PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.

Fiscal Responsibility for a Sound Future Act

Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 83.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 19, 2005

Fiscal Responsibility for a Sound Future Act - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to extend through FY 2005 the spending caps for discretionary, highway, and mass transit categories in new budget authority and outlays.

Declares that Congress should enact a limit on total discretionary spending for FY 2006.

Retains (eliminates the expiration of) pay-as-you-go.

Reenacts into law (effective for FY 2005) certain budget enforcement mechanisms through FY 2015.

Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider under expedited procedures applicable to reconciliation in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 any measure that increases the deficit in the: (1) first fiscal year covered by the most recently adopted concurrent resolution on the budget; (2) first five fiscal years covered by such adoption; or (3) first five fiscal years following such period.

Amends H.Con.Res. 95 (108th Congress) to revise provisions concerning the Pay-As-You-Go point of order rule in the Senate to: (1) modify the formula used to estimate the baseline; and (2) extend the application of such rule through FY 2015.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
PlainBill analysis is coming later. This page presents official source data. We have not yet published a PlainBill explanation for this bill.

Who introduced it

Sen. Conrad, Kent [D-ND] · D–ND

Committees

    18 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

    Actions

    A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

    1. Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 83.

    2. Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.

    3. Introduced in Senate

    Bill text & related measures

    Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

    Related bills identified by Congress.gov

    Source last updated: Aug 15, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

    Explore the bill from different angles

    Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

    Neutral evidence review

    Objective

    Analyze S.851 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

    View full prompt & sources
    Fairness and public impact

    Progressive lens

    Examine S.851 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

    View full prompt & sources
    Institutions and government scope

    Conservative lens

    Examine S.851 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

    View full prompt & sources
    Individual rights and government power

    Liberty lens

    Examine S.851 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

    View full prompt & sources