Pro-Growth Budgeting Act of 2013

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is straightforward but one that I think is important to consider. Simply put, my amendment requires the Congressional Budget Office to review and report on the accuracy of dynamic scoring estimates 5 fiscal years after any dynamically scored bill is enacted.

Under H.R. 1874, very few pieces of legislation are likely to meet the threshold for requiring this type of macroeconomic analysis. However, as we have heard during this debate, the use of these estimates is controversial. There is a body of opinion that says that this type of scoring is legitimate, and there is a body of opinion that asserts that this type of scoring undermines the budget process and produces highly uncertain projections. My amendment would provide a way to follow up on estimates performed under H.R. 1874 and help shed light on whether those estimates, in fact, offered accurate data.

I will confess that I, for one, remain skeptical of dynamic scoring; but if we proceed in this vein and enact dynamic scoring, I think having the accountability put in place by having the CBO come back to Congress with information on whether the actual economic impact of certain legislation turns out to be, in fact, accurate would be very helpful in helping us assess whether or not this particular form of scoring is, in fact, legitimate and fact-based.

So, Mr. Chairman, I urge support for this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source