Shaheen and Isakson to Supercommittee: Biennial Budgeting Would Reduce Spending, Increase Oversight

Statement

U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) called on the deficit-fighting supercommittee to consider adding biennial budgeting to their upcoming package of proposed reforms. To reduce waste and increase oversight, Isakson and Shaheen introduced legislation earlier this year to switch Congress from an annual spending process to a biennial, two-year cycle, dedicating one year to passing spending bills and the other year to scrutinizing federal programs.

In a September 26 letter to Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, Isakson and Shaheen wrote, "As members of Congress, we have a responsibility to spend taxpayer dollars wisely. Our current budget and spending process does not help us meet that responsibility. Instead, it creates an atmosphere in which waste is all too common. If we are serious about reducing future wasteful spending, we must consider changing this broken process to focus more on looking at what works and what does not work. Biennial budgeting is a strong step in the right direction."

Isakson has sponsored biennial budgeting proposals every year since he came to the Senate in 2005 and Shaheen has firsthand experience with biennial budgeting from her tenure as governor of New Hampshire. Under the terms of an agreement reached earlier this summer, the supercommittee is currently debating various deficit reduction proposals and must make recommendations by November 23.

Congress has repeatedly failed to pass the 12 annual spending bills on time and frequently has resorted to passing omnibus bills at the last minute instead of debating each spending bill individually. Last year, Congress failed to complete work on a single one of the 12 appropriations bills before adjourning for the year. Since 1980, Congress has only twice completed the entire appropriations process before October 1.

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