1. How the Gov. is Funded2. How It Works3. Challenges4. What It Means for You5. Questions for Solutions

Questions for Solutions

There’s a lot at stake with the budget and appropriations process. How it operates has real impacts on the country and individuals like you. There are solutions to fixing its current state and your first task is determining which ones you think are best.

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At Free the Facts, we believe problems aren’t partisan. Regardless of party or ideology, the government funding process will impact you. The key to solving these challenges is ensuring voters and leaders have reliable information, so they can engage in a meaningful conversation about the budget process and its future.

Now that you understand the government funding process and some of its challenges and opportunities, you’re ready to ask the tough questions about solutions. Your answers to those questions will be guided by your own experiences, values, perspective, and identity.

We’ve provided you with questions about solutions to get you interested — and involved — in fixing the system. Each solution falls into one of two categories: the process or deadlines.

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CONVERSATION

Updating the Government Funding Process

Updating the process could help lawmakers meet their deadlines and avoid the consequences of continuing resolutions or government shutdowns. Here are a few options to consider.

Biennial process: Currently, discretionary spending is reviewed and approved annually, but many state legislatures do this every two years instead. Should we switch to a biennial system, where appropriations are developed and authorized every two years?

  • Check out this report from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) on biennial budgeting and other process reforms.
  • Read this overview of the potential drawbacks of moving to a biennial budgeting process from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).

Automatic continuing resolutions: Remember, if lawmakers can’t pass a stopgap by October 1st, a government shutdown begins. However, automatic continuing resolutions would keep it running even if Congress does not act. Should we automatically implement continuing resolutions that go into effect at the beginning of the fiscal year so shutdowns become a thing of the past?

  • Take a look at this article by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), which provides an overview of automatic continuing resolutions.
  • Make sure to also read this write-up by the BPC on the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2023. Introduced by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), this legislation would implement automatic continuing resolutions, among other provisions.
  • Check out this article by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation (PGPF) that discusses how countries like Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom have implemented the equivalent of automatic continuing resolutions.

Establish a reform commission: Congress could also establish a reform commission to evaluate specific aspects of the process and recommend changes. For example, Congress created the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform Commission in 2021 to evaluate the budgeting practices of the Department of Defense (DoD). In 2024, the commission released 28 recommendations, and the DoD plans to implement most of them by 2028.

  • Take a look at this write-up from the Congressional Research Service for an overview of the commission’s work.
  • For an overview of how these recommendations are being implemented, read this report from the DoD.
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Enforce Deadlines

Lawmakers consistently miss deadlines in the budget process. One way to change this is to incentivize lawmakers to meet these deadlines. Here are two ways to do that:

Cancel congressional recesses until a budget resolution is completed: Budget resolutions are supposed to be completed by April 15th. Congress has missed this deadline thirty times over the last fifty years, but congressional recesses are rarely canceled. Should we bar lawmakers from going on recess and returning to their districts until a budget resolution is agreed upon?

  • Check out this article from PGPF that proposes a number of reforms to the budget process, including delaying recesses until a budget plan is passed.
  • Read about the Do Our Job Act proposed by Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) in June 2024, which would bar the House from starting its August recess until all appropriations bills are passed.

Automatic spending cuts if appropriations bills aren’t passed on time: Another proposal is to institute discretionary spending cuts when Congress misses the October 1st deadline. This has been done in the past. In 2023, lawmakers passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), which included a provision that would automatically cut all discretionary spending by 1% in FY 2024 and FY 2025 if full appropriations bills weren’t passed by the end of the calendar year. Should Congress create automatic spending cuts if appropriations bills aren’t passed on time?

  • Read more about how the FRA works in this report published by the Akin law firm.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Want More Options?

Here is a list of resources to go deeper.

In 2016, the Senate Committee on the Budget published a list of recommendations to reform the budget process.

  • Take a look at the full report by the Senate Committee on the Budget, which includes proposals to align the fiscal year with the calendar year and to require bipartisan budget resolutions.

The Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform (JSCBAPR) was formed in 2018 to address issues within key legislative processes.

In 2019, the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (ModComm), a bipartisan committee with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, was tasked with assessing the legislative branch's effectiveness. The committee proposed a number of reforms to Congress, including ways to improve staffing, accessibility, and bipartisanship.

  • Check out this article by the BPC that tracks the committee’s recommendations and their implementation status.
  • Read this article about ModComm’s 2021 recommendations to reform the budget process, such as requiring a biennial budget resolution and holding an annual hearing on how Congress spends appropriated funds.
  • And if you are curious, read ModComm’s full report from 2022.

The Hoover Institution’s Center for Revitalizing American Institutions co-authored a report on bipartisan recommendations for making the House of Representatives more effective.

  • Read the Hoover Institution’s recommendations here.
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What’s Next?

So, how can you get involved?

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Talk to your friends and family about the process.
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Learn more with Free the Facts.
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Create change with Answer the Call.
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