By: Claudio Simione, Staff Writer
At the time of writing this, lawmakers are coming towards the deadline to avert a government shutdown.[1] As most know, Congress is responsible for passing appropriations bills in order to provide funding to the federal government.[2] Failure to pass through bills or other resolutions can force government shutdowns, and shutdowns disrupt federal operations, in turn affecting millions.[3] Historically, Congress has struggled to pass funding bills on time due to a multitude of disagreements, ushering in a reliance on an occasional government shutdown. The last time Congress actually reformed the budget process was in 1974 through the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (CBA).[4] This established new institutions in Congress, including the Budget Committees in both the House and the Senate.[5] This act drastically reduced the power of the president to withhold federal funds once Congress appropriated them. However, it also opened up the door to multiple points of contention between parties, leading to frustrations and failed funding bills.[6]
The last time Congress completed all bills on time was in 1996, and instead of a functioning appropriations process, Congress has regularly resorted to various omnibus appropriations bills and continuing resolutions carrying over spending from the previous year.[7] The government spent half of the last 40 years operating under 150+ different short-term funding bills; this norm of crisis budgeting does not increase transparency or accountability.[8] The following initiatives proposed strive to reverse this exactly.
The first initiative proposed is to require mandatory floor time for appropriations.[9] Currently, the full Senate has the ability to review and debate individual line items in appropriations bills, and all 100 senators have an opportunity to amend them.[10] In recent years, the Senate has rarely considered appropriations in regular order, instead spending time on bills unrelated to the annual appropriations process until the next shutdown crisis produces an omnibus agreement.[11] The solution to this is to require floor time for appropriations. The Senate should require two-thirds of senators voting in the affirmative to consider a bill that is not one of the regular appropriations bills. This mandatory floor time would begin two weeks after the budget is approved, and end once the annual funding process was completed.[12] This would ensure that budget bills are given thorough consideration and completed time.
The second initiative proposed is to make appropriations easier to complete.[13] The current appropriations process requires Congress to consider 12 individual appropriations measures each year, ranging between May 15 and September 30, providing over $1 trillion in funding.[14] Passing each bill individually requires a large amount of work and historically all 12 bills are not enacted on time. Continuing resolutions are used to buy more time, and an omnibus appropriations bill is negotiated behind closed doors and presented months late, just before a government shutdown.[15] The solution to this is to move the annual funding process to a two-year cycle. A biennial cycle would set two years of government funding, cutting in half potential for shutdowns.[16] This would provide stability and predictability for federal agencies, state governments, and Americans who rely on federal funding for their livelihood. There are two main proposals that have previously been made in efforts to accomplish this. The first came from former Budget Chairman Mike Enzi, who’s bipartisan proposal would move appropriations to a biennial cycle while still passing a budget resolution annually to maintain Congress’s ability to use fast-tracked budget procedures yearly.[17] Consideration of bills would be split between the two years of a budget cycle, and the more politically contentious bills would be completed in non-election years, so Congress would still consider spending bills yearly.[18] Another proposal was offered by former Senator Johnny Isakson, which would move the budget resolution and all 12 appropriations bills to a biennial cycle enacted in non-election years.[19] In the election years, however, congressional appropriators would conduct oversight hearings to determine whether taxpayers dollars are being spent efficiently.[20]
Although these are only two issues and initiatives proposed, the topic is worth being presented as it has an impact on every American in this country. Government shutdowns reduce economic growth by stopping government spending and services. This can be seen clearly in the 2018-2019 shutdown, which reduced GDP by $11 billion.[21] Additionally, government shutdowns are costly to the government, may force public services to halt operations or close, and may result in federal employees being laid off.[22] Although many of the arguments leading to government shutdowns arise from political disagreements, it is essential that our lawmakers come together to resolve this bipartisan issue.
[1] See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq41rEvLz58
[2] See chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R42388.pdf
[3] See https://history.house.gov/Institution/Shutdown/Government-Shutdowns/
[4] See https://www.americanprogress.org/article/reflections-congressional-budget-act/
[5] See https://www.americanprogress.org/article/reflections-congressional-budget-act/
[6] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[7] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[8] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[9] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[10]See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[11] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[12] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[13] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[14] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[15] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[16] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[17] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[18] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[19] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[20] See ://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf
[21] See https://www.pgpf.org/article/four-reasons-why-a-government-shutdown-is-harmful/
[22] See generally https://www.pgpf.org/article/four-reasons-why-a-government-shutdown-is-harmful/