The unglamorous job of federal budgeting
OPINION — It is no secret that a vast majority of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing. Too often our political debates are characterized by hyperpartisanship, rather than achieving meaningful outcomes for the American people. Nowhere is this problem more acute than when it comes to our inability to address our country’s unsustainable […]
Bipartisan Senate Bill Seeks Major Reforms in Budget Process
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and committee member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced the “Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act” to provide “a more orderly, deliberative budget process focused on long-term fiscal planning.” Enzi and Whitehouse added in a statement announcing their proposal that they believe “it would end the brinksmanship surrounding the debt […]
Fair and Smart Budget Reforms Deserve Vote
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and committee member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released bipartisan legislation Friday to reform the federal budget process. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Grassley (R-IA), Kaine (D-VA), Crapo (R-ID), King (I-ME), Graham (R-SC), Coons (D-DE), Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Johnson (R-WI), Perdue (R-GA), Kennedy (R-LA), Cramer (R-ND), and Braun (R-IN). […]
ENZI CRITICIZES PENSION BAILOUT, SAYING IT WOULD COST TAXPAYERS
CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming’s United States Senator Mike Enzi criticized the “Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Plans Act of 2019” in a speech on the floor of the Senate. The bill has passed the U.S. House of Representatives, but a Wednesday, Oct. 23 statement from Enzi’s office says if it becomes law, it “would bail out some […]
Senate Budget Committee Makes Budget Reports Available for the Public Online
Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, announced the first release of a new Senate scorekeeping report. The report will provide regular budgetary updates to promote transparency in federal spending. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires Chairmen of House and Senate Budget Committees to provide members of Congress with regular updates on the effects that […]
Enzi’s Proposals Aim to Improve the Budget Process
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) has developed a series of draft budget process reforms. As we’ve explained before, the current budget process is broken. We commend Chairman Enzi’s effort to begin fixing the process, and we encourage policymakers in both parties to work with Chairman Enzi on adopting a better budget process. Chairman Enzi’s latest recommendations build on proposals […]
Survey Finds 53 Percent of Likely Voters Oppose Pension Bailout
A national survey of likely voters found a majority of them oppose a taxpayer-funded bailout of ailing union pension plans approved earlier this year by the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. “The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 53 percent of likely U.S. voters oppose a taxpayer bailout of underfunded union […]
CBO: Proposed Bailout of Failing Union Pensions Funds Will Not Work, as Loans Will Go Unpaid
READ the CBO Estimate HERE WASHINGTON—Dozens of seriously under-funded trade union pension plans will not repay millions of dollars in tax-funded government loans intended to help them regain financial integrity and pay promised benefits, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). “CBO projects that about one-quarter of the affected pension plans would become insolvent in the […]
CBO: Union pensions still facing insolvency under rescue bill
READ the CBO Estimate HERE A labor-backed pension rescue measure pushed by House and Senate Democrats would only delay the projected insolvency of some ailing union retirement plans, according to new Congressional Budget Office estimates released at Senate Budget Chairman Michael B. Enzi‘s request. The bill (HR 397) passed the House 264-169 in July with 29 Republicans joining a unified Democratic caucus. […]
A first step toward budget process reform
The problems with budgeting in the United States are so well-established that one might say the dysfunction has become a feature, not a bug. Legislators do not budget according to any rules — at least not since the mid-1990s. The way the current process is supposed to work – budget, then authorize then appropriate – was established […]