Some time next month, the federal government is set once again to hit its debt limit. If Congress does not agree to raise the statutory debt ceiling, the government will be forced to default on payments owed.

The debate over whether and under what condition to raise the limit offers budget hawks another opportunity to address unsustainable federal spending.

One option – introduced this week by Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, chair of the Republican Study Committee – the Terms of Credit Act. The bill’s text highlights that it would address the “root drivers” of the growing national debt with “reforms that will bolster the budget process, keep Congress hard at work and spur economic growth.”

The Terms of Credit Act would raise the statutory debt limit by about $1.5 trillion, which at current taxing and spending levels would be sufficient through about March 2017. However, it also calls for reforms to the budget process, such as:

Many Hill watchers would not expect this bill to make it through the Senate or be signed by the president, even if it does manage to earn approval of the House. But it does set a bold precedent for how Congress should evaluate its current approach to spending, the federal deficit and the national debt.

If “Republican Study Committee” and “debt ceiling” sound familiar, it’s because the caucus led the charge in in 2011 to address our spending addiction by introducing Cut, Cap and Balance. That plan set the terms of the debate over what eventually became the Budget Control Act of 2011. Four years later this bipartisan compromise is seen as an effective check on government spending, decreasing our deficit and capping spending levels.

One hopes the RSC’s leadership will once again result in further conservative reform to rein in spending and address our debt limit in a responsible fashion. For too long, Congress has continued the same approach. It’s time for a shuffle to fix our still-unsustainable spending trajectory.

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