Five legislators, led by Reps. Jim Renacci (R-OH) and John Carney (D-DE), last week introduced the Budget Integrity Act, a bill that works to improve the federal budget process by forcing Congress to consider the long-term effects of the decisions it makes regarding spending.
Original co-sponsors of the legislation include Reps. Mike Quigley (D-IL), Daniel Webster (R-FL) and Kathleen Rice (D-NY).
“At a time when our national debt has soared to more than $18 trillion, it’s critical that Congress is provided with an honest picture of our country’s finances so that we can make smarter fiscal choices,” Renacci said. “Year after year, however, the federal government fails to produce a clean financial statement – leaving many social insurance programs and our largest liabilities off balance sheet.”
All five of the bill’s presenters are members of the Bipartisan Working Group, an organization created by Renacci and Carney four years ago. The group includes a total of 26 members, 13 Democrats and 13 Republicans, who meet weekly to develop legislative solutions on which both parties can agree.
Specifically, the Budget Integrity Act links the budget directly to the debt limit, meaning that if Congress passes a budget that increases the national debt, the debt limit will be automatically raised by the same amount. This measure ties spending decisions closely with the actual financial state of the nation.
Additionally, the bill:
• Requires long-term cost estimates for legislation with a significant fiscal impact
• Codifies rules objecting to legislation that would increase long-term deficits
• Requires Congressional Budget Office and Office of Management and Budget reports on revenue, deficits, and debt over 40 years
• Ties budget resolutions to a corresponding increase in the debt limit
• Requires a Government Accountability Office study of the effect of off-balance sheet liabilities
“Over the last four years, Congress’ solution to our budget crisis has been a temporary patchwork of fiscal band-aids, passed at the stroke of midnight before critical deadlines,” Carney said. “Despite some progress, we continue to find ourselves in the middle of debates over our annual deficits and the debt ceiling. This bill forces Congress to examine its long-term finances and hopefully, will encourage us to come up with a long-term budget plan to avoid these manufactured crises in the future.”
Renacci said the Budget Integrity Act will allow Congress to more effectively address the country’s financial situation with a bipartisan solution to to fiscal sustainability.
“If we want to get serious about addressing our unsustainable debt and deficits, then we need a budget process that forces Congress to take a long-term view of the fiscal impact of our decisions,” Quigley said. “This bill will provide taxpayers with a more accurate account of our long-term fiscal situation, and implements necessary reforms to prevent another fiscally irresponsible debt-ceiling crisis.”