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          ACongressional
          a   Research Service






The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019: Changes to

the BCA and Debt Limit



Updated July 29, 2019

On July 25, 2019, the House of Representatives passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 (H.R. 3877;
BBA  2019) by a vote of 284-149. The BBA 2019 would raise the discretionary spending limits (caps)
implemented by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25) for FY2020 and FY202 1; make
other BCA-related changes, including an extension of the mandatory sequester through FY2029; and
suspend the statutory debt limit until August 1, 2021.

Changes   to FY2020 and  FY2021  Discretionary  Spending   Caps
The BCA  created annual statutory discretionary spending caps for defense and nondefense spending that
are in effect through FY202 1. If appropriations are enacted that exceed a limit for a fiscal year, across-
the-board reductions (i.e., sequestration) are triggered to eliminate the excess spending within that
spending category. For more information on the BCA, see CRS Report R44874, The Budget Control Act:
Frequently Asked Questions.
Previously enacted legislation increased these discretionary spending caps for each year from FY2014
through FY2019.
Section 101(a) of BBA 2019 would increase the caps on defense and nondefense budget authority for
FY2020  and FY2021, the final two years for which discretionary spending caps are scheduled to be in
effect under the BCA. For FY2020, the BBA 2019 would raise the defense discretionary cap to $666.5
billion (a $90 billion increase) and the nondefense cap to $621.5 billion (a $78 billion increase). In
FY2021, BBA  2019 would raise the discretionary defense cap to $671.5 billion (an $81 billion increase)
and the nondefense cap to $626.5 billion (a $72 billion increase). Table 1 shows the changes that would
occur under BBA 2019.

             Table I. Discretionary Cap Changes Resulting from the BBA  2019
                             (in billions of dollars of budget authority)
     Fiscal Year       Category         Current Law     BBA 2019 Change    Post-BBA 2019
       FY2020           Defense            $576.2            +$90.3           $666.5

                                                              Congressional Research Service
                                                                https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                   IN11148

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