Washington, DC — Today, Representatives Scott Peters (D-CA-50) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI-4), Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Fiscal Forum (BFF), introduced the Fiscal Commission Act of 2023, which would establish a bipartisan, bicameral, and open-doored commission to tackle our nation’s longterm debt and secure a more prosperous future for our children. 

“In the next 10 years, we will spend more on interest to our debt than on defense or Medicaid,” said Rep. Peters “This commission allows us to finally address the unsustainable debt that endangers our children’s future. I want an expanded child tax credit. I want affordable child care and college education. I want investments in our clean energy future. All of these priorities are threatened if we cannot have frank discussions about our spending and revenues to get our fiscal house in order.”  

Rep. Peters continued, “While I am glad our proposal is receiving much-deserved consideration, I do not support the partisan CR meant to placate the most extreme wings of the Republican Party. This dead-in-the-water extension risks a catastrophic shutdown that will harm working families and is very fiscally irresponsible. We will be paying people to not work and when it’s all over it will increase our debt and deficit. I hope our colleagues across the aisle can join us for a commonsense and bipartisan solution to the shutdown, as they did with this commission.”

The Fiscal Commission Act of 2023 is supported by Representatives Tom Cole (R-OK), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Ed Case (D-HI), William Timmons (R-SC), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Ami Bera (D-CA), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Blake Moore (R-UT), Jared Golden (D-ME), and Cory Mills (R-FL).

Full text of the legislation can be found here.

Background:

Makeup: 16 members. Each of the 4 corners congressional leaders selects 4 members, of which 3 are colleagues from the respective chamber and 1 individual from the private sector. The final makeup would be 6 House members (3 R, 3 D), 6 Senators (3 R, 3 D), and 4 outside experts (2 R, 2 D).

Fiscal Commission Vote: The Commission’s recommendations require a simple majority vote, PROVIDED, that the majority is made up of at least 3 members of each party.

Duties/Goal:

1. The Fiscal Commission shall identify policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve a sustainable debt-to-GDP ratio over the long term, and for any recommendations related to Federal programs for which a federal trust fund exists, and to improve solvency for a period of at least 75 years. In carrying out these duties, the Commission shall:
1. Propose recommendations to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio at or below 100% within 10 years.
2. Propose recommendations that meaningfully improve the long-term fiscal outlook, including changes to address the growth of direct spending and the gap between revenues and expenditures.

Expedited Procedures:

2. Requires each chamber to vote on the recommendations, without amendment.
3. Provides that the motion to proceed in the Senate is subject to a 51-vote threshold, though final passage is subject to standard Rule 22 60-vote threshold.

Timeline:

1. The Commission shall be established and members appointed within 60 days of enactment.
2. The Commission shall vote on recommendations on November 8, 2024 (the Friday after the 2024 election).
3. Roughly 8 legislative days (2 weeks) for the first chamber to consider.
4. 5 legislative days, roughly 1 week, for the Senate to begin consideration.
5. Final congressional vote during the 2024 lame duck.

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The Bipartisan Fiscal Forum (BFF) is a group of like-minded congressmembers dedicated to sounding the alarm about our nation’s unsustainable debt trajectory and working together to get control of our fiscal future. The group’s mission is to elevate the debt Issue with their colleagues and the public while providing members of Congress with opportunities to improve the fiscal policy debate in Congress. The group began informally in 2020 and since then has engaged in bipartisan collaboration to put forward ideas that address our growing debt and exploding interest costs. In total more than 50 current members of Congress have participated in BFF activities.