(COMMITTEE PRINT] THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS: A GENERAL EXPLANATION (Including Changes Made by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-177)) CIS RECORD ONLY: COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET LIBRARY TRY OF GOV Printed for the useof the Committee on the Budget U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1986 60-607 O For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, DC 20402 COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET WILLIAM H. GRAY III, Pennsylvania, Chairman JIM WRIGHT, Texas DELBERT L. LATTA, Ohio W.G. (BILL) HEFNER, North Carolina JACK F. KEMP, New York THOMAS J. DOWNEY, New York LYNN MARTIN, Illinois MIKE LOWRY, Washington BOBBI FIEDLER, California BUTLER DERRICK, South Carolina WILLIS D. GRADISON, JR., Ohio GEORGE MILLER, California TOM LOEFFLER, Texas PAT WILLIAMS, Montana CONNIE MACK, Florida HOWARD WOLPE, Michigan WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania MARTIN FROST, Texas W. HENSON MOORE, Louisiana VIC FAZIO, California DENNY SMITH, Oregon MARTY RUSSO, Illinois VIN WEBER, Minnesota ED JENKINS, Georgia HANK BROWN, Colorado BEAU BOULTER, Texas STEVEN L. PRUITT, Executive Director (II) CONTENTS Page Bongora Background of Budget Reform (Prior to 1974)..... Background of Budget Process Reform (1985)... House and Senate Budget Committees ............. Congressional Budget Office ........ Congressional Budget Process ......... Reconciliation process .......... Special procedures for backdoor spending legislation ......... Enrollment of spending bills and miscellaneous matters. Budget information, program evaluation, and effective dates ............... Program review and evaluation .............. Standard budget terminology ....... Social Security trust funds ............ ATTACHMENTS “A”-Congressional Budget Process Timetable .......... “B”-Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, As “C”-A Summary: The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act “D”-Functional Classification Codes and Program Categories. “E”-First Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1986 (Confer- ence Report).............. Tederal Budget Process .......... “F”—Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process ........... “G”—House Rules Relating to the Budget Act ........ “H”-House Precedents Interpreting the Congressional Budget Act................ THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET AND IMPOUNDMENT WHY A BUDGET PROCESS? Of all of the legislative matters before the Members of the House and the Senate, none is more political or more crucial than the choices embodied in the Federal budget. The budget touches virtually every significant political issue which must be considered by the Congress in any given year: What are the Nation's real needs and priorities for Federal spending, and which programs are effective in meeting them? Which programs are ineffective and should be eliminated? Does the economy need a tax cut or tax increase and, if so, how should it be designed and what size should it be? Should indexing of Federal programs be modified or eliminated? How can fraud, waste, and abuse in both military and domestic spending be identified and controlled? Do we need an overall spending limit that is vigorously enforced? Would a constitutional amendment to require balanced budgets work? Economists may offer advice on the anticipated consequences of these and other choices, but the decisions are made by elected representatives. The budget process is Congress' mechanism to organize, present, and resolve choices such as these. In July 1974, when the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (Public Law 93-344) was adopted, the Congress declared that it was essential: (1) to assure effective congressional control over the budgetary process; (2) to provide for the congressional determination each year of the appropriate level of Federal revenues and expenditures; (3) to provide a system of impoundment control; (5) to provide for the furnishing of information by the executive branch in a manner that would assist the Congress in dis charging its duties. To implement the Act, the Congress established new institutional bodies and procedures. It created the Budget Committees, the Congressional Budget Office, as well as a budget timetable, and parliamentary controls. Since its institution over a decade ago, the budget process has been scrutinized by a number of organizations, none more probing than the Congress itself. During that time, hearings, meetings, panels, and papers have questioned various aspects of the process, but the fundamental purpose has remained unchanged. The process provides order, guidance, and information to the Congress on major economic and fiscal policy issues to enable Members of Congress to make informed choices. |