Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 (H.R. 500) was introduced to the United States Congress by Rep. Nathan Deal of Georgia's 9th congressional district on January 16, 2007.

The bill, which had eight co-sponsors, was referred to the House Administration Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The bill's purpose is to give members of Congress a personal financial incentive to prevent the federal government from running budget deficits. H.R. 500 was endorsed by the American Conservative Union and Downsize DC.

The bill would have cut the pay of members of Congress every year the federal government runs a budget deficit. An exception would have been made for spending that the Director of the Congressional Budget Office determines is directly related to a military conflict lasting over 30 days or in response to a terrorist attack on the United States.

The bill, if passed, would have take effect no earlier than the 2008 fiscal year. If the federal government had been determined by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to have run a deficit in 2008, then the pay of members of Congress would have been docked in 2009. Any cost-of-living adjustments they might have received would have been nullified, and Representatives and Senators taken a 5% cut from their 2008 pay rates. If the federal government had run a deficit the following year, in 2009, then members would have received a 10% cut from their 2008 pay rates, and continued to receive a 10% cut for each succeeding, consecutive year the federal government runs a deficit. If, following one or more years in which Members' pay had been reduced under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, there occurred a fiscal year in which there had been no deficit, then salaries for Members would have been restored to what they were before reductions took place, plus any cost-of-living adjustments they would have received.

The bill was not passed. On June 3, 2023 the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 was signed into law.

External links

• Text of H.R. 500, the Fiscal Responsibility Act Archived 2016-07-03 at the Wayback Machine from the Library of Congress' Thomas website.