Claims That Proposed Entitlement Cap Would Shield Medicare And Not Cause Massive Cuts Are Incorrect

Publication Date: June 2004

Publisher: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Robert Greenstein; Richard Kogan

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Federal budget; Tax code; Fiscal future; Economic projections

Type: Report

Abstract:

As early as the week of June 14, the House of Representatives will consider legislation to change the federal budget process. Some House Members are pushing a far-reaching measure to place a cap on overall entitlement spending, with automatic entitlement cuts instituted in any year in which the cap would otherwise be breached. This proposal is a centerpiece of H.R. 3800, the “Family Budget Protection Act,” legislation introduced by Rep. Jeb Hensarling and more than 100 conservative co-sponsors, which Grover Norquist and other conservative activists and organizations have termed the “gold standard” of budget-process legislation. A nearly identical entitlement cap is included in H.R. 3925, introduced by Rep. Mark Kirk and about 20 other Republican members. These entitlement cap proposals are likely to be offered as amendments to the budget-process legislation on the House floor.