The text of this new border bill starts out like so many others, with a title. And, like so many others, incorporates the terms “and for other purposes” in that title—and that is where the devil lies in the details.

HR-815 started life as a sweet little two-liner bill called the RELIEVE Act, introduced last year by Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). On March 7, 2023, it passed the House on a simple voice vote. The bill amended current legislation to make it easier for veterans to be reimbursed for emergency medical care. Then, Krysten Sinema (I-AZ) introduced S-1172, nearly identical legislation, in the Senate in July 2023. No further action has been taken on either bill. About 10% of bills that became law in recent Congresses have been little one-page bills dealing with some aspect of veterans’ benefits.

Now, here comes Patty Murray (D-WA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to amend not S-1172 but HR-815. The first action outlined in the bill is to delete the entire text of the bill that the House passed. That alone should get it absolutely no consideration by either Senate Republicans or any House members.

I am always concerned about “and for other purposes” and think that only appropriations bills should cover more than one topic. The rest should be able to stand or fall on their own merits. So, I took a look at one of the “other purposes” incorporated by the nefarious Democrats.

Image by AI.

As background, Congress.gov is the website that provides information on all legislative activity. One bit of information that you’ll find on the “TEXT” tab associated with a bill is a link to the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) Cost Estimate. This provides a breakdown of the anticipated cost of the bill on the budget, along with explanations about the bill and how the CBO calculated the cost estimate.

This information is required by the Pay-As-You-Go statute, abbreviated S-PAYGO. The effect is to provide transparency regarding a bill’s cost to legislators and the President. One side effect is that the rest of us get to see it, too. Here is the CBO’s information sheet on the policy.

The new amendment to sweet little HR-815 is being described as a $118 billion piece of legislation. However, we don’t know if that is the new bill’s entire budgetary impact., and if this amendment passes, no one will ever know until the costs have long been passed to the taxpayers of this country. Why? Because TITLE VIII (BUDGETARY EFFECTS), SEC. 3801. (BUDGETARY EFFECTS) of this bill states

(a) STATUTORY PAYGO SCORECARDS.—The budgetary effects of this division shall not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.

It goes on to state

(b) SENATE PAYGO SCORECARDS.—The budgetary effects of this division shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained for purposes of section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress).

(c) CLASSIFICATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.— Notwithstanding Rule 3 of the Budget Scorekeeping Guidelines set forth in the joint explanatory statement of the committee of conference accompanying Conference Report 105–217 and section 250(c)(8) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the budgetary effects of this division shall not be estimated—

(1) for purposes of section 251 of such Act;

(2) for purposes of an allocation to the Committee on Appropriations pursuant to section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; and

(3) for purposes of paragraph (4)(C) of section 3 of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 as being included in an appropriation Act.

These Democrats want the truth hidden from their colleagues who are expected to thoughtfully consider this bill. They want the truth hidden from the President, who is expected to take such things as budgetary impact and cost into consideration when signing legislation into law. They want the truth hidden from We the People, who will bear the entire burden for their actions.

This must not stand. Conservatives and others who value the well-being of their constituents must vote NO on this amendment to HR-815.

Anony Mee is the nom de blog of a retired public servant who X-tweets at @oh_yeahMee.