Under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, the President and Congress can designate certain spending or revenue changes as an "emergency," thereby exempting them from the limits on discretionary spending and the pay-as-you-go rules for legislation affecting mandatory spending programs. To address this, S. 557 provides a point of order in the Senate against any provision in any legislation that is designated as an emergency. If the point of order is raised and sustained against a provision designated as an emergency, then that provision would be stricken from the legislation. The point of order can be waived in the Senate by an affirmative vote of a simple majority.

Emergency spending reforms were the subject of the budget process reform hearing jointly conducted by the Committees on Governmental Affairs and the Budget on January 27, 1999.

S. 557 was ordered to be reported as an original measure by Chairman Thompson from the Governmental Affairs Committee by voice vote on March 4, 1999. A written report (S. Rept. 106-14) on S. 557 was filed on March 15, 1999. The bill was placed on the Senate legislative calendar on March 12, 1999.  This bill has been considered by the Senate as a vehicle for the Social Security lockbox legislation.