Summary: Deficiencies in the current congressional oversight process include incomplete coverage of the reauthorization process, inadequate attention to broad policy subjects, incomplete review coverage of Federal programs and activities, and lack of clarity and specificity in statements of the objectives of programs and activities. The key element to oversight reform is congressional commitment to better oversight and the establishment of a disciplined process for the review and study of Federal programs in the context of broad policy subjects. The proposed bill, S.2, would establish a mandatory reauthorizing process for Federal programs, but it would exempt some specific types of programs, including the major Federal income security and health financing programs and tax expenditures. The proposed legislation would schedule reauthorization and related reviews of a 6-year cycle in accordance with a timetable written into law; it would force action to reauthorize programs, grouped by budget subfunction, by specified dates and place a ban on future funding for programs not reauthorized by specified dates. The period of the authorization of new budget authority would be limited to 6 years. S.2 would base the reauthorization process on a list of all activities of the Federal Government categorized by budget subfunction, establish a statutory schedule by budget subfunction, provide that programs in the same budget subfunction be acted upon in the same Congress, and require that an inventory of programs be developed and maintained by the Congressional Budget Office.
