Who Controls the Federal Budget?
Procedures
created by Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
Executive prepares “budget request”
-
submitted by Feb.before the FY starts in
Oct.
-
outlines
what funding the president seeks, the purposes, and any changes to revenue
policy the president would like to seek
-
is
not introduced as legislation in any formal sense
Congress prepares “budget
resolution”
-
Budget
committees draft resolution
-
sets
spending and revenue levels for committees to consider
-
done
as “concurrent resolution”
o
not
subject to presidential veto
Committees Roles
-
Standing
committees then review administration proposals
o
pass
authorizations for spending for certain functions
-
Appropriations
committees and subcommittees develop bills to fund authorizations
“Reconciliation Process”
-
spending
compared with revenues
-
Reconciliation Bills
-
if
discrepancies exist between revenue and spending Budget committees draw up a
reconciliation bill
-
combines
tax and spending measures
Each house
votes separately
House-Senate
conference committee reviews it
-
settle
differences
Types of Spending
-
discretionary
v. entitlements
-
most
US spending is entitlements with spending set by prior laws
-
discretionary
spending must authorized each year