Congressional Budget Office
May 10th 2010 13:55
Before a bill becomes a law it needs to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO is tasked to provide Congress with “an objective, nonpartisan, and timely analyses to aid in economic and budgetary decisions on the wide array of programs covered by the federal budget.” The CBO is responsible for “the information and estimates required for the Congressional budget process”. 2
It was the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that created the CBO. Titles I through IX of the law are also known as the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Title II created the Congressional Budget Office. Title III governs the procedures by which Congress annually adopts a budget resolution, a concurrent resolution setting forth fiscal policy that is not signed by the President. The budget resolution, in turn, sets limits on revenues and spending that govern Congress through procedural objections called points of order. The budget resolution also can generate a budget reconciliation bill, which The Budget Act contains provisions for the formulation of expected revenue, as well as expenditure. Congress attempts to implement this budget via concurrent resolution by April 15 (The federal fiscal year begins on October 1) the Congress considers under expedited procedures unusual for the Senate. (1)
The act has been amended several times, especially through provisions in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The original 1974 legislation, however, remains the basic blueprint for budget procedures today. (1)
We heard a great deal about the Congressional Budget Office during the Health Care Reform Law. “The release today of a preliminary estimate of the direct spending and revenue effects of "an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4872, the Reconciliation Act of 2010" by the Congressional Budget Office shows the healthcare proposal will produce a net reduction in the federal deficit--which may help satisfy the concerns of the few remaining holdouts who cite the potential cost of the bill as their principal concern.
In releasing its numbers, the CBO cautioned it had not "thoroughly examined the reconciliation proposal to verify its consistency with the previous draft" of the bill it had already scored. "The estimate is therefore preliminary, pending a review of the language of the reconciliation proposal, as well as further review and refinement of the budgetary projections" Roff, 2010. Let me say that the debate about the amount of money this bill is going to save or actually cost is still under debate. The CBO scores (does the financial review of a bill as it is written. It does not have the liberty to point out inconsistencies, overlaps or areas where moneys could be gained. They score the bill as it is submitted.
So summarizing the information, the CBO supplies cost estimates for each bill that it is reported by any Congressional committee it also gives estimates, or budget requests, for bills in other stages of the legislative process. The CBO also publishes The Budget and Economic Outlook and An Analysis of the President's Budget to help Congress make informed budgetary decisions. Other products include analytical studies of economic and budgetary issues. The agency has an annual budget of $44 million. (2)
1. Retrieved May 7, 2010 Really Long Link
2. Retrieved May 8, 2010 from http://www.cbo.gov/
3. Roff, 2010 – Retrieved May 8, 2010 from Really Long Link
It was the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that created the CBO. Titles I through IX of the law are also known as the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Title II created the Congressional Budget Office. Title III governs the procedures by which Congress annually adopts a budget resolution, a concurrent resolution setting forth fiscal policy that is not signed by the President. The budget resolution, in turn, sets limits on revenues and spending that govern Congress through procedural objections called points of order. The budget resolution also can generate a budget reconciliation bill, which The Budget Act contains provisions for the formulation of expected revenue, as well as expenditure. Congress attempts to implement this budget via concurrent resolution by April 15 (The federal fiscal year begins on October 1) the Congress considers under expedited procedures unusual for the Senate. (1)
We heard a great deal about the Congressional Budget Office during the Health Care Reform Law. “The release today of a preliminary estimate of the direct spending and revenue effects of "an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4872, the Reconciliation Act of 2010" by the Congressional Budget Office shows the healthcare proposal will produce a net reduction in the federal deficit--which may help satisfy the concerns of the few remaining holdouts who cite the potential cost of the bill as their principal concern.
So summarizing the information, the CBO supplies cost estimates for each bill that it is reported by any Congressional committee it also gives estimates, or budget requests, for bills in other stages of the legislative process. The CBO also publishes The Budget and Economic Outlook and An Analysis of the President's Budget to help Congress make informed budgetary decisions. Other products include analytical studies of economic and budgetary issues. The agency has an annual budget of $44 million. (2)
1. Retrieved May 7, 2010 Really Long Link
2. Retrieved May 8, 2010 from http://www.cbo.gov/
3. Roff, 2010 – Retrieved May 8, 2010 from Really Long Link
| 38 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
