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The Budget Control Act of 2011 () is a federal statute in the United States that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on August 2, 2011. The Act brought conclusion to the United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2011, which had threatened to lead the United States into sovereign default on or around August 3, 2011. The law involves the introduction of several complex mechanisms, such as creation of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (sometimes called the "super committee"),〔 options for a balanced budget amendment and automatic budget sequestration. ==Provisions== Debt ceiling: * The debt ceiling was increased by $400 billion immediately. * The President could request a further increase of $500 billion, which is subject to a congressional motion of disapproval which the President may veto, in which case a two-thirds majority in Congress would be needed to override the veto.〔 This has been called the 'McConnell mechanism' after the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who first suggested it as part of another scheme. * The President could request a final increase of $1.2–1.5 trillion, subject to the same disapproval procedure. The exact amount depends on the amount of cuts in the "super committee" plan if it passes Congress, and whether a Balanced budget amendment has been sent to the states. Deficit reduction: * Spending was reduced more than the increase in the debt limit. No tax increases or other forms of increases in revenue above current law were included in the bill. * The bill directly specified $917 billion of cuts over 10 years in exchange for the initial debt limit increase of $900 billion.〔 This is the first installment ("tranche") of cuts. $21 billion of this will be applied in the FY2012 budget.〔 * Additionally, the agreement established the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, sometimes called the "super committee",〔 to produce deficit reduction legislation by November 23, 2011, that would be immune from amendments or filibuster (similar to the Base Realignment and Closure).〔〔 The goal of the legislation was to cut at least $1.5 trillion over the coming 10 years and be passed by December 23, 2011.〔 Projected revenue from the committee's legislation could not exceed the revenue budgeting baseline produced by current law. (Current law has the Bush tax cuts expiring at the end of 2012.) The committee would have 12 members, 6 from each party.〔 * The agreement also specified an incentive for Congress to act. If Congress failed to produce a deficit reduction bill with at least $1.2 trillion in cuts, then Congress could grant a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling but this would trigger across-the-board cuts ("sequestrations"〔The sequestration mechanism would be the same as what was used before in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.〕), as of January 2, 2013.〔 These cuts would apply to mandatory and discretionary spending in the years 2013 to 2021 and be in an amount equal to the difference between $1.2 trillion and the amount of deficit reduction enacted from the joint committee. There would be some exemptions: reductions would apply to Medicare providers, but not to Social Security, Medicaid, civil and military employee pay, or veterans.〔〔 Medicare benefits would be limited to a 2% reduction. :As originally envisioned, these caps would equally affect security and non-security programs. Security programs would include the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Nuclear Security Administration, some management functions of the intelligence community and international affairs from the U.S. State Department. However, because the Joint Select Committee did not report any legislation to Congress, the act reset these caps to defense (essentially the DOD) and non-defense categories. This became one of the important elements of the fiscal cliff. Balanced Budget Amendment: * Congress was required to vote on a balanced budget amendment between October 1, 2011, and the end of 2011,〔 but is not required to pass it and send it to the states in order for the debt limit increases to occur. (This is unlike the previously proposed Cut, Cap and Balance Act, which was not enacted, which would have required Congress to actually pass such an amendment).〔 Other provisions: * Pell Grant funding was increased, but other financial aid was cut. Graduate and professional students were no longer eligible for interest subsidized loans. Repayment incentives will also be done away with after July 1, 2012. * Section 106 of the Budget Control Act amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide a two-year Senate budget, adopting in law what would usually be a Concurrent Resolution. Senate Budget Committee Chairman explains in (this video ). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Budget Control Act of 2011」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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