PAYGO Point of Order on Extenders Bill
Wanted to pass on the below analysis from my colleague Jon Lieber about what just happened on the Senate floor a few minutes ago regarding the Baucus substitute to the unemployment/extenders bill. Specifically, the emergency designation for purposes of statutory PAYGO was stripped, but the emergency designation for the PAYGO rules in Congress was not. Also of note, Sen. Reid moved to reconsider this vote, so the Senate may consider this question again later in the week.
The Baucus substitute extends COBRA subsidies and a 0% Medicare “doc fix” for two months (through the end of May), along with UI and other provisions. The substitute includes language extending eligibility for COBRA subsidies to individuals who lost their jobs while the subsidies lapsed (i.e. from April 1 through date of enactment), and removes language in the underlying bill regarding the Medicare therapy caps exceptions process (a one year extension through December 31 was included in the Senate health care bill signed into law, so this provision was overtaken by events and thus was stricken from the substitute).
As was pointed out below, the substitute would increase the deficit by more than $18 billion. As the Washington Post reported yesterday on the Administration’s apparent glee that the federal deficit would be *only* $1.3 trillion this fiscal year, it’s worth pointing out that passing more pieces of legislation like the Baucus substitute would exacerbate these still record-high deficits.
The motion to waive the Budget Act was not agreed to by a vote of 58-40 and the emergency designation for purposes of statutory PAYGO (section 11 (c) of the substitute as modified) was stricken.
To clarify: whether or not this point of order was sustained, the Baucus bill will add to the debt. Since the LeMieux point of order was sustained, however, the entire $18.2 billion cost of the bill, if passed, will be added to the PAYGO scorecard, which currently shows a negative balance of $44.9 billion. Assuming the bill passes without the emergency designation and without an offset, this bill will move the PAYGO scorecard $18.2 billion closer to positive territory, at which point a sequester would be required to offset the combined deficit impact of all legislation passed at the end of session.