[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 3]
[Chapter 13. Powers and Prerogatives of the House]
[D. Congress and the Budget; Impoundment]
[§ 21. In General; Congressional Budget Act]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
[Page 1888-1899]
CHAPTER 13
Powers and Prerogatives of the House
D. CONGRESS AND THE BUDGET; IMPOUNDMENT
Sec. 21. In General; Congressional Budget Act
Concern about escalating federal spending immediately after World
War II resulted in enactment of a budget procedure in the Legislative
Reorganization Act of 1946. Under this procedure, the House Committee
on Ways and Means and Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate
Committee on Finance and Committee on Appropriations or their sub
[[Page 1889]]
committees were required to meet jointly, report out a legislative
budget, and submit a concurrent resolution adopting the
budget.(8) This procedure was designed to coordinate revenue
with expenditures and thereby more readily identify and limit
deficits.(9)
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8. See Sec. 21.2, infra, for an illustration of this concurrent
resolution.
9. For discussion of the role of Congress in the budget process, see,
Fenno, Richard F., Jr., The Power of the Purse, Little, Brown
and Co., Inc. (1966); Pressman, Jeffrey L., House v Senate,
Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn. (1966); Wallace, Robert
Ash, Congressional Control of Federal Spending, Wayne State
University Press, Detroit, Mich. (1960).
This section has been compiled by Norah Schwarz, J.D., and
has been drawn in part from a report of the House Committee on
the Budget entitled ``The Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act of 1974: A General Explanation,'' November 1974.
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However, until the adoption of the Congressional Budget and
Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the Congress lacked a comprehensive
uniform mechanism for establishing priorities among its budgetary goals
and for determining national economic policy regarding the federal
budget. Despite periodic efforts to centralize budget authority in
appropriations committees, budget responsibility remained fragmented
throughout the Congress. Both taxing and spending actions were taken
over a period of many months and by way of many different legislative
measures. The size of the budget, and whether it should be in surplus
or deficit, were not subject to effective controls. The budget process
was, in fact, merely the sum of dozens of isolated and usually
unrelated actions. Backdoor spending--that is, spending outside the
regular appropriation process--represented a significant percentage of
all spending. And outlays (that is, actual expenditures) were not
always controlled by Congress, since congressional budget actions often
reached only to the authority to obligate funds, resulting in little
direct relationship in some cases between congressional budget actions
and actual expenditures in any given year.
In 1972, the Congress established a Joint Study Committee on Budget
Control and directed it to study:
. . . [T]he procedures which should be adopted by the
Congress for the purpose of improving congressional control of
budget outlay and receipt totals, including procedures for
establishing and maintaining an overall view of each year's
budgetary outlays which is fully coordinated with an overall
view of anticipated revenues for that year.(10)
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10. Pub. L. No. 92-599, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
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[[Page 1890]]
The joint committee issued its final report in April
1973,(11) and legislation was introduced in both Houses to
implement the report's recommendations, including the addition of anti-
impoundment procedures. Both Houses overwhelmingly approved the
measure, which became known as the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act of 1974 (hereinafter referred to as ``the Act''). The bill
was signed into law July 12, 1974, as Public Law No. 93-344.
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11. See 119 Cong. Rec. 13162, 13163, 93d Cong. 1st Sess., Apr. 18,
1973.
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Summary of the Act
The Act (12) consists of 10 titles which, for purposes
of explanation, can be grouped into categories (to be discussed more
fully below), as follows:
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12. See 31 USC Sec. Sec. 1301 et seq.
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Title I and title II established new committees on the
budget in both the House and the Senate, and a Congressional
Budget Office designed to improve Congress' informational and
analytical resources with respect to the budgetary process.
Title III and title IV set forth a timetable and new
procedures for various phases of the congressional budget
process. Title V provides for a new fiscal year.
Title VI spells out the information to be included in the
President's budget submissions and amends section 201 of the
1921 Budget and Accounting Act to so provide. The procedures
for program review and evaluation are explained in title VII.
Title VIII provides for standardization of budget terminology
and availability of information to Congress, while title IX
sets out the effective date for various provisions of the Act.
Title X establishes procedures for congressional review of
Presidential impoundment actions.
Budget Committees
The Act establishes a new standing committee in each House known as
the Committee on the Budget. The rules of the House were amended to
provide for the Committee on the Budget and membership
thereon.(13) The House Budget Committee was originally
composed of 23 members: five from the Committee on Appropriations, five
from the Committee on Ways and Means, 11 from other House standing
committees and one member each from the majority and minority
leadership.(14) Membership on this committee was increased
to 25, pursuant to a resolution of the House (15) which
provided for 13 members to be elected from other standing committees of
the House.
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13. This committee was established pursuant to the Act (Sec. 101) in
the 93d Congress effective July 12, 1974 (88 Stat. 299).
14. Rule X clause I(e)1, House Rules and Manual (1975).
15. H. Res. 5, 121 Cong. Rec. 20-22, 94th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 14,
1975.
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[[Page 1891]]
Budget Timetable
Title III of the Act (16) establishes a timetable for
various phases of the congressional budget process, prescribing the
actions to take place at each stage under the new procedure:
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16. 31 USC Sec. Sec. 1321 et seq.
Action to be
On or before completed
November 10....................................... President submits
current services
budget.
15th day after Congress meets..................... President submits
his budget.
March 15.......................................... Committees and joint
committees submit
reports to Budget
Committees.
April 1........................................... Congressional Budget
Office submits
report to Budget
Committees.
April 15.......................................... Budget Committees
report first
concurrent
resolution on the
budget to their
Houses.
May 15............................................ Committees report
bills and
resolutions
authorizing new
budget authority.
May 15............................................ Congress completes
action on first
concurrent
resolution on the
budget.
7th day after Labor Day........................... Congress completes
action on bills and
resolutions
providing new
budget authority
and new spending
authority.
September 15...................................... Congress completes
action on second
required concurrent
resolution on the
budget.
September 25...................................... Congress completes
action on
reconciliation bill
or resolution, or
both, implementing
second required
concurrent
resolution.
October 1......................................... Fiscal year begins.
November 10: Current Services Budget
The first element in the timetable is the President's submission by
Nov. 10 of the current services budget which estimates the outlays
needed to carry on existing programs and activities for the following
fiscal year. Its purpose is to provide Congress with detailed
information with which to begin analysis and preparation of the budget
for the forthcoming year. Budget projections are then made by the
Congressional Budget Office and the House and Senate Budget Committees
based on the current fiscal year's levels. To facilitate evaluation of
the President's projections, the Joint Economic Committee is required
by the terms of the Act (17) to report to the budget
committees on the estimates and economic assump
[[Page 1892]]
tions on the current services budget.
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17. 15 USC Sec. 1024.
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15th Day After Convening: President Submits Budget
The President's budget is due to be submitted 15 days after
Congress convenes.(18) This date remains unchanged from
previous practice. Shortly after its submission, the budget committees
of both Houses begin hearings on the President's budget, the economic
assumptions on which it is based, the national budget priorities, and
the budget in general. Testimony is taken from Members of Congress,
administration officials, representatives of national interest groups,
and the general public, such as the committee deem fit.(19)
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18. 31 USC Sec. 1321.
19. 31 USC Sec. 1322(d).
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March 15: Committee Reports Submitted to Budget Committees
A new aspect of the budget process is the requirement that each of
the standing committees of the House and Senate submits its
recommendations on the proposed budget as viewed by the particular
committee. These views are given to the budget committees of the House
or Senate and are due on Mar. 15, one month prior to the reporting date
of the first concurrent resolution on the budget.(20)
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20. 31 USC 1322(c).
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The purpose of these reports is to provide the budget committees
with an early and comprehensive indication of spending plans for the
coming fiscal year. The reports contain the views and estimates of the
committees and joint committees on budgetary matters within their
jurisdiction, and their estimates of new budget outlays to be
authorized by legislation within their jurisdiction during the
following fiscal year.
April 1: Congressional Budget Office Submits Report to Budget
Committees
The Congressional Budget Office is required to submit its report to
the budget committees on or before Apr. 1.(21) This report
is primarily concerned with alternative budget levels and national
budget priorities. It is the first of several required of the
Congressional Budget Office. It is most significant, however, in that
it is timed for use in the budget committees' deliberations on the
first concurrent resolution on the budget, particularly with respect to
committee discussions of national budget priorities.
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21. 31 USC Sec. 1321.
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[[Page 1893]]
April 15: First Concurrent Resolution Reported
The budget committees must report the first concurrent resolution
on the budget to Congress by Apr. 15.(1) This allows each
House a maximum of one month for floor consideration, conferences, and
the adoption of conference reports.(2)
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1. 31 USC Sec. 1321.
2. 31 USC Sec. 1322(d).
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The first concurrent resolution on the budget provides estimates
and preliminary budget targets for fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1. It
must set forth: (1) the appropriate level of total budget outlays and
of total new budget authority; (2) an estimate of budget outlays and an
appropriate level of new budget authority in various categories; (3)
the amount, if any, of appropriate budget surplus or deficit; and (4)
the recommended level of federal revenues and the amount, if any, by
which the aggregate level of federal revenues should be increased or
decreased by bills and resolutions to be reported by the appropriate
committees.(3)
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3. 31 USC Sec. 1322.
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The report of the budget committee on the resolution compares its
revenue estimates and outlay levels with the estimates and amounts in
the President's budget. It also identifies recommended sources of
revenues, makes five-year budget projections, and spells out the
economic assumptions and objectives of the resolution.(4)
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4. 31 USC Sec. 1322(d).
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The Act provides special procedures for House consideration of
budget resolutions and conference reports on such resolutions. The Act
also provides for important material to be included in the joint
statement of managers accompanying the conference report. The joint
statement must distribute the allocations of total budget authority and
outlays contained in the resolution among the appropriate committees.
For example, if the conference report allocates $7 billion in budget
authority and $6 billion in outlays for the functional category
``Community and Regional Development,'' the statement of managers must
divide those amounts among the various committees with jurisdiction
over programs and authorities covered by that functional category. Each
committee to which an allocation is made must, in turn, further
subdivide its allocation among its subcommittees or programs.
May 15: Reporting New Budget Authority; Completion of Action on First
Concurrent Resolution
May 15 is the deadline for committees to report legislation au
[[Page 1894]]
thorizing new budget authority.(5) It is also the deadline
for the adoption of the first budget resolution by
Congress.(6)
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5. 31 USC Sec. 1352.
6. 31 USC Sec. 1322.
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Consideration of bills or resolutions authorizing new budget
authority reported after May 15 is permitted in the House only if an
emergency waiver reported by the Committee on Rules is
adopted.(7)
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7. 31 USC Sec. 1352.
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The Budget Act sets forth special procedures by which the House is
to consider budget resolutions and conference reports relating thereto.
Such resolutions are initially considered in the Committee of the
Whole. General debate is limited to 10 hours, and motions to further
limit debate are not debatable. Under the original statute, the
resolution was read for amendment under the five-minute rule by
sections.(8)
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8. 31 USC Sec. 1326.
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After the Committee of the Whole has reported the resolution to the
House, the previous question is considered as ordered on the resolution
and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion. The
only amendment in order under the Act prior to final passage is one
effecting changes necessary to achieve mathematical
consistency.(9)
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9. Id.
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Debate on the conference report on the resolution is limited to
five hours.(10)
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10. Id.
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Seventh Day After Labor Day; Action on Measures Providing New Budget or
Spending Authority
The seventh day after Labor Day is the recommended deadline for
completing action on regular budget authority and entitlement
bills.(11) The only exception to this requirement is for
appropriation bills whose consideration has been delayed because
necessary authorizing legislation has not been timely
enacted.(12)
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11. 31 USC Sec. 1330.
12. Id.
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The Congressional Budget Office issues periodic reports on the
status of measures providing new budget authority and revenue and debt
legislation.(13)
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13. 31 USC Sec. 1329.
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September 15, 25; Action on Second Concurrent Resolution
Sept. 15 and 25 are the dates for the adoption of the second
resolution and completion of the reconciliation process, the final
legislative phase of the new budget process under the
Act.(14~)
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14. 31 USC Sec. 1331.
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[[Page 1895]]
The completion of reconciliation actions on Sept. 25 brings the
budget timetable to within five days of the new fiscal year--Oct. 1.
The importance of the timely completion of this phase of the budget
process is underlined by the provision of the Act which states that
Congress may not adjourn sine die unless such action is
completed.(15)
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15. Id.
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The second resolution reflects changed economic circumstances,
taking into consideration the spending authority exercised by Congress
and the matters contained in the first resolution, namely the
``target'' levels of budget authority and outlays, total revenues, and
the public-debt limit. In addition, the committees with jurisdiction
over the recommended changes are directed to determine and recommend
such changes to the House.(16)
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16. Id.
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After adoption of the second resolution and completion of the
reconciliation process, it is not in order in either House to consider
any new spending legislation that would cause the aggregate levels of
total budget authority or outlays adopted in that resolution to be
exceeded, nor to consider a measure that would reduce total revenues
below the levels in the resolution.(17)
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17. 31 USC Sec. 1332.
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It should be pointed out, however, that Congress may adopt a
revision of its most recent resolution at any time during the fiscal
year. In addition to the May and September resolutions, Congress may
adopt at least one additional resolution each year, either in
conjunction with a supplemental appropriations bill or in the event of
sharp revisions in revenue or spending estimates brought on by major
changes in the economy.(18)
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18. 11. Rept. No. 93-658, 93d Cong. 1st Sess. (1973).
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Program Review and Evaluation
The budget committees of the House and Senate are directed to study
budget proposals, including program analysis and evaluation and time
limits on program authorizations.(19) These committees also
make continuing studies of ``off budget'' agencies and periodically
report their findings and recommendations. An ``off budget'' agency is
an agency of the federal government which is exempt from the
President's budget under the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, section
201.(20)
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19. 31 USC Sec. 1303.
20. 31 USC 11b.
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[[Page 1896]]
Impoundment Controls
Impoundment control is a companion feature of the new budget
control system. In the words of the House Committee on Rules' report on
the budget reform legislation:
One without the other would leave the Congress in a weak and
ineffective position. No matter how prudently Congress discharges
its appropriations responsibility, legislative decisions have no
meaning if they can be unilaterally abrogated by executive
impoundments. On the other hand, if Congress appropriates funds
without full awareness of the country's fiscal condition, its
actions may be used by the President to justify [his] withholding
of funds. By joining budget and impoundment control in a complete
overhaul of the budget process [the bill], seeks to assure that the
power of appropriation assigned to the Congress is responsibly and
effectively exercised.(21)
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21. H. Rept. No. 93-658, 93d Cong. 1st Sess. (1973).
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Impoundment is a term used to describe situations wherein the
executive branch declines to enter into obligations or commitments for
the full amount of funds appropriated therefor by
Congress.(1)
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1. Levinson and Mills, Budget Reform and Impoundment Control, 27 Vand.
L. Rev. 615 (1974).
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The statute recognizes two types of impoundment actions by the
executive branch: rescissions and deferrals.(2)
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2. 31 USC Sec. Sec. 1400 et seq.
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Rescissions must be proposed by the President whenever he
determines that (1) all or part of any budget authority will not be
needed to carry out the full objectives of a particular program; (2)
budget authority should be rescinded for fiscal reasons; or (3) all or
part of budget authority provided for only one fiscal year is to be
reserved from obligation for that year. In such cases, the President is
to submit a special message to the Congress requesting rescission of
the budget authority, explaining fully the circumstances and reasons
for the proposed action. Unless both Houses of the Congress complete
action on a rescission bill within 45 days of the President's
submission, the budget authority must be made available for
obligation.(3)
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3. 31 USC Sec. 1402.
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Deferrals must be proposed by the President whenever any executive
action or inaction effectively precludes the obligation or expenditure
of budget authority. In such cases, the President is to submit a
special message to the Congress recommending the deferral of that
budget authority. The President is required to make such budget
authority available for obligation if either House passes an
``impoundment resolution'' disapproving the proposed
[[Page 1897]]
deferral at any time after receipt of the special
message.~(4)
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4. 31 USC Sec. 1403.
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Rescission and deferral messages are also to be transmitted to the
Comptroller General who must review each message and advise the
Congress of the facts surrounding the action and its probable effects.
In the case of deferrals, he must state whether the deferral is, in his
view, in accordance with existing statutory authority.''
~(5)
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5. 31 USC Sec. 1404.
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If budget authority is not made available for obligation by the
President as required by the impoundment control provisions, the
Comptroller General is authorized to bring a civil action to bring
about compliance. However, such action may not be brought until 25 days
after the Comptroller General files an explanatory statement with the
House and Senate.~(6)
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6. 31 USC Sec. 1406.
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``Backdoor'' Spending
Under the Act new procedures were established for the enactment of
contract and borrowing authority in order to promote a more
comprehensive and consistent control over spending actions. The Act
states that effective January 1976, new contract authority and
borrowing authority legislation, to be in order for consideration in
either House, must contain a provision that such new authority is to be
effective only to the extent or in such amounts as are provided in
appropriations acts. In this manner, the Act prohibits the
consideration of bills obligating certain types of new government
spending in advance of the appropriations process. The Speaker has
ruled, however, that such prohibition may be waived by a resolution
reported as privileged from the Committee on Rules. The Speaker's
ruling, on Mar. 20, 1975,~(7). was based on the fact that
the provisions of the Act in question were intended to state a rule of
proceeding, and could therefore be waived or changed by the House at
any time pursuant to its constitutional authority to ``determine the
Rules of its Proceedings.~(8)
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7. 121 Cong. Rec. 7677, 94th Cong. 1st Sess., Mar. 20, 1975 (ruling by
Speaker Carl Albert [Okla.]).
8. U.S. Const. art. I, section 5.
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The provisions of the Act described above do not apply to contract
or borrowing authority in effect prior to January 1976, unless
specifically implemented earlier, pursuant to section 906 of the
Act.~(9)
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9. See 31 USC Sec. 1351.
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[[Page 1898]]
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946
Sec. 21.1 The House and Senate agreed to a provision of the Legislative
Reorganization Act of 1946 which authorized certain House and
Senate committees to meet jointly, report out a legislative budget,
and submit a concurrent resolution adopting the budget. This
provision was repealed by the Legislative Reorganization Act of
1970.
On July 25, 1946, the House by voice vote agreed to
~(10) and on July 26, 1946, the Senate by voice vote
concurred in,~(11) a House substitute to S. 2177, the
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Section 138 of the substitute
directed certain Senate and House committees to meet jointly, report
out a legislative budget, and submit a concurrent resolution adopting
the budget. The text of the provision follows:~(12)
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10. 92 Cong. Rec. 10047, 10051-53, 10075, 10077-80, 10104, 79th Cong.
2d Sess.
11. Id. at p. 10152. See also 92 Cong. Rec. 6442 (text of section 130,
the budget provision of the Senate bill), and 6577, 6578
(vote), 79th Cong. 2d Sess., June 7, and June 10, 1946,
respectively.
12. This excerpt is taken from 60 Stat. 812, 832, 833 (Pub. L. No. 79-
601). It was codified as 2 USC Sec. 190e.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
Short Title
That (a) this Act, divided into titles and sections according
to the following table of contents, may be cited as the
``Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946'': . . .
Legislative Budget
Sec. 138. (a) The Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and the
Committee on Finance and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate, or duly authorized subcommittees thereof, are authorized
and directed to meet jointly at the beginning of each regular
session of Congress and after study and consultation, giving due
consideration to the budget recommendations of the President,
report to their respective Houses a legislative budget for the
ensuing fiscal year, including the estimated over-all Federal
receipts and expenditures for such year. Such report shall contain
a recommendation for the maximum amount to be appropriated for
expenditure in such year which shall include such an amount to be
reserved for deficiencies as may be deemed necessary by such
committees. If the estimated receipts exceed the estimated
expenditures, such report shall contain a recommendation for a
reduction in the public debt. Such report shall be made by February
15.
(b) The report shall be accompanied by a concurrent resolution
adopting such budget, and fixing the maximum
[[Page 1899]]
amount to be appropriated for expenditure in such year. If the
estimated expenditures exceed the estimated receipts, the
concurrent resolution shall include a section substantially as
follows: ``That it is the sense of the Congress that the public
debt shall be increased in an amount equal to the amount by which
the estimated expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year exceed the
estimated receipts, such amount being $ .''
Section 138 was repealed by approval of the Legislative
Reorganization Act of 1970.~(13)
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13. 84 Stat. 1140, 1172 [see 2 USC Sec. 242 (b) (1970)].
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Concurrent Resolution
Sec. 21.2 Pursuant to the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the
Senate and House agreed to a concurrent resolution expressing the
judgment of Congress regarding levels of revenues and expenditures
for the fiscal year 1949.
On Feb. 18, 1948, the Senate by voice vote,~(14) and on
Feb. 27, 1948, the House by a vote of 315 yeas, 36 nays, 79 not
voting,~(15) agreed to Senate Concurrent Resolution 42,
expressing the sense of Congress as to the amount of revenues and
expenditures for fiscal year 1949.
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14. 94 Cong. Rec. 1398, 1399, 1408, 80th Cong. 2d Sess.
15. Id. at pp. 1875, 1885-87. The House agreed to this concurrent
resolution after rejecting by a vote of 73 yeas, 276 nays, not
voting 81, a motion to recommit it to the Joint Committee on
the Legislative Budget with instructions to strike out
expenditures of $37.2 billion and insert in lieu thereof $36.7
billion.
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Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives
concurring), That it is the judgment of the Congress, based upon
presently available information, that revenues during the period of
the fiscal year 1949 will approximate $47,300,000,000 and that
expenditures during such fiscal year should not exceed
$37,200,000,000, of which latter amount not more than
$26,600,000,000 would be in consequence of appropriations hereafter
made available for obligation in such fiscal year.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 42 was considered under a special
order of the Committee on Rules (H. Res. 485), which provided for
consideration in the Committee of the Whole and waiver of all points of
order. After general debate, which was confined to the concurrent
resolution and limited to two hours, the concurrent resolution was
considered as having been read for amendment.
[[Page 1900]]