Oversight
Fair and Smart Budget Reforms Deserve Vote
by Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
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). The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committe… Continue Reading
10.31.19
Senators Enzi and Whitehouse Offer Bipartisan Reforms to Fix Broken Budget Process
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Committee member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today introduced bipartisan legislation to fix the federal government's broken budget process. The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act would provide a more orderly, deliberative budget process focused on long-term fiscal planning. It would end the brinksmanship surrounding the debt limit and encourage bipartisan collaboration in tackling our growing debt and deficits… Continue Reading
10.30.19
Chairman Enzi: Better Financial Management Will Lead to Better Budgets
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) said it was important to learn what the federal government is doing well in terms of federal financial management, and what opportunities exist for further improvements during a hearing today focused on the federal government's efforts to meet the requirements of the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990. "When the CFO Act was signed into law nearly 30 years ago, it laid a new foundation for federal financial management,… Continue Reading
10.28.19
Joint Statement from Chairman Enzi and Ranking Member Womack Opposing H.R. 2440
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and House Budget Committee Ranking Member Steve Womack (R-AR) issued the following statement today expressing opposition to H.R. 2440, the Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF): "The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, which increased spending caps for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, was enacted less than three months ago. Instead of prioritizing additional funding for harbor maintenance activities under this ag… Continue Reading
10.25.19
Chairman Enzi: Soaring Deficits Show Our Fiscal Path is Unsustainable
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) released the following statement today after the Department of Treasury issued its monthly treasury report showing the federal government's deficit rising by more than 26 percent from last year to $984 billion: "Today's report shows that our nation's current fiscal path is unsustainable. In the last twelve months, the federal deficit has surged more than 26 percent. While the federal government's revenue continues to grow, s… Continue Reading
10.23.19
ENZI CRITICIZES PENSION BAILOUT, SAYING IT WOULD COST TAXPAYERS
by Brendan LaChance
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 of the worst-funded multiemployer pension plans at taxpayers' expense." "'My concern with this bill is not just with its immediate costs to taxpayers, but also what it would me… Continue Reading
10.23.19
Chairman Enzi: Pension Bailout Would Leave Taxpayers Holding the Fiscal Bag
WASHINGTON, D.C. - During a speech on the floor of the United States Senate, Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) warned that a House of Representatives-passed bill, the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Plans Act of 2019, would bail out some of the worst-funded multiemployer plans at taxpayers' expense. "My concern with this bill is not just with its immediate costs to taxpayers, but also what it would mean down the road," said Chairman Enzi. "This bill would send the signal to private … Continue Reading
10.17.19
Senate Budget Committee Makes Budget Reports Available for the Public Online
by Allen Johnson
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 congressional actions have on the budget. Up until now, to comply with the law, Chairman Enzi compared cu… Continue Reading
10.17.19
Enzi: Scorekeeping Reports Will Foster Fiscal Transparency in Federal Spending Process
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) announced the release of the October 2019 Senate scorekeeping report. That report tracks the budgetary impact of legislation approved by Congress against the deemed budgetary numbers included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees to provide members of Congress with regular updates on the budgetary effects of congression… Continue Reading
10.08.19
Enzi's Proposals Aim to Improve the Budget Process
by CFRB
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 from 2016 and follow a series of hearings this year. The recommendations include moving to bienni… Continue Reading
09.25.19
Enzi: America’s Fiscal Path is Unsustainable
WASHINGTON, D.C. - During a speech on the floor of the Senate, Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) continued to raise alarm bells that America's current fiscal course is unsustainable. Enzi noted that in the first 11 months of the fiscal year, federal revenue increased by 3 percent compared to the same period last year, while spending increased by 7 percent. "The threat of a fiscal crisis is not something anyone should take lightly. As a father and grandfather, this is a concern that ke… Continue Reading
09.15.19
Survey Finds 53 Percent of Likely Voters Oppose Pension Bailout
by MARK TAPSCOTT
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 pension funds," the survey firm said Sept. 14. "Just 26 percent support a pension bailout. A sizable 21 percent are undecided." Am… Continue Reading
09.10.19
CBO: Proposed Bailout of Failing Union Pensions Funds Will Not Work, as Loans Will Go Unpaid
by MARK TAPSCOTT
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 30-year loan period and would not fully repay their loans," the congressional agency told Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wy… Continue Reading
09.09.19
CBO: Union pensions still facing insolvency under rescue bill
by Doug Sword
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. But top Republicans like Ways and Means ranking member Kevin Bradyof Texas and Education a… Continue Reading
09.01.19
A first step toward budget process reform
by JONATHAN BYDLAK
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 in the 1974 Budget Act, legislation that arose out of a standoff between President Nixon and Congress over the former's overuse of impoundment power to withhold fund… Continue Reading
08.16.19
Editorial misleads on tax cuts, federal budget woes
by Sen. Mike Enzi
A recent editorial ("Our View: Deficit would be zero if not for tax cuts," Aug. 11) criticizing tax relief for American families and job creators makes a number of misleading assertions and glosses over uncomfortable facts that we as a nation must confront. Our country is on an unsustainable fiscal course, but this situation did not arise overnight or as result of the 2017 tax reform, which reduced the taxes for workers in every income bracket on average. In fact, last week the nonpartisan Con… Continue Reading
08.16.19
Sen. Enzi: Editorial misleads on tax cuts, federal budget woes
by Sen. Mike Enzi
The problem stems from an aging population and rising health care costs - not from the 2017 tax reform. BY MIKE ENZI SPECIAL TO THE PRESS HERALD A recent editorial ("Our View: Deficit would be zero if not for tax cuts," Aug. 11) criticizing tax relief for American families and job creators makes a number of misleading assertions and glosses over uncomfortable facts that we as a nation must confront. Our country is on an unsustainable fiscal course, but this situation d… Continue Reading
08.15.19
Pursuing Budget Process Reform
by Gordon Gray
Eakinomics: Pursuing Budget Process ReformGuest authored by Gordon Gray, Director of Fiscal Policy at AAF When President Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 into law on August 2nd, Congress officially cleared the decks of much of its must-do legislating for the next 2 years. Given the dim prospects of serious policymaking during a presidential campaign, perhaps this 2-year agreement is just a practical necessity. But not all policymakers are resigned to meaningless "messaging." Sena… Continue Reading
08.15.19
Enzi: Growth in Spending Continues to Outpace Revenue
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) today said it is clear the nation has a spending problem as a recent report shows once again that high levels of federal spending continue to outpace revenue. A new report from the Department of Treasury showed that year-to-date revenues were up 3.4 percent, while spending rose 8 percent compared to the same period last year. "We clearly have a spending problem. The rate of growth in federal spending is not sustainable," said… Continue Reading
08.14.19
Senator Enzi Restarts the Discussion on Budget Reform
by Demian Brady
The problems with the current budget process are legion. The timetables established in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 are rarely met, resulting in government shutdowns, omnibus budget bills, and, with the exception of a handful of years, annual deficit spending. The abomination known as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 is the latest illustration of how bad the budgeting process is in Congress. One of its many serious flaws is that it eliminated the remaining two years of caps on discret… Continue Reading
