Budget Reconciliation Legislation: Development and Consideration (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 30, 2015 |
| Report Number |
98-814 |
| Authors |
Bill Heniff, Jr., Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
Budget reconciliation is an optional two-step process, provided by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, 2 U.S.C. 601-688), as amended, that Congress may use to assure compliance with the direct spending, revenue, and the debt-limit levels set forth in a budget resolution agreed to by Congress. First, Congress includes reconciliation instructions in a budget resolution directing one or more committees to recommend changes in statute to achieve the levels of direct spending, revenues, and the debt limit agreed to in the budget resolution. Second, the legislative language recommended by committees is packaged 'without any substantive revision' into one or more reconciliation bills, as set forth in the budget resolution, by the House and Senate Budget Committees. In some instances, a committee may be required to report its legislative recommendations directly to its house. Once reported, reconciliation legislation is considered under special procedures on the House and Senate floor. In recent years, the House and Senate separately have adopted rules to effectively prohibit the use of the budget reconciliation process to consider legislation that would increase mandatory spending and the deficit, respectively.
