ids":["s3182-114","hres609-114"],"progress":"Passed House","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":299,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Ways and Means","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSWM","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Committee on Finance","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSFI","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr3442-114","details":"/api/bills/hr3442-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr3442-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr3442-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr3442-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":35,"slug":"hr3442-114-debt-management-and-fiscal-responsibility-act-of-2015","latest_chamber_votes_id":"hr3442-114","official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":16406,"yea_vote_count":12292,"nay_vote_count":4080,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["economy","government"],"issue_ids":["economy","federal-agencies","government","budgets"],"sponsor_id":73}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"economy","name":"Economy","slug":"economy","description":"The US Economy is heavily impacted by Federal legislation. 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Should the Treasury Have a Plan for Reducing the National Debt Before Raising the Debt Limit?