Skip to main content
HR 239 113th Congress House Economics and Public Finance Appropriations Budget process Executive agency funding and structure

Zero-based Budgeting Ensures Responsible Oversight (ZERO) Act of 2013

Introduced: January 14, 2013 See on congress.gov
This bill died when the 113th Congress ended
It never became law before the 113th Congress (2013–2014) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 14, 2013
Referred to the House Committee on the Budget.
Jan 14, 2013
Introduced in House
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Zero-based Budgeting Ensures Responsible Oversight (ZERO) Act of 2013 - Requires the President to submit with materials related to each federal budget transmitted to Congress by January 1, 2015, a budget for each agency that contains:

  • a description of each activity for which an agency receives an appropriation in the current fiscal year or for which the agency requests an appropriation for the budget year;
  • the legal basis for each activity;
  • for each activity, three alternative funding levels for the budget year (at least two of which shall be below the funding level for the current fiscal year), a summary of the priorities that would be accomplished within each level, and the additional increments of value that would be added by the higher funding levels; and
  • for each activity one or more measures of its cost efficiency and effectiveness.

Requires the  Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to publish guidelines to carry out this Act that shall require: (1) the baseline budget of each agency to be assumed to be zero, and (2) each proposed expenditure to be justified as if it were a new expenditure.

What's happening now January 14, 2013

Referred to the House Committee on the Budget.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 239: Zero-based Budgeting Ensures Responsible Oversight (ZERO) Act of 2013. 113th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/113-HR-239/
MLA
"H.R. 239: Zero-based Budgeting Ensures Responsible Oversight (ZERO) Act of 2013." 113th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/113-HR-239/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 239, 113th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/113-HR-239/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 239: Zero-based Budgeting Ensures Responsible Oversight (ZERO) Act of 2013](https://openamerica.io/bill/113-HR-239/)
Report a problem