Budget Reconciliation Legislation in 2005

Publication Date: December 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

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Abstract:

The budget reconciliation process is one of the chief tools used by Congress during the past quarter-century to implement major changes in budget policy. Reconciliation is a two-step process, involving the inclusion of reconciliation instructions in the budget resolution, which direct the appropriate committees to develop legislation achieving the desired budgetary outcomes, and the subsequent consideration of the resultant reconciliation legislation under expedited procedures.

The FY2006 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 95), which was agreed to by the House and Senate on April 28, 2005, included reconciliation instructions expected to lead to the development of three different reconciliation measures: (1) an omnibus spending bill to reduce mandatory outlays by about $35 billion over FY2006FY2010; (2) a revenue bill to reduce revenues by $70 billion over the same period; and (3) a bill to increase the limit on the public debt by $781 billion.

Following a surge in spending for relief and reconstruction efforts associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Republican leaders in the House and Senate announced plans to achieve additional savings in mandatory outlays through the reconciliation process, and to pursue other savings in annual appropriations acts.

The Senate Budget Committee reported the spending reconciliation bill, S. 1932, the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005, on October 27. The Senate passed the bill with amendments on November 3, by a vote of 52-47. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the committee recommendations would yield net outlay savings of $39.114 billion over FY2006-FY2010; the amendments adopted by the Senate reduced the five-year savings to $34.644 billion.

The House Budget Committee reported the spending reconciliation bill, H.R. 4241, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, on November 7. The House passed the bill on November 18, by a vote of 217-215; amendments were incorporated into the bill automatically under a self-executing feature of the rule governing consideration (H.Res. 560, as amended), but no other amendments were allowed. CBO estimated that the committee recommendations would yield net outlay savings of $53.929 billion over FY2006-FY2010, about $4 billion the revised level of savings requested by the House leadership; the amendments adopted by the House reduced the five-year savings to $49.889 billion.

The Senate Finance Committee approved the revenue reconciliation bill, S. 2020, the Tax Relief Act of 2005, on November 15. The Senate passed the bill with amendments on November 18, by a vote of 64-33. The House Ways and Means Committee reported the revenue reconciliation bill, H.R. 4297, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005, on November 17. The House passed the bill on December 8, by a vote of 234-197. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the five-year revenue reduction at $57.756 billion in the Senate-passed bill and $56.082 billion in the House-passed bill.

This report will be updated as developments warrant.