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49 Soc. Sec. Bull. 22 (1986)
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985

handle is hein.journals/ssbul49 and id is 568 raw text is: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 by Mary Ross and Carol Hayes* This article briefly describes the legislative history of the old- age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) and supplemental security income (SSI) provisions, as well as related Medicare and Medicaid provisions, of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Recon- ciliation Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-272). It includes a chronol- ogy outlining the interaction of the budget reconciliation process with the development of the OASDI minor and technical changes bill (H.R. 2005) and the development of other social security re- lated legislation resulting in proposals that ultimately combined in the overall Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. The article also provides a detailed summary of the provi- sions of the legislation. On April 7, 1986, President Reagan signed into law H.R. 3128 (Public Law 99-272), the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA). The new law, which is the result of the congressional budget process, makes hundreds of changes in Federal programs to reduce the deficit in accordance with the budget decisions (S.Con.Res. 32) adopted by both the House and the Senate on August 1, 1985. It also includes a number of provisions affecting the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) and supplemental security income (SSI) programs, most of which have little or no budget impact. This article will deal only with social security related provisions. The social security related provisions of COBRA come essentially from three sources: (1) OASDI proposals developed by the House Ways and Means Committee and passed by the House in H.R. 2005 on May 14, 1985; (2) OASDI and SSI proposals added in the Senate; and (3) social security related proposals developed as part of the budget reconciliation process and combined into the legislation enacted as COBRA. The chronology on page 23 gives some indication of how the various bills and separate committee actions on deficit reduction legislation and (after final adoption of the First Concurrent Resolution) budget reconciliation proposals were ultimately combined in the overall COBRA legislation. Although the basic package of social security technical provisions was passed by the House in May 1985, this package was included in the Omnibus Budget bill and was not finally acted upon by Congress until *Ms. Ross is Director of the Legislative Reference Office, Office of Legislative and Regulatory Policy, Social Security Administration. Ms. Hayes is on the staff of the Legislative Reference Office. March 1986, after the first round of outlay reductions under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings process had taken effect. In general, the various delays in actions leading to enactment of COBRA were not directly related to the social security provisions in the legislation. For example, there was considerable controversy in the fall of 1985 concerning superfund provisions (relating to a tax on manufacturers to pay for an expanded toxic-waste cleanup program) and provisions for taxes on tobacco products. In addition, in the fall of 1985, tax reform legislation, civil service retirement legislation, debt ceiling legislation, and the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings balanced budget amendment required considerable congressional attention. There was also controversy concerning Medicare and aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) provisions that are not discussed in this article. Earlier in the congressional budget process, there was some delay because of the lengthy House-Senate conference to resolve differences in the versions of the First Concurrent Budget Resolution passed by the House and the Senate. Among other differences between the two versions of the resolution, the Senate-passed resolution contemplated substantial budget reductions due to a 1-year freeze in the social security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), to which the House conferees were unwilling to agree. 1 'The House-Senate conference agreement on the budget resolution, which was adopted by both Houses on August 1, did not call for any change in the social security or SSI COLA, but did contain a recommen- dation to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees to report legislation to limit the amount of social security benefits paid to il- legal and nonresident aliens. No subsequent action was taken on this nonbinding recommendation. 22 Social Security Bulletin, August 1986/Vol. 49, No. 8

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