CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Jan. 23, 2012 – 10:43 p.m.
GOP Bills Aim to Overhaul Budget Process
By Paul M. Krawzak, CQ Staff
House Republicans plan several steps this week in their push to change the congressional budget process, including committee action on four bills that are part of a larger package aimed at curbing spending growth and changing some budgetary accounting practices.
Much of the legislation is sure to generate a fight between the parties over how best to manage congressional decision-making on fiscal policy matters. And although the bills will serve to illuminate the terms of the broader budget debate between Republicans and Democrats, they have little chance of becoming law this year.
The four bills being considered this week would, separately, elevate annual budget resolutions into legislation that could be signed into law, stop the Congressional Budget Office from incorporating inflation increases into its projected spending baselines, require the budget to account for some liabilities that are currently off the books and require CBO to take into account the effects that bills might have on economic growth, a calculation often referred to as dynamic scoring.
The four measures are part of a package of 10 bills introduced last month by House Budget Chairman
“The system isn’t working,” Ryan said during a House GOP retreat in Baltimore last week, adding that the legislation would “assure the budget system has teeth.” He hopes to bring some of the measures to the House floor later this month or in February and will seek floor votes on others later in the year.
The House Rules Committee, which shares jurisdiction over budget process issues, approved one of the four bills on Monday. By a 5-2 vote, the panel approved
The Budget panel is scheduled to consider Black’s binding-budget measure and three others Tuesday and Wednesday. They include the dynamic-scoring measure (
A Rules subcommittee will hold a hearing on another budget process bill Tuesday. That measure (
A Hard Sell
When the bills were introduced last year, Ryan described them as a first step toward fixing a broken budget process.
“The incentives currently favor those who want to spend more, and the result is a crushing burden of debt that is hurting economic growth today and threatening economic prosperity tomorrow,” he said.
Most or all of the bills are likely to pass in the GOP-dominated House, but they have little chance of winning passage in a Democratic Senate — especially in a presidential election year.
Legislation that modifies budget procedures is a hard sell at almost any time, because lawmakers are accustomed to operating under a system in effect since the 1970s.
GOP Bills Aim to Overhaul Budget Process
For example, Senate Budget Chairman
After much discussion last year, the Senate Budget Committee was able to agree on only a handful of process changes that it urged the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to consider. These included two-year budgeting and modifications to the budget amendment process in the Senate, in which numerous votes are taken on amendments with little or no time for debate.
“I will continue to advocate for smart budget process reform changes, such as biennial budgeting,” Conrad said in a written statement. “However, let’s not fool ourselves. None of these budget process changes can replace what our nation really needs, the political will to make the tough spending and revenue decisions necessary as part of a balanced, comprehensive long-term deficit reduction plan.”
Although some budget observers see merit in several proposals, they are not hopeful of enactment this year. Asked if any of the House measures is likely to become law, Michael Franc, vice president of government relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said, “No, not even close.”
Franc said the proposals would help Republicans draw a contrast between their vision of governance and that of Democrats. “It lays out for the voters, for journalists and for anyone watching Congress the core value system that they want to bring to how government operates,” he said.
Other observers were more dismissive of the GOP effort.
“In general, this reflects the lack of movement on substantive reforms to control the debt,” said Charles S. Konigsberg, president of the Federal Budget Group. “The process is not the problem. It’s the lack of agreement over how to address entitlement reform and tax reform.”
Rules Action
Under
Concurrent resolutions require approval by both chambers and serve to bind appropriations and other fiscal policy actions for the year, subject to waiver votes, but they are not sent to the president for his signature and do not have legal force.
According to sponsor Black, giving budgets the force of law would encourage agreement among the House, the Senate and the president. However, under
Massachusetts Democrat
GOP Bills Aim to Overhaul Budget Process
An amendment by Dreier, adopted 5-2, removed a requirement that the joint resolution set the government’s debt limit.
Richard E. Cohen and Emily Holden contributed to this story.