The "Deeming Resolution": A Budget Enforcement Tool (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised June 12, 2013 |
| Report Number |
RL31443 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Megan Suzanne Lynch, Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
"Deeming resolution" is a term that refers to legislation deemed to serve as an annual budget resolution for purposes of establishing enforceable budget levels for a budget cycle. A deeming resolution is used when the House and Senate have not agreed on a budget resolution.
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 provides for the annual adoption of a budget resolution establishing aggregate levels of revenues, spending, the debt limit, and the surplus or deficit, as well as allocations of spending. Enforcement of the budget resolution relies primarily upon points of order and reconciliation procedures. With regard to the enforcement of budget aggregates and committee spending allocations, the major points of order are found in Sections 311 and 302 of the act, respectively. The term "deeming resolution" is not officially defined, nor is there any specific statute or rule authorizing such legislation. Instead, the use of a deeming resolution simply represents the House and Senate employing regular legislative procedures to deal with the issue on an ad hoc basis.
The form and content of a deeming resolution is not prescribed, so it may be shaped to meet the particular needs at hand. For example, the House and Senate have used simple resolutions as the legislative vehicle in the past, but a deeming resolution may be incorporated into a bill, such as an annual appropriations act, as a single provision. At a minimum, deeming resolutions provide new spending allocations to the Appropriations Committees, but they also may set new aggregate budget levels, provide revised spending allocations to other House and Senate committees, or provide for other related purposes.
For purposes of this report, a distinction is drawn between instances in which the budget resolution was adopted in a tardy manner and deeming resolutions were employed in the interim before a budget resolution was finally agreed to and, alternately, those instances when the House and Senate never reached final agreement on a budget resolution and deeming resolutions were used as an alternative enforcement mechanism instead. This report deals largely with the seven years in which the House and Senate did not reach final agreement on a budget resolution. The relevant fiscal years were FY1999, FY2003, FY2005, FY2007, FY2011, FY2012, and FY2013.
The House and Senate have not yet reached final agreement on a budget resolution for FY2014 although each has agreed to a budget resolution. S.Con.Res. 8, a budget resolution for FY2014, was reported from the Senate Budget Committee on March 15, 2013, and was agreed to by the Senate on March 23. H.Con.Res. 25, a budget resolution for FY2014, was reported from the House Budget Committee on March 15, 2013, and was agreed to by the House on March 21. On June 4, 2013, the House agreed to H.Res. 243, a special rule providing for the consideration of H.R. 2216, the bill making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies. The special rule included a provision deeming the House-passed budget resolution as enforceable in the House, pending agreement on a budget resolution for FY2014.
This report will be updated as developments warrant.
