Isakson, Shaheen Applaud House Budget Committee Passage of Biennial Budgeting
Press Release
U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) today applauded House Budget Committee members for approving with bipartisan support a biennial budget bill that will reform the way federal dollars are budgeted. Like Shaheen and Isakson's bipartisan biennial budgeting legislation, the Biennial Budgeting and Enhanced Oversight Act sponsored by Congressman Reid Ribble (WI-8) and approved Tuesday would reform the current budget and appropriations system by converting it from an annual process to a two-year cycle. The bill cleared the House Budget Committee with a strong, bipartisan vote of 22-10.
"Washington's budget process is broken and in desperate need of reform," Shaheen said. "From my years as New Hampshire's governor, I know that biennial budgeting is a better, more efficient way to budget."
"The House Budget Committee's passage of biennial budgeting legislation today marks another milestone in our efforts to reform our nation's broken budget process," Isakson said. "I applaud the Committee for its support, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in both chambers on this much-needed legislation as it will go a long way to get us back in the business of budgeting, appropriating and conducting oversight on a regular basis."
In the Senate, Shaheen and Isakson's plan to reform the broken federal budget process and convert it to a two-year biennial budget cycle has received broad bipartisan support. Last year the plan received 68 votes when introduced as an amendment to a Senate budget resolution in March 2013.
Biennial budgeting has been endorsed by each successive administration since Ronald Reagan was president, as well as by numerous federal budget experts. Isakson has sponsored biennial budgeting proposals every year he's been in the Senate, while Shaheen has firsthand experience with the efficacy of biennial budgeting from her tenure as governor of New Hampshire. Currently, more than 20 states, including New Hampshire, operate on a two-year budget cycle.
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