11.02.23

Grassley Cosponsors Bipartisan Push to Reform the Broken Budget Process

WASHINGTON – Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and colleagues to reintroduce bipartisan budget reform legislation. The Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act would overhaul the way Congress allocates federal dollars and strengthen oversight of government spending, paving the way to tackling the nation’s debt. The bill would convert the annual appropriations process for federal tax dollars to a two-year budget cycle, with one year devoted to appropriating federal dollars and the next year focused on oversight of how those dollars are being used in federal programs.

“The federal budget process is totally out of order and our nation’s fiscal outlook is bleak,” Grassley said. “Congress and the executive branch must work together to adopt a more disciplined approach to federal spending. Our bill would provide a blueprint to get us back on the pathway to fiscal sanity and ensure taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars are spent wisely.”

“With the continuous threat of a government shutdown, it’s time we change the process,” Shaheen said. “Biennial budgeting would enable Congress to have a more bipartisan and effective budget process and would increase transparency for taxpayers. I saw firsthand as Governor that this type of budgeting works in New Hampshire, and it can work for the nation, increasing efficiency and reducing the waste of federal resources.”

“We need to remove the drama from how we fund the government,” Braun said. “This common-sense, bipartisan bill would add some much-needed guard rails on how Congress budgets and give Americans certainty that there won’t be a government shutdown.”

Background

The Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act would require the president to submit a two-year budget at the beginning of the first session of a new Congress. Members of Congress would then need to adopt a two-year budget resolution and two-year funding bills during that first session. The second session of a Congress would be devoted to the oversight of federal programs and consideration of authorization bills.

In addition to Grassley, Shaheen and Braun, the legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).

The full text of the legislation can be found HERE.

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