Fwd: Budget Bulletin: As Deficit Deepens, Congress Refuses to Enact a Budget Blueprint

Budget Bulletin Your source for federal budget news and analysis Recent Updates Obama's Fiscal Commission: Avoiding a Standoff Corrected VAT Lessons From Canada Guidelines for a Successful Fiscal Commission Featured Research As Deficit Deepens, Congress Refuses to Enact a Budget Blueprint By Brian Riedl Congress has now missed its April 15 deadline for enacting a budget resolution. In fact, after spending the spring passing an expensive and unpopular health care bill, the House and Senate did not even complete a single mark-up of the budget resolution by the April 15 deadline for full enactment. And it is unclear if Congress even plans to bother completing a budget at all this year. Indications are that the Senate may pass one, yet the House likely will not—which would prevent a conference committee and final enactment of a binding budget. Not only is Congress ignoring the immediate budget picture, but it has punted the long-term decisions to a deficit commission that is structured to avoid transparency and accountability. Too Busy Spending to Pass a Budget The budget resolution—which sets an annual framework for taxes and spending—is one of the few pieces of legislation that Congress must pass annually. Since the 1974 Congressional Budget Act created the modern budget process, Congress has failed to enact a budget resolution only four times. Not only would this year bring the fifth failure, but it risks being the first time the House does not make any attempt to pass the first version of a budget bill. Several problems arise from not passing a budget. First, it prevents Congress from capping discretionary spending for fiscal year (FY) 2011. The House and Senate may "deem" spending targets for their appropriations committees, but the respective spending targets may not even match each other (which would create large problems when the spending bills reach the conference committee). >> Click here to read Brian Riedl's full report Chart of the Week Get more charts with Heritage's Federal Revenue and Spending Book of Charts About The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400