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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., Thursday renewed efforts to implement a two-year federal budget cycle that would allow Congress to avoid rush omnibus funding packages and give it more time to carry out oversight of government action.
Domenici, a former Budget Committee chairman, and Lieberman, currently the Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced the Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act of 2005 with the idea of bringing a measure of order and stability to a haphazard budgeting and appropriations process.
According to CRS, between half and three-quarters of Congress’s time is now spent on budget and appropriation votes. Yet, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, 96 percent of our spending on discretionary accounts is predictable. In other words, the grinding annual budget and appropriations cycle is taking up far too much of Congress’ time and for no good reason.
Under a biennial budget, the President and Congress would establish a two-year budget in the first session of Congress and devote the second session to agency oversight. Domenici is a longtime advocate of the idea, having first proposed it in 1987, and Lieberman has co-sponsored the bill with him since 1999.
“Biennial budgeting is not a new concept. It is tried and true,” Lieberman said. “It has been an historically preferred method among state legislatures and would be a vast improvement over the contentious, time-consuming budget process we endure year after year. Moving to a two-year cycle would give Congress more time to legislate and engage in oversight and it would provide more time to work through the nation’s spending priorities in a reasonable and efficient fashion. Who could resist that? I hope this is the year that the U.S. Congress accepts biennial budgeting as the best way to do its business.”
“Frankly, Congress and the President must get serious about deficit reduction,” said Domenici. “While holding the line on spending is admirable, we could further advance government thrift and efficiency by creating more time for congressional oversight. Too much of our legislative year is now taken up with a budget and appropriations process that is redundant, inefficient, and destined for failure each year,” Domenici said.
Domenici noted that virtually every year, lawmakers struggle to finish the budget well into December. Since 1950, Congress has only twice met the October 1 fiscal year deadline for completion of all 13 appropriation bills that fund the government.
“Clearly, the current system is not serving the Congress or the American people well,” Domenici said. “By moving to a biennial budget cycle, we can budget more effectively, strengthen our oversight and watchdog functions, improve the efficiency of government agencies and complete our work on the budget in an intelligent, fair, and deliberative manner.
It is crucial, the Senators contend, that Congress not abdicate its oversight responsibilities. Over one-third, or $102.1 billion, of appropriations for non-defense programs are operating under 118 authorization laws that have expired. A two-year budget cycle would allow Congress to devote the second session to reviewing these authorizations.
Among the Senators cosponsoring this proposal are Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Budget Committee members Russ Feingold, D-Wis., Wayne Allard, R-Col., Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Jim Bunning, R-Ky., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
The Domenici-Lieberman bill will be referred to the Senate Budget Committee.
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