Spending Reconciliation Directives to the Senate Finance Committee in Congressional Budget Resolutions

Publication Date: May 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Banking and finance

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Abstract:

During the more than 30 years that the congressional budget process has been in effect, the Senate Finance Committee has been subject to spending reconciliation directives in a budget resolution on 16 occasions. Fourteen instances involved directives to reduce spending, while the remaining two, for FY2002 and FY2004, instructed the committee to increase outlays (to accommodate related tax policy changes). In every instance but one, for FY1982, spending reconciliation directives to the committee were accompanied by revenue reconciliation directives.

The spending reconciliation directives varied in their time frame, from single-year coverage (in the FY1981 and FY1990 budget resolutions) to 11-year coverage (in the FY2002 and FY2004 budget resolutions). Further, the amount of required spending changes ranged from about $100 million for a single year to about $530 billion over seven years. The largest spending increase was directed in the FY2004 budget resolution ($27.476 billion in outlays for 11 years, covering FY2003-FY2013), while the largest spending decrease was directed in the FY1996 budget resolution ($530.359 billion for seven years, covering FY1996-FY2002).

This report will be updated as developments warrant. (For additional information, see CRS Report RS20870, Revenue Reconciliation Directives to the Senate Finance Committee in Congressional Budget Resolutions, by Robert Keith.) The budget reconciliation process is an optional procedure under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344, as amended) that operates as an adjunct to the annual budget resolution process. The 1974 act first became effective for FY1976, and Congress has completed action on at least one budget resolution each year, except for FY1999, FY2003, and FY2005.