Order Code RL30297
Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Congressional Budget Resolutions:
Selected Statistics and Information Guide
Updated March 5, 2003
Bill Heniff Jr.
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

---

Congressional Budget Resolutions:
Selected Statistics and Information Guide
Summary
The Congressional Budget Act (CBA) of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, 2
U.S.C. 601-688), as amended, establishes the concurrent resolution on the budget as
the centerpiece of the congressional budget process. The annual budget resolution
is an agreement between the House and Senate on a budget plan for the upcoming
fiscal year and at least the following 4 fiscal years. As a concurrent resolution, it is
not presented to the President for his signature and thus does not become law. The
budget resolution, however, provides the framework for subsequent legislative action
on budgetary legislation during each congressional session.
Congress has adopted 34 budget resolutions during the 28 years that the
congressional budget process has been in effect (covering FY1976 through FY2003).
At least one budget resolution has been adopted every year except 1998 (for FY1999)
and 2002 (for FY2003). Second budget resolutions were adopted in each of the first
7 years and a third budget resolution was adopted for FY1977. Since 1982, Congress
has adopted only one budget resolution for each fiscal year. Congress initially was
required to cover only the upcoming fiscal year in the budget resolution, but over the
years Congress has expanded this time frame. Currently, the budget resolution must
include at least 5 fiscal years.
The budget resolution may include reconciliation instructions, directing one or
more committees to recommend legislative changes to meet the spending and
revenue levels included in the budget resolution. In 16 of the past 28 years, Congress
included reconciliation instructions in the budget resolution. Pursuant to these
instructions, 15 reconciliation measures have been enacted into law. In 1982 and
1997, two reconciliation measures were adopted. Three reconciliation measures have
been vetoed, in 1995, 1999, and 2001.
Over the past 28 years, the House has considered and adopted fewer
amendments to the budget resolution than the Senate. The House has considered an
average of over six amendments per budget resolution, adopting an average of one
of these. For more than a decade, the House has considered the budget resolutions
under special rules that allow only amendments in the nature of a substitute to be
offered. In all but one year, the House has rejected all such amendments. In contrast,
the Senate has considered an average of almost 35 amendments per budget
resolution, adopting over 17 of these on average.
The budget resolution originally was supposed to be adopted by May 15 of each
year; this deadline was changed to April 15 beginning with the FY1987 budget
resolution. The budget resolution deadline has been met only five times over the last
28 years, most recently in 2000 for FY2001. Budget resolutions have been adopted
an average of 40 days after the deadline.

---

Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Formulation and Content of the Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Formulation of the Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Content of the Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Source of Economic Assumptions Associated with Budget Levels in the
Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Number of Years Covered by the Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Consideration and Adoption of the Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Amendments to the Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Timing of the Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Debt-Limit Legislation Automatically Engrossed Upon the Adoption of the
Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Appendix A. Provisions in Law and Budget Resolutions Modifying
the Congressional Budget Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Appendix B. Statutes-at-Large Citations of Budget Resolutions,
FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Appendix C. Budget Resolutions Rejected in the House, FY1976-FY2003 . . . 23
Appendix D. Committee Reports to Budget Resolutions, FY1976- FY2003 . . . 24
Appendix E. Selected Components Included in Budget Resolutions,
FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Appendix F. Budget Resolutions and Resultant Reconciliation Acts,
FY1981-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Appendix G. Source of Economic Assumptions Associated with
Budget Levels in Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Appendix H. Number of Years Covered by Budget Resolutions,
FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Appendix I. Special Rules Providing for the Consideration of Budget
Resolutions in the House, FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Appendix J. Number of Amendments to Budget Resolutions Considered in the
House, FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Appendix K. Amendments in the Nature of a Substitute to Budget Resolutions
Made in Order by a Special Rule in the House, FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . 39
Appendix L. Number of Amendments to Budget Resolutions
Considered in the Senate, FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Appendix M. Timing of House Action on Budget Resolutions,

---

FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Appendix N. Timing of Senate Action on Budget Resolutions,
FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Appendix O. Debt-Limit Legislation Automatically Engrossed Upon
Adoption of the Budget Resolution Pursuant to the “Gephardt Rule,”
Calendar Years 1980-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
List of Figures
Figure 1. Dates of Final Adoption of Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2002 . . . . 9
Figure 2. Number of Days Before or After Deadline That Action on the
Budget Resolution Was Completed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
List of Tables
Table 1. Congressional Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

---

Congressional Budget Resolutions:
Selected Statistics and Information Guide
Introduction
The Congressional Budget Act (CBA) of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, 88
Stat. 297-332, 2 U.S.C. 601-688), as amended, establishes the concurrent resolution
on the budget as the centerpiece of the congressional budget process. The annual
budget resolution is an agreement between the House and Senate on a budget plan
for the upcoming fiscal year and at least the following 4 fiscal years. As a concurrent
resolution, it is not presented to the President for his signature and thus does not
become law. The budget resolution, however, provides the framework for
subsequent legislative action on the annual appropriations bills, revenue measures,
debt-limit legislation, reconciliation legislation, and any other budgetary legislation.
This report provides current and historical information on the budget resolution.
It provides a list of the budget resolutions adopted and rejected by Congress since
implementation of the CBA, including the Statutes-at-Large citations and committee
report numbers, and describes their formulation and content. The report provides a
table of selected optional components, a list of reconciliation laws, and information
on the number of years covered by budget resolutions. It also provides information
on the consideration and adoption of budget resolutions, including: an identification
of the House special rules that provided for consideration of budget resolutions; the
amendments in the nature of a substitute to the budget resolution considered in the
House; the number and disposition of House and Senate amendments to budget
resolutions; and dates of House and Senate action on budget resolutions.
Congress has modified the congressional budget process several times since it
was first established in 1974. Appendix A identifies laws and budget resolutions
that changed requirements pertaining to the formulation, content, and consideration
of the budget resolution.
As originally enacted, the CBA required that Congress adopt two budget
resolutions each year. The first budget resolution, which was to be adopted by May
15, was advisory in nature. The second budget resolution, which was to be adopted
by September 15 (about two weeks before the beginning of the fiscal year), was
binding. The second budget resolution revised or reaffirmed the first budget
resolution by taking into account budget and economic changes in the months since
the first resolution. Additional budget resolutions could be adopted at any time.
The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Title II of
P.L. 99-177, 99 Stat. 1038-1101) eliminated the requirement for a second budget
resolution beginning in FY1987. For several preceding years, FY1983-FY1986,
Congress did not adopt a second budget resolution, but instead included a provision
in the first budget resolution that made the spending and revenue totals in it binding
automatically as of the beginning of the fiscal year.

---

CRS-2
Since 1975, Congress has adopted an annual budget resolution every year except
two; Congress did not agree to a budget resolution in 1998 and 2003.1 Second
budget resolutions were adopted in 7 of the 28 years covered by this report. In 2 of
these years (1979 for FY1980 and 1981 for FY1982), the House adopted the Senate
version of the second budget resolution rather than adopting its own. Therefore, no
conference report was necessary for these budget resolutions. A third budget
resolution, further revising the previous budget resolutions, was adopted for FY1977.
Table 1 lists all budget resolutions adopted by Congress, with the House and
Senate votes on initial passage and adoption of the conference report. The Statutes-
at-Large citations for adopted budget resolutions are listed in Appendix B.
(Although concurrent resolutions such as budget resolutions have no statutory
authority, they are compiled in a special section of the Statutes-at-Large.) Appendix
C lists the budget resolutions rejected in the House. No budget resolutions were
rejected in the Senate.
1In the absence of an agreed-upon budget resolution, the House (for FY1999 and FY2003)
and Senate (for FY1999 only) each agreed to “deeming resolutions” in order to enforce
budget levels. For FY1999, the House agreed to H.Res. 477 on June 19, 1998, and H.Res.
5 on Jan. 6, 1999, both deeming the budget levels contained in the House-adopted FY1999
budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 284, 105th Congress) generally to have been adopted by
Congress. Likewise, the Senate agreed to S.Res. 209 on Apr. 2, 1998, and S.Res. 312 on
Oct. 21, 1998, both setting forth budget levels to be enforced as if they were included in a
budget resolution agreed to by Congress. For FY2003, the House agreed to H.Res. 428 on
May 22, 2002, and H.Res. 5 on Jan. 7, 2003, deeming the House-adopted FY2003 budget
resolution (H.Con.Res. 353, 107th Congress) to have been adopted by Congress. The Senate
did not take similar action. For further information on “deeming resolutions,” see CRS
Report RL31443, The “Deeming Resolution”: A Budget Enforcement Tool, by Robert Keith.

---

CRS-3
Table 1. Congressional Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003
Initial Passage
Conference Report
Budget Resolution
Congress
Fiscal Year
Typea
House Vote
Senate Vote
House Vote
Senate Vote
(companion measure)
94th
1976
H.Con.Res. 218 (S.Con.Res. 32)
first
200-196
69-22
230-193
voice
H.Con.Res. 466 (S.Con.Res. 76)
second
225-191
69-23
189-187
74-19
1977
S.Con.Res. 109 (H.Con.Res. 611)
first
221-155
62-22
224-170
65-29
S.Con.Res. 139 (H.Con.Res. 728)
second
227-151
55-23
234-143
66-20
95th
1977
S.Con.Res. 10 (H.Con.Res. 110)
third
239-169
72-20
226-173
voice
1978
S.Con.Res. 19 (H.Con.Res. 214)
first
213-179
56-31
221-177
54-23
H.Con.Res. 341 (S.Con.Res. 43)
second
199-188
63-21
215-187
68-21
1979
S.Con.Res. 80 (H.Con.Res. 559)
first
201-197
64-27
201-198
voice
H.Con.Res. 683 (S.Con.Res. 104)
second
217-178
56-18
225-162
47-7
96th
1980
H.Con.Res. 107 (S.Con.Res. 22)
first
220-184
64-20
202-196
72-17
S.Con.Res. 53 (H.Con.Res. 186)b
second
206-186
57-20
—
—
1981
H.Con.Res. 307 (S.Con.Res. 86)
first
225-193c
68-28
205-195
61-26
241-174
H.Con.Res. 448 (S.Con.Res. 119)
second
203-191
48-46
voice
50-38

---

CRS-4
Initial Passage
Conference Report
Budget Resolution
Congress
Fiscal Year
Typea
House Vote
Senate Vote
House Vote
Senate Vote
(companion measure)
97th
1982
H.Con.Res. 115 (S.Con.Res. 19)
first
270-154
78-20
244-155
76-20
S.Con.Res. 50 (H.Con.Res. 230)d
second
206-200
49-48
—
—
1983
S.Con.Res. 92 (H.Con.Res. 352)
—
219-206
49-43
210-208
51-45
98th
1984
H.Con.Res. 91 (S.Con.Res. 27)
—
229-196
50-49
239-186
51-43
1985
H.Con.Res. 280 (S.Con.Res. 106)
—
250-168
41-34
232-162
voice
99th
1986
S.Con.Res. 32 (H.Con.Res. 152)
—
258-170
voice
309-119
67-32
1987
S.Con.Res. 120 (H.Con.Res. 337)
—
245-179
70-25
333-43
voice
100th
1988
H.Con.Res. 93 (S.Con.Res. 49)
—
voice
56-42
215-201
53-46
1989
H.Con.Res. 268 (S.Con.Res. 113)
—
319-102
69-26
201-181
58-29
101st
1990
H.Con.Res. 106 (S.Con.Res. 30)
—
263-157
68-31
241-185
63-37
1991
H.Con.Res. 310 (S.Con.Res. 110)
—
218-208
voice
250-164
66-33
102nd
1992
H.Con.Res. 121 (S.Con.Res. 29)
—
261-163
voice
239-181
57-41
1993
H.Con.Res. 287 (S.Con.Res. 106)
—
215-201e
voice
209-207
52-41
224-191
103rd
1994
H.Con.Res. 64 (S.Con.Res. 18)
—
243-183
54-45
240-184
55-45
1995
H.Con.Res. 218 (S.Con.Res. 63)
—
223-175
57-40
220-183
53-46

---

CRS-5
Initial Passage
Conference Report
Budget Resolution
Congress
Fiscal Year
Typea
House Vote
Senate Vote
House Vote
Senate Vote
(companion measure)
104th
1996
H.Con.Res. 67 (S.Con.Res. 13)
—
238-193
57-42
239-194
54-46
1997
H.Con.Res. 178 (S.Con.Res. 57)
—
226-195
53-46
216-211
53-46
105th
1998
H.Con.Res. 84 (S.Con.Res. 27)
—
333-99
78-22
327-97
76-22
1999f
H.Con.Res. 284 (S.Con.Res. 86)
—
216-204
57-41
—
—
106th
2000
H.Con.Res. 68 (S.Con.Res. 20)
—
221-208
55-44
220-208
54-44
2001
H.Con.Res. 290 (S.Con.Res. 101)
—
211-207
51-45
220-208
50-48
107th
2002
H.Con.Res. 83g
—
222-205
63-35
221-207
53-47
2003h
H.Con.Res. 353 (S.Con.Res. 100)
—
221-209
—
—
—
Notes:
a. “Type” refers to whether the budget resolution was the first, second, or third for the fiscal year. For the first 7 years of the congressional budget process, Congress adopted multiple
budget resolutions each year. Since the FY1983 budget resolution, Congress has adopted only one a year.
b. House rejected its budget resolution (see Appendix C of this report) and adopted Senate resolution; no conference report necessary.
c. Question divided, separate votes on sections 1-5 and 7, and on section 6 (revised FY1980 budget resolution).
d. House laid its budget resolution on the table by unanimous consent and adopted Senate resolution; no conference report necessary.
e. Question divided, separate votes on sections 1, 2 and 4, and on section 3 (revised the spending and revenue levels if certain legislation was not enacted into law before conferees
on the budget resolution were appointed).
f. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY1999. In the absence of a budget resolution, the House agreed to H.Res. 477 on June 19, 1998, and H.Res. 5 on Jan. 6, 1999,
both deeming the budget levels contained in the House-adopted FY1999 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 284) generally to have been adopted by Congress, for budget enforcement
purposes. Likewise, the Senate agreed to S.Res. 209 on Apr. 2, 1998, and S.Res. 312 on Oct. 21, 1998, both setting forth budget levels to be enforced as if they were included
in a budget resolution agreed to by Congress.
g. The Senate Budget Committee did not mark up or report a budget resolution for FY2002. Instead, the House-passed budget resolution was discharged from the committee and
considered by the Senate.
h. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY2003. In the absence of a budget resolution, the House agreed to H.Res. 428 on May 22, 2002, and H.Res. 5 on Jan. 7, 2003,
deeming the House-adopted FY2003 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 353, 107th Congress) to have been adopted by Congress, for budget enforcement purposes. The Senate did
not take similar action.

---

CRS-6
Formulation and Content of the Budget Resolution
Formulation of the Budget Resolution
Following the submission of the President’s budget in January or February,
Congress begins formulating its budget resolution. The House and Senate Budget
Committees are responsible for developing and reporting the budget resolution.
Within 6 weeks after the President’s budget submission, each House and Senate
committee is required to submit its “views and estimates” relating to budget matters
under their jurisdiction to their respective Budget Committee (Section 301(d) of the
CBA). These views and estimates, often submitted in the form of a letter to the chair
and ranking Member of the Budget Committee, typically include comments on the
President’s budget proposals and estimates of the budgetary impact of any legislation
likely to be considered during the current session of Congress. The Budget
Committees are not bound by these recommendations. The views and estimates
often are printed in the committee report accompanying the resolution in the Senate
or compiled in a separate committee print in the House.
The budget resolution was designed to provide a framework to make budget
decisions, leaving specific program determinations to the Appropriations Committees
and other committees with spending and revenue jurisdiction. In many instances,
however, particular program changes are considered when formulating the budget
resolution. Program assumptions are sometimes referred to in the reports of the
Budget Committees or may be discussed during floor action. Although these
program changes are not binding, committees may be strongly influenced by these
recommendations when formulating appropriations bills, reconciliation measures, or
other budgetary legislation.
Appendix D provides a list of the House, Senate, and conference reports to the
first budget resolutions adopted by Congress each year.
Content of the Budget Resolution
Section 301(a) of the CBA requires that the budget resolution include the
following matters for the upcoming fiscal year and at least the ensuing 4 fiscal years:
! aggregate levels of new budget authority, outlays, the budget surplus or
deficit, and the public debt;
! aggregate levels of federal revenues and the amount, if any, by which the
aggregate levels of federal revenues should be increased or decreased by
legislative action;
! amounts of new budget authority and outlays for each of the major functional
categories; and

---

CRS-7
! for purposes of Senate enforcement procedures, Social Security outlays and
revenues (although these amounts are not included in the budget surplus or
deficit totals due to their off-budget status).
In addition to the content required by the CBA, Section 301(b) lists several other
matters that may be included in the budget resolution. Appendix E provides a table
indicating selected components included in first budget resolutions for FY1976-
FY2003.
The most important of the optional matters is the inclusion of reconciliation
instructions provided by Section 310 of the CBA. Budget reconciliation is a two-step
process that Congress may use to assure compliance with the direct spending,
revenue, and debt-limit levels set forth in a budget resolution. First, Congress
includes reconciliation instructions in a budget resolution directing one or more
committees in each chamber to recommend changes in statute to achieve the levels
of direct spending, revenues, debt limit, or a combination thereof, agreed to in the
budget resolution. Second, the legislative language recommended by committees is
packaged “without any substantive revision” into one or more reconciliation bills, as
set forth in the budget resolution, by the House and Senate Budget Committees. In
some instances, a committee may be required to report its legislative
recommendations directly to its chamber.2
In 16 of the past 28 years, Congress has included reconciliation instructions in
the budget resolution.3 Reconciliation was first used in calendar year 1980 for
FY1981. Since then, reconciliation directives have been included in the budget
resolution agreed to by Congress for every fiscal year except 1985, 1989, 1992, 1993,
and 1995. Pursuant to these instructions, 15 reconciliation measures have been
enacted into law. In 1982 and 1997, two reconciliation measures were adopted.
Three reconciliation measures have been vetoed, in 1995, 1999, and 2001.
Appendix F lists the budget resolutions that contained reconciliation instructions and
the resultant reconciliation acts.
Beginning with the FY1981 budget resolution, Congress also included amounts
for federal credit activities. The 1985 Balanced Budget Act permanently required the
inclusion of aggregate and functional levels of direct loan obligations and primary
loan guarantee commitments in budget resolutions. The inclusion of federal credit
levels, however, was made optional by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1997 (Title
X of P.L. 105-33; 111 Stat. 677-712). Of the 26 first budget resolutions adopted by
Congress, 18 included federal credit amounts.
Another optional component of budget resolutions has been the inclusion of
reserve funds. The reserve fund provisions generally provide for the revision of
budget resolution aggregates, functional allocations, and committee allocations if
2For more information on reconciliation legislation, see CRS Report RL30458, The
Reconciliation Process: Timing of Legislative Action, by Robert Keith.
3This does not include the House-version of the FY1999 budget resolution, since final
agreement was not reached with the Senate. The Senate-version did not include
reconciliation instructions.

---

CRS-8
certain deficit-neutral legislation is enacted or some other condition is met. Over the
last decade, Congress often has included several reserve funds in budget resolutions.
For instance, the FY2002 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 83, 107th Congress) included
nine reserve funds.4
In recent years, declaratory statements increasingly have been included in budget
resolutions. These non-binding statements express the sense of Congress, the sense
of the House, or the sense of the Senate on various issues. As indicated in Appendix
E, an average of 27 declaratory statements has been included in the last eight budget
resolutions (not including budget resolutions for FY1999 and FY2003), but only an
average of two and a half declaratory statements appeared in the first 18 budget
resolutions.
The annual budget resolution also may require a deferred enrollment procedure
(see Section 301(b)(3) of the CBA), under which all or certain bills providing new
budget authority or new entitlement authority for the upcoming fiscal year cannot be
enrolled until Congress has completed action on a reconciliation measure (or, prior
to FY1987, a reconciliation measure or the second budget resolution). Budget
resolutions for fiscal years 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984 contained deferred enrollment
provisions.5
Lastly, Congress has included several other procedural provisions in budget
resolutions. Under Section 301(b)(4) of the CBA, the so-called elastic clause,
Congress may “set forth such other matters, and require such other procedures,
relating to the budget, as may be appropriate to carry out the purposes of” the
Congressional Budget Act in the budget resolution. The number of procedural
provisions included in budget resolutions is listed in the last column of Appendix E.
Some of these procedural provisions include: deferred enrollment; automatic second
resolutions; special budgetary treatment of certain activities, such as the sale of
government assets; and more recently, enforcement of a pay-as-you-go requirement
in the Senate, and limits on advance appropriations.
Source of Economic Assumptions Associated with Budget
Levels in the Budget Resolution
The budget levels contained in the budget resolution are developed using a
baseline, which is a projection of revenues and spending under existing law and
assuming no policy changes. There are two baselines commonly used in the federal
budget process: current services estimates calculated by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB), and budget baseline projections calculated by the Congressional
Budget Office (CBO). These two projections often differ because they are based
4For information on the FY2002 reserve funds, see CRS Report RS21038, Reserve Funds
in the FY2002 Budget Resolution, by Bill Heniff Jr.
5The FY1983 budget resolution exempted legislation dealing with certain trust funds from
its deferred enrollment provision. A deferred enrollment provision was struck from the
House version of the FY1980 budget resolution by a House amendment. For the floor
debate on the amendment, see Congressional Record, vol. 125, May 3, 1979, pp. 9677-9684.

---

CRS-9
upon different sets of economic and technical assumptions, reflecting different
projections of future economic and program performance.
The economic assumptions developed by OMB are published in the Analytical
Perspectives volume of the President’s budget submitted to Congress.6 CBO
includes its initial economic assumptions in its annual economic and budget outlook
report published early in the year.7 Often, CBO revises these economic assumptions
to reflect new economic data which become available after the publication of this
report. In some years, CBO will revise its economic assumptions in late winter or
early spring and publish them in its analysis of the President’s budget.8 In other
years, revised economic assumptions will be included in CBO’s economic and
budget outlook update report published in the summer.
Congress is not required to use the economic assumptions developed by either
OMB or CBO in the budget resolution, but must identify the economic assumptions
upon which the budget levels are based.9 The original CBA required that the report
accompanying the budget resolution reported by the House and Senate budget
committees include only the economic assumptions upon which the spending and
revenue levels were based. The common practice, however, was to extend this to the
conference report on the budget resolution as well. In 1985, Congress amended the
CBA to specifically require that the joint explanatory statement accompanying a
conference report on a budget resolution set forth the common economic assumptions
upon which the statement and conference report are based.10
Appendix G specifies the source of the economic assumptions used in the
budget resolutions for FY1976 to FY2001. Of the 26 budget resolutions adopted by
Congress during this period, 14 were based upon economic assumptions developed
by CBO. Usually, these were the assumptions in CBO’s economic and budget
outlook report published early in the year. In four instances, however, Congress used
the economic assumptions that were revised by CBO after the publication of this
report; the budget resolutions for FY1984, FY1985, FY1997, and FY1998 were
based upon revised CBO economic assumptions. On four other occasions, Congress
made adjustments to the CBO economic assumptions; the budget resolutions for
FY1996, FY1997, FY1998, and FY2000 were based upon adjusted CBO economic
6For example, see OMB, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2004, Analytical
Perspectives (Washington: GPO, Feb. 2003), chapter 2, pp. 21-32.
7For example, see CBO, The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2004-2013
(Washington: Jan. 2003), chapter 2, pp. 23-47.
8For example, see CBO, An Analysis of the President's Budgetary Proposals for Fiscal Year
2003 (Washington: Mar. 2002), pp. 4-5.
9In addition, Section 301(g)(1) of the CBA prohibits the Senate from considering a budget
resolution that contains budget levels based on more than one set of economic assumptions.
This provision was added by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Reaffirmation Act of 1987 (Title I of P.L. 100-119, 99 Stat. 754-788).
10Section 301(g)(2) of the CBA, as amended by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985 (Title II of P.L. 99-177, 99 Stat. 1038-1101).

---

CRS-10
assumptions. In the first three, the adjustments were intended to reflect anticipated
revisions to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
In six of the 26 budget resolutions, Congress used the economic assumptions
developed by OMB. Usually, these were the assumptions included in the President’s
budget submitted to Congress early in the year. In two of these budget resolutions,
however, the OMB economic assumptions were adjusted to reflect revisions in
economic data.
In 1982, Congress based the budget levels in the FY1983 budget resolution upon
economic assumptions agreed to by negotiators from Congress and the
Administration during a budget summit.
Finally, the joint explanatory statements accompanying the conference reports
to the first five budget resolutions specified the economic assumptions upon which
the budget levels were based, but did not indicate the source of those assumptions.
Number of Years Covered by the Budget Resolution
Originally, the CBA mandated that budget resolutions cover only the upcoming
fiscal year beginning on October 1 (referred to as the budget year). A desire to use
the budget resolution as a tool for budget planning and other factors prompted
Congress to expand this time frame to include the upcoming fiscal year as well as the
2 ensuing fiscal years. Congress used the authority provided by the elastic clause of
the CBA to adopt 3-year budget resolutions for the period covering the second budget
resolution for FY1980 through the FY1986 budget resolution. The practice of
including 3 fiscal years was formalized by the 1985 Balanced Budget Act.
The Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) of 1990 (Title XIII of P.L. 101-508,
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, 104 Stat. 1388-573-1388 through 630)
temporarily extended to 5 fiscal years the period the budget resolution is required to
cover. The 1990 BEA provision originally covered 5-year periods beginning in
FY1991 and continuing through FY1995; this provision was extended to cover the
FY1996 through FY1998 budget resolutions in 1993 (Title XIV of P.L. 103-66,
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, 107 Stat. 683-685). As an integral part
of Congress’s goal of achieving a balanced budget by FY2002, the FY1996 and
FY1997 budget resolutions covered 7 and 6 fiscal years, respectively. The Budget
Enforcement Act of 1997 (Title X of P.L. 105-33, Balanced Budget Act of 1997, 111
Stat. 677-712) amended the CBA to require permanently that a budget resolution
cover the budget year and at least the 4 ensuing fiscal years. The FY2002 budget
resolution adopted by Congress in 2001 covered 10 fiscal years. In 2002, the House-
passed FY2003 budget resolution covered 5 fiscal years; the Senate Budget
Committee-reported FY2003 budget resolution covered 10 fiscal years.
Appendix H provides information regarding the number of years covered by the
budget resolutions agreed to by Congress.
Congress also may revise budget levels for the current year in the budget
resolution, pursuant to Section 304 of the CBA. Congress has adopted 10 first
budget resolutions that revised current-year budget levels.

---

CRS-11
Consideration and Adoption of
the Budget Resolution
Floor consideration of the budget resolution differs in the House and Senate.
Section 305 of the CBA sets forth special procedures for the consideration of the
budget resolution, generally to expedite its consideration. The House, however,
regularly adopts a special rule, a simple House resolution, setting forth the terms for
consideration of the measure. In particular, special rules have been used for more
than a decade to limit the offering of amendments to a few major substitutes.
Appendix I lists the special rules that provided for the consideration of budget
resolutions in the House.
In contrast, floor consideration in the Senate is governed by the procedures set
forth in the Congressional Budget Act. The procedures generally limit debate and
prohibit certain amendments and motions.11
Amendments to the Budget Resolution
The House has considered an average of over six amendments per budget
resolution, adopting an average of one of these.12 The largest number of amendments
considered was 45 in 1979; the largest number adopted was 11 in 1979 (the first
FY1983 budget resolution also was amended 11 times, but it subsequently was
rejected). Appendix J identifies the number of accepted and rejected amendments
to budget resolutions considered in the House. The amending activity in the House
during the last several years is in marked contrast to the early years of the
congressional budget process. During the first 8 years, the House considered an
average of 16 amendments per budget resolution, adopting an average of four of
these. In contrast, during the last 20 years, the House has considered very few
amendments to budget resolutions, averaging only three and a half per budget
resolution, and adopting even fewer of these. Out of the 71 amendments considered
by the House during this time period, only four were adopted. Since 1992, the House
has rejected all amendments.
Contributing to this trend, the House special rule typically has allowed for
consideration of only amendments in the nature of a substitute to the budget
resolution. For example, between 1982 and 2002 (for the FY1984-FY2003 budget
resolutions), 67 out of 72 amendments to the budget resolution made in order by the
special rule were amendments in the nature of a substitute. Only one of these 67 was
adopted; that one contained the budget resolution text recommended by the House
Budget Committee offered by its chair, Representative William H. Gray III (PA), to
the FY1988 budget resolution. Appendix K lists the amendments in the nature of
a substitute to the budget resolution made in order by the special rule.
11For a detailed discussion of these procedures, see CRS Report 98-511, Consideration of
the Budget Resolution, by Bill Heniff Jr.
12This average, as well as the average number of Senate amendments, derives from all first
budget resolutions considered and adopted on the House or Senate floor.

---

CRS-12
Unlike the House, which has no reporting deadline for its budget committee to
report a budget resolution, the Senate has an April 1 reporting deadline for the budget
resolution.13 In addition, the terms of debate and the consideration of amendments
are not structured by a special rule, as in the House but instead are governed by the
procedures set forth in Section 305(b) of the CBA. Typically, a larger number of
amendments is considered, consisting of substitute amendments as well as
amendments that address specific issues. In recent years, many of these amendments
have been declaratory statements that express the sense of the Senate on various
policy issues, but have no binding effect. In an attempt to reduce such amendments,
the FY2001 budget resolution included a provision specifying predominately
“precatory” amendments as not germane.14 The CBA prohibits non-germane
amendments to budget resolutions.15
During the period between 1975 and 2002, the Senate considered an average of
almost 35 amendments per budget resolution, adopting an average of over 17 of
these.16 The largest number of amendments considered was 106 in 1998; the largest
number adopted was 57 in 1998 and 1999. Appendix L identifies the number of
amendments accepted, rejected, withdrawn, and declared out-of-order during Senate
consideration of budget resolutions. In contrast to the House, the number of
amendments considered by the Senate has increased in recent years. For the last nine
budget resolutions considered on the floor, the Senate considered an average of 68
amendments per budget resolution, adopting an average of almost 40 of these.
Amendments have been accepted in the Senate at a much higher rate compared to the
House as well. In 6 of the last 9 years in which a budget resolution was considered
on the floor, the success rate for amendments has exceeded 60%.
Timing of the Budget Resolution
The congressional budget timetable sets April 15 as a target date for completion
of the annual budget resolution. Figure 1 lists the dates of final adoption of budget
resolutions for FY1976-FY2003. Since the timetable was established in 1974,
Congress has met the budget resolution deadline only five times, most recently in
2000 for FY2001. Under the original deadline (prior to 1986, the deadline was May
15), Congress adopted the annual budget resolution on time twice, in 1975 and 1976.
After the deadline was changed to April 15 by the 1985 Balanced Budget Act,
Congress has met its deadline three times, in 1993, 1999, and 2000. Further,
Congress did not adopt a budget resolution twice (in 1998 for FY1999 and in 2002
for FY2003).
13For further information, see CRS Report RS20541, Congressional Budget Resolutions:
Reporting Deadline in the Senate, by Robert Keith.
14Section 204(g) of H.Con.Res. 68, 106th Congress.
15Section 305(b)(2) of the CBA, as amended. This ban on non-germane amendments also
applies to reconciliation legislation.
16This average does not include the FY2003 budget resolution because it was not considered
on the Senate floor.

---

CRS-13
Congress adopted the budget resolution
Figure 1. Dates of Final
(not including the budget resolutions for
Adoption of the Budget
FY1999 and FY2003) an average of 40 days
Resolution, FY1976-FY2003
after the deadline. The FY1991 budget
resolution was adopted the latest, on
Fiscal year
Date adopted
October 9, 1990. The earliest adoption of a
1976
05-14-1975
budget resolution was for FY1994, on April
1977
05-13-1976
1, 1993. Figure 2 illustrates the number of
1978
05-17-1977
days before or after the deadline the annual
1979
05-17-1978
budget resolution was adopted. Appendices
1980
05-24-1979
M and N provide a list of dates related to
1981
06-12-1980
the consideration and adoption of the budget
1982
05-21-1981
resolution in the House and the Senate,
1983
06-23-1982
respectively.
1984
06-23-1983
1985
10-01-1984
1986
08-01-1985
Debt-Limit Legislation
1987
06-27-1986
1988
06-24-1987
Automatically Engrossed
1989
06-06-1988
Upon the Adoption of the
1990
05-18-1989
Budget Resolution
1991
10-09-1990
1992
05-22-1991
The amount of money the federal
1993
05-21-1992
government is allowed to borrow generally
1994
04-01-1993
is subject to a statutory limit. From time to
1995
05-12-1994
time, Congress has adopted legislation to
1996
06-29-1995
raise this limit.17
1997
06-13-1996
1998
06-05-1997
In 1979, the House amended its rules to
1999
[none]
provide for the automatic engrossment of a
2000
04-15-1999
joint resolution increasing the public debt
2001
04-13-2000
limit once Congress agreed to the
2002
05-10-2001
conference report on the budget resolution,
2003
[none]
thereby avoiding a separate vote on the debt-
limit legislation.18 The rule, commonly
referred to as the “Gephardt rule” after its author, Representative Richard Gephardt,
17For further information on debt-limit legislation, see CRS Report 98-453, Debt-Limit
Legislation in the Congressional Budget Process, by Bill Heniff Jr.; CRS Report RS21111,
The Debt Limit: The Need to Raise It After Four Years of Surpluses, by Philip D. Winters;
and CRS Report 98-805, Public Debt Limit Legislation: A Brief History and Controversies
In the 1980s and 1990s, by Philip D. Winters.
18The rule was established by P.L. 96-78 (93 Stat. 589-591), an act to provide for a
temporary increase in the public debt limit. It first applied to the FY1981 budget resolution.
For the debate in the House, see Congressional Record, vol. 125, Sept. 26, 1979, pp. 26337-
26350. In 1983, the existing, separate temporary and permanent statutory limits on the
public debt were combined into one permanent statutory limit on the public debt (P.L. 98-
34). Subsequently, the rule was amended to reflect this change by H.Res. 241 (98th
Congress). See Congressional Record, vol. 129, June 23, 1983, pp. 17162-17164.

---

CRS-14
Figure 2. Number of Days Before or After Deadline That Action
on the Annual Budget Resolution Was Completed, FY1976-FY2003
1976
-1
1977
-2
2
1978
1979
2
1980
9
28
1981
1982
6
1983
39
39
1984
1985
139
1986
78
73
1987
1988
70
1989
52
33
1990
1991
177
1992
37
1993
36
1994
-14
1995
27
75
1996
1997
59
1998
51
1999
2000
0
2001
-2
2002
25
2003
-25
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
Days before (-)/after deadline
Note: The deadline for adoption of the budget resolution was May 15 for FY1976-FY1986 and April
15 thereafter. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY1999 or FY2003. The FY2000
budget resolution was adopted on the deadline of April 15; thus, the value is zero.
stipulated that a joint resolution specifying the amount of the debt limit contained in
the budget resolution automatically was deemed to have passed the House by the
same vote as the conference report on the budget resolution. The Senate had no
comparable procedure; it considered such joint resolutions, or any other measure,
related to the public debt limit under the regular legislative process.
The “Gephardt rule” was suspended 10 times during calendar years 1980-
2002.19 In most cases, the House suspended the rule because legislation changing the
statutory limit was not necessary; at the time the existing public debt limit was
expected to be sufficient. In three cases, the House passed separate legislation or was
expected to pass separate legislation to increase the statutory limit. In one case, the
House and Senate did not agree to a conference report on the budget resolution.
19For each of these cases, a brief explanation regarding the rule’s suspension is provided in
the notes at the end of Appendix O.

---

CRS-15
The rule was repealed at the beginning of the 107th Congress.20 On the opening
day of the 108th Congress, the House reinstated this automatic engrossing process as
a new rule, Rule XXVII.21
Appendix O provides information on the joint resolutions increasing the public
debt limit that were engrossed and deemed passed by the House pursuant to the
“Gephardt rule”during calendar years 1980-2002. During this 23-year period, 15
such joint resolutions were engrossed automatically upon the adoption of the budget
resolution by Congress. Of the 15 joint resolutions automatically engrossed, 11 were
enacted into law.22
The Senate took action on 12 of these joint resolutions, passing seven without
amendment and five as amended. Only one of these 12 joint resolutions was not
enacted into law. Specifically, during the second session of the 99th Congress, the
Senate passed as amended the joint resolution (H.J.Res. 668) automatically engrossed
by the House and requested a conference with the House, but no further action was
taken (as indicated in Appendix O). The Senate took no action on two of the 15
joint resolutions and laid one aside.
20It was repealed by H.Res. 5, adopted on Jan. 3, 2001. See Congressional Record, daily
edition, vol. 147, Jan. 3, 2001, pp. H6-H11.
21Section 2(t) of H.Res. 5, which was agreed to by the House on January 7, 2003. See
Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 149, Jan. 7, 2003, pp. H7-H20.
22During this period, a total of 37 public debt limit increases were enacted into law as
independent measures or as part of other legislation. See Table 7.3 in OMB, Budget of the
U.S. Government, FY2004, Historical Tables (Washington: GPO, Feb. 2003), pp. 119-122.

---

CRS-16
Appendix A. Provisions in Law and
Budget Resolutions Modifying
the Congressional Budget Process
Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 (“Humphrey-Hawkins
Act”; P.L. 95-523; 92 Stat. 1887-1908; October 27, 1978)
! Called for a period of up to four hours for debate on economic goals and
priorities, following the presentation of opening floor statements on the budget
resolution.
Temporary Increase in the Public Debt Limit (P.L. 96-5; 93 Stat. 8; April 2,
1979)
! Mandated that the President’s budget and the Budget Committee’s reported
budget resolution for FY1981 and FY1982 be in balance. Provision was
repealed in 1982.
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-272; 100
Stat. 82-391; April 7, 1986)
! Prohibited the inclusion of extraneous matter in reconciliation legislation.
Originally this procedural restriction, known as the Byrd rule, applied during
the period from April 7, 1986 to January 2, 1987; it was later incorporated into
the 1974 CBA.23
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Title II of P.L. 99-
177; 99 Stat. 1038-1101; December 12, 1985)24
! Required Congress to complete action on a budget resolution by April 15 of
each year (deadline moved from May 15).
! Eliminated the requirement that Congress adopt a second budget resolution
annually by September 15.
23The Byrd rule was extended to Jan. 2, 1988 under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1986 (P.L. 99-509; 100 Stat. 1874-2078; Oct. 21, 1986) and to Sept. 30, 1992 by a
measure to increase the statutory limit on the public debt (P.L. 100-119; 101 Stat. 754-788;
Sept. 29, 1987) before the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (see below) incorporated the
Byrd rule into the CBA as Sec. 313.
24For more information on changes made by the 1985 Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act, see CRS Report 86-713, Changes in the Congressional Budget Process
Made by the 1985 Balanced Budget Act (P.L. 99-177), by Robert A. Keith; and CRS Report
85-1130, Explanation of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 -
Public Law 99-177 (The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), by Allen Schick.

---

CRS-17
! Formalized the practice of adopting a 3-year budget resolution, with the
second and third fiscal years non-binding. (Current law requires budget
resolutions to cover at least 5 fiscal years.)
! Called for off-budget entities, except Social Security, to be included in the
budget resolution and the President’s budget.
! Formalized the practice of including credit authority (direct and guaranteed
loans) in the budget resolution.
! Mandated that neither chamber may consider a budget resolution, amendment
to a budget resolution, or conference report on a budget resolution that
recommends a deficit amount greater than the applicable maximum deficit
amount established in the 1985 Balanced Budget Act.
! Excluded Social Security from budget totals, except for purposes of
calculating the deficit in order to determine if sequestration is required. The
budget resolution may contain two deficit totals, one with Social Security, one
without.
! Allowed committees subject to reconciliation legislation (essentially the
House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee) to shift
up to 20 percent of deficit reduction between revenue increases and spending
reductions.
Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) of 1990 (Title XIII of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990; P.L. 101-508; 104 Stat. 1388-573 through 630;
November 5, 1990)25
! Added language to the CBA allowing the option to include pay-as-you-go
procedures for the Senate and House in the budget resolution (Sections
301(b)(7) and 301(b)(8)).
! Incorporated the Byrd rule as Section 313 of the CBA. The rule bars
extraneous matter from being included in reconciliation legislation.
! Required that the budget resolutions for FY1991-FY1995 cover 5 fiscal years.
Current law permanently requires at least five fiscal years (see BEA of 1997
below).
! In the Senate, prohibited the consideration of a reported budget resolution
calling for a reduction in Social Security surpluses.
! Changed deadline for submitting views and estimates reports from “on or
before February 25 of each year” to “within 6 weeks after the President
submits a budget.” Also changes the deadline for the President’s budget
submission from “on or before the first Monday after January 3 of each year”
25See CRS Report 90-520, Budget Enforcement Act of 1990: Brief Summary, by Edward
Davis and Robert Keith.

---

CRS-18
to “on or after the first Monday in January but not later than the first Monday
in February of each year.”
! Added language to the CBA allowing the option of including Social Security
outlays and revenues in the budget resolution for purposes of Senate
enforcement.
! In the Senate, created a point of order that prohibits the consideration of any
budget resolution that would exceed any of the discretionary spending limits.
Initially, this point of order was added to the CBA as a temporary Section
(601(b)); the BEA of 1997 permanently added this point of order to the CBA
as Section 312(b) and applied the point of order to any legislation.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Title XIV of P.L. 103-66; 107 Stat.
683-685; August 10, 1993)
! Extended through FY1998 the BEA requirement that budget resolutions cover
5 fiscal years.
Budget Resolution for FY1994 (H.Con.Res. 64; 103rd Congress; April 1, 1993)26
! Created a Senate pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) point of order that prohibits the
consideration of any direct spending or revenue legislation that would increase
the deficit in the first fiscal year, the period of the first 5 fiscal years, or the
following 5 fiscal years, covered by the most recently adopted budget
resolution. A motion to waive the point of order required a three-fifths vote.
The current language of the Senate PAYGO point of order is included in the
FY2000 budget resolution.
Budget Resolution for FY1995 (H.Con.Res. 218; 103rd Congress; May 12, 1994)
! Made permanent a temporary modification found in the budget resolutions for
FY1993 and FY1994, which applied Section 301(i) to a budget resolution at
any stage of consideration. Section 301(i) of the CBA prohibits the Senate
from considering any reported budget resolution that would decrease the
excess of Social Security revenues over Social Security outlays for any of the
fiscal years covered by the resolution, subject to a three-fifths waiver
requirement. This creates a so-called “firewall” to protect Social Security
balances.
! Prohibited the scoring of proceeds from asset sales in the budget process
through the FY1998 budget cycle. Similar, temporary provisions were
included in budget resolutions from FY1988-FY1994. This provision was
repealed by the FY1997 budget resolution.
26Although budget resolutions, which are agreed to in the form of a concurrent resolution,
do not have the force of law, they can contain changes in congressional budget procedures.

---

CRS-19
! Clarified the language of the Senate PAYGO point of order. Also, it
scheduled the point of order to expire on September 30, 1998. Current
language of the Senate PAYGO point of order is included in the FY2000
budget resolution.
Budget Resolution for FY1996 (H.Con.Res. 67; 104th Congress; June 29, 1995)
! Extended the Senate PAYGO point of order through FY2002.
Budget Resolution for FY1997 (H.Con.Res. 178; 104th Congress; June 16, 1996)
! Repealed the asset sale scoring prohibition put in place by the FY1995 budget
resolution.
Budget Enforcement Act of 1997 (Title X of P.L. 105-33; 111 Stat. 677-712;
August 5, 1997)27
! Permanently required the budget resolution to cover at least five fiscal years.
! Made optional rather than mandatory the inclusion of total direct loan
obligation and total primary loan guarantee commitment levels in the budget
resolution and the accompanying report.
! Modified the optional contents of the budget resolution to include special pay-
as-you-go (PAYGO) procedures in the Senate pertaining to the use of reserve
funds.
! Allowed the Budget Committees to set an alternative deadline for committees
to submit their views and estimates, instead of the usual deadline of within 6
weeks after the President submits a budget.
! Applied the Senate point of order against a budget resolution recommending
a decrease in the projected surplus in the Social Security trust funds to all its
legislative stages.
! Clarified that House committees subject to reconciliation legislation
(primarily the House Ways and Means Committee) may alter the mix of
revenue and spending legislative changes so long as the absolute value of
these changes does not exceed 20 percent of the directed revenue and
spending changes.
Budget Resolution for FY2000 (H.Con.Res. 68; 106th Congress; April 15, 1999)
! Applied the Senate PAYGO point of order to the on-budget deficit, permitting
on-budget surpluses to be used for tax reductions or spending increases. It
27For more information on changes made by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1997, see CRS
Report 97-931, Budget Enforcement Act of 1997: Summary and Legislative History, by
Robert Keith.

---

CRS-20
expired at the end of FY2002, but was restored and extended through April
15, 2003, by S.Res. 304 (107th Congress).
! Created a point of order that prohibited consideration of a revised FY2000 or
a FY2001 budget resolution setting forth an on-budget deficit for any fiscal
year (i.e., excluding any surplus resulting from the Social Security trust fund).
The provision did not apply if the deficit for a fiscal year resulted solely from
legislation that made structural programmatic reforms to enhance retirement
security.
Budget Resolution for FY2001 (H.Con.Res. 290; 106th Congress; April 13, 2000)
! Applied the point of order against budget resolutions setting forth an on-
budget deficit for any fiscal year (see FY2000 budget resolution) to a revised
FY2001 or a FY2002 budget resolution. The provision would not apply if the
economy experienced low growth in two consecutive quarters, or if a
declaration of war was in effect.
! Created a point of order in the Senate that prohibited consideration of
legislation providing advance appropriations in excess of $23.5 billion. A
motion to waive this point of order required a three-fifths vote. The point of
order was scheduled to expire on October 1, 2002, but was superseded by a
similar provision in the FY2002 budget resolution.
! Created a point of order in the Senate that prohibited consideration of
legislation providing delayed obligations, except for appropriations in the
defense category and “appropriations reoccurring or customary.” In the
Senate, a motion to waive this point of order required a three-fifths vote. The
point of order expired on October 1, 2002.
! Specified that amendments that contain predominately “precatory” language,
such as sense-of-the-Senate amendments, are not germane, effectively
prohibiting such amendments to budget resolutions and reconciliation
legislation.
! Created a point of order against a designation of any provision of legislation
as an emergency requirement under Section 251(b)(2)(A) or 252(e) of the
1985 Balanced Budget Act, as amended, except for discretionary defense
appropriations. In the Senate, a motion to waive this point of order requires
a three-fifths vote.
Budget Resolution for FY2002 (H.Con.Res. 83; 107th Congress; May 10, 2001)
! Created points of order in the House and Senate that prohibited consideration
of legislation providing advance appropriations (i.e., an appropriation
provided in an appropriations measure for FY2002 but made available after
FY2002), except for certain accounts listed in the conference report to the
budget resolution in the amount of $23.159 billion, and the Corporation of
Public Broadcasting. In the Senate, a motion to waive this point of order
required a three-fifths vote.

---

CRS-21
Appendix B. Statutes-at-Large Citations
of Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003
Fiscal
Budget
Statutes-at-Large
Congress
Year
Typea
Resolution
Citation
94th
1976
first
H.Con.Res. 218
89 Stat. 1197-1198
second
H.Con.Res. 466
89 Stat. 1209-1210
1977
first
S.Con.Res. 109
90 Stat. 3029-3030
second
S.Con.Res. 139
90 Stat. 3044-3045
95th
1977
third
S.Con.Res. 10
91 Stat. 1666-1667
1978
first
S.Con.Res. 19
91 Stat. 1670-1673
second
H.Con.Res. 341
91 Stat. 1683-1684
1979
first
S.Con.Res. 80
92 Stat. 3870-3872
second
H.Con.Res. 683
92 Stat. 3878-3879
96th
1980
first
H.Con.Res. 107
93 Stat. 1413-1416
second
S.Con.Res. 53
93 Stat. 1428-1433
1981
first
H.Con.Res. 307
94 Stat. 3655-3668
second
H.Con.Res. 448
94 Stat. 3680-3688
97th
1982
first
H.Con.Res. 115
95 Stat. 1743-1759
second
S.Con.Res. 50
95 Stat. 1778
1983
—
S.Con.Res. 92
96 Stat. 2647-2661
98th
1984
—
H.Con.Res. 91
97 Stat. 1501-1523
1985
—
H.Con.Res. 280
98 Stat. 3484-3498
99th
1986
—
S.Con.Res. 32
99 Stat. 1941-1959
1987
—
S.Con.Res. 120
100 Stat. 4354-4370
100th
1988
—
H.Con.Res. 93
101 Stat. 1986-2003
1989
—
H.Con.Res. 268
102 Stat. 4875-4886
101st
1990
—
H.Con.Res. 106
103 Stat. 2540-2554
1991
—
H.Con.Res. 310
104 Stat. 5163-5181
102nd
1992
—
H.Con.Res. 121
105 Stat. 2414-2433
1993
—
H.Con.Res. 287
106 Stat. 5165-5189
103rd
1994
—
H.Con.Res. 64
107 Stat. 2508-2538
1995
—
H.Con.Res. 218
108 Stat. 5075-5103

---

CRS-22
Fiscal
Budget
Statutes-at-Large
Congress
Year
Typea
Resolution
Citation
104th
1996
—
H.Con.Res. 67
109 Stat. 996-1030
1997
—
H.Con.Res. 178
110 Stat. 4434-4482
105th
1998
—
H.Con.Res. 84
111 Stat. 2710-2760
1999b
—
—
—
106th
2000
—
H.Con.Res. 68
113 Stat. 1968-1999
2001
—
H.Con.Res. 290
114 Stat. 3139-3173
107th
2002
—
H.Con.Res. 83
not available
2003c
—
—
—
Notes: Although concurrent resolutions such as budget resolutions have no statutory authority, they
are compiled in a special section of the Statutes-at-Large.
a. “Type” refers to whether the budget resolution was the first, second, or third for the fiscal year.
For the first seven years of the congressional budget process, Congress adopted multiple budget
resolutions each year. Since the FY1983 budget resolution, Congress has adopted only one a
year.
b. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY1999.
c. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY2003.

---

CRS-23
Appendix C. Budget Resolutions Rejected in
the House, FY1976-FY2003
Congress
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution
Date
Vote
95th
1978
H.Con.Res. 195
04-27-1977
84-320
96th
1980
H.Con.Res. 186a
09-19-1979
192-213
97th
1983
H.Con.Res. 345
05-27-1982
159-265
99th
1987
H.Con.Res. 296
03-13-1986
12-312
101st
1991
H.Con.Res. 310
10-05-1990
179-254
(conf. rept.)b
104th
1996
H.Con.Res. 122
12-19-1995
0-412
Notes: No budget resolutions in the Senate were rejected on roll-call votes. All budget resolutions
listed are first budget resolutions, except for FY1980, which is a second budget resolution.
a. House subsequently adopted the Senate’s version of the second budget resolution for FY1980
(S.Con.Res. 53).
b. Another conference report to H.Con.Res. 310 was agreed to on October 8, 1990, by a vote of 250-
164.

---

CRS-24
Appendix D. Committee Reports to
Budget Resolutions, FY1976- FY2003
Fiscal
Budget Resolution
House
Senate
Conference
Year
(companion measure)
Report
Report
Report(s)
1976
H.Con.Res. 218
94-145
94-77
H.Rept. 94-198
(S.Con.Res. 32)
S.Rept. 94-113
1977
S.Con.Res. 109
94-1030
94-731
H.Rept. 94-1108
(H.Con.Res. 611)
S.Rept. 94-805
1978
S.Con.Res. 19
95-239
95-90
H.Rept. 95-291
(H.Con.Res. 214)
S.Rept. 95-134
1979
S.Con.Res. 80
95-1055
95-739
H.Rept. 95-1173
(H.Con.Res. 559)
S.Rept. 95-866
1980
H.Con.Res. 107
96-95
96-68
H.Rept. 96-211
(S.Con.Res. 22)
S.Rept. 96-192
1981
H.Con.Res. 307
96-857
96-654
H.Rept. 96-1051
(S.Con.Res. 86)
S.Rept. 96-792
1982
H.Con.Res. 115
97-23
97-49
H.Rept. 97-46
(S.Con.Res. 19)
S.Rept. 97-86
1983
S.Con.Res. 92
97-597
97-385
H.Rept. 97-614
(H.Con.Res. 352)
S.Rept. 97-478
1984
H.Con.Res. 91
98-41
98-63
H.Rept. 98-248
(S.Con.Res. 27)
S.Rept. 98-155
1985
H.Con.Res. 280
none
98-399
H.Rept. 98-1079
(S.Con.Res. 106)
1986
S.Con.Res. 32
99-133
99-15
H.Rept. 99-249
(H.Con.Res. 152)
1987
S.Con.Res. 120
99-598
99-264
H.Rept. 99-664
(H.Con.Res. 337)
1988
H.Con.Res. 93
none
none
H.Rept. 100-175
(S.Con.Res. 49)
S.Rept. 100-76
1989
H.Con.Res. 268
100-523
100-311
H.Rept. 100-658
(S.Con.Res. 113)
1990
H.Con.Res. 106
101-42
101-20
H.Rept. 101-50
(S.Con.Res. 30)
1991
H.Con.Res. 310
101-455
none
H.Rept. 101-820
(S.Con.Res. 110)
1992
H.Con.Res. 121
102-32
102-40
H.Rept. 102-69
(S.Con.Res. 29)

---

CRS-25
Fiscal
Budget Resolution
House
Senate
Conference
Year
(companion measure)
Report
Report
Report(s)
1993
H.Con.Res. 287
102-450
none
H.Rept. 102-529
(S.Con.Res. 106)
1994
H.Con.Res. 64
103-31
103-19
H.Rept. 103-48
(S.Con.Res. 18)
1995
H.Con.Res. 218
103-428
103-238
H.Rept. 103-490
(S.Con.Res. 63)
1996
H.Con.Res. 67
104-120
104-82
H.Rept. 104-159
(S.Con.Res. 13)
1997
H.Con.Res. 178
104-575
104-271
H.Rept. 104-612
(S.Con.Res. 57)
1998
H.Con.Res. 84
105-100
none
H.Rept. 105-116
(S.Con.Res. 27)
1999a
H.Con.Res. 284
105-555
105-170
—
(S.Con.Res. 86)
2000
H.Con.Res. 68
106-73
106-27
H.Rept. 106-91
(S.Con.Res. 20)
2001
H.Con.Res. 290
106-530
106-251
H.Rept. 106-577
(S.Con.Res. 101)
2002
H.Con.Res. 83b
107-26
none
H.Rept. 107-60
2003c
H.Con.Res. 353
107-376
107-141
—
(S.Con.Res. 100)
Notes: This list includes first budget resolutions only.
a. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY1999.
b. The Senate Budget Committee did not mark up or report a budget resolution for FY2002. Instead,
the House-passed budget resolution was discharged from the committee and considered by the
Senate.
c. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY2003.

---

CRS-26
Appendix E. Selected Components Included in Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003
Reconciliation
Credit
Number of
Number of
Number of
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution
Instructions
Levels
Reserve Fundsa
Declaratory Statementsb
Procedural Provisionsc
1976
H.Con.Res. 218
—
—
0
0
0
1977
S.Con.Res. 109
—
—
0
0
0
1978
S.Con.Res. 19
—
—
0
1
0
1979
S.Con.Res. 80
—
—
0
0
0
1980
H.Con.Res. 107
—
—
0
0
0
1981
H.Con.Res. 307
X
X
0
3
1
1982
H.Con.Res. 115
X
X
0
2
1
1983
S.Con.Res. 92
X
X
0
3
6
1984
H.Con.Res. 91
X
X
1d
3
3
1985
H.Con.Res. 280
—
X
0
1
3
1986
S.Con.Res. 32
X
X
0
7
2
1987
S.Con.Res. 120
X
X
2
8
1
1988
H.Con.Res. 93
X
X
3
3
4
1989
H.Con.Res. 268
—
X
3
3
1
1990
H.Con.Res. 106
X
X
2
2
1
1991
H.Con.Res. 310
X
X
1
0
1

---

CRS-27
Reconciliation
Credit
Number of
Number of
Number of
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution
Instructions
Levels
Reserve Fundsa
Declaratory Statementsb
Procedural Provisionsc
1992
H.Con.Res. 121
—
X
5
2
3
1993
H.Con.Res. 287
—
X
5
8
4
1994
H.Con.Res. 64
X
X
7
29
4
1995
H.Con.Res. 218
—
X
13
14
4
1996
H.Con.Res. 67
X
X
2
14
5
1997
H.Con.Res. 178
X
X
3
39
3
1998
H.Con.Res. 84
X
X
10
40
3
1999e
H.Con.Res. 284
X
—
0
7
1
S.Con.Res. 86
—
—
4 f
16
0
2000
H.Con.Res. 68
X
—
7
22
3
2001
H.Con.Res. 290
X
—
10
44
13
2002
H.Con.Res. 83
X
—
9
14
5
2003g
H.Con.Res. 303
—
—
6
7
1
S.Con.Res. 100
—
—
3
27
6
Notes: This list includes first budget resolutions only.
a. “Reserve fund” refers to any provision establishing procedures to revise spending or revenue levels, or both, if certain legislation is enacted or some other condition is met.
b. Declaratory statements express, in non-binding terms, the sense of the Congress, the sense of the House, or the sense of the Senate on various issues.
c. Some examples of the procedural provisions include: deferred enrollment; automatic second budget resolutions; special budgetary treatment of certain activities, such as the sale
of government assets; and more recently, enforcement of a pay-as-you-go rules in the Senate, and limits on advance appropriations. The number of procedural provisions does
not include reconciliation instructions or reserve funds.
d. The FY1984 budget resolution provided for a single deficit-neutral reserve fund for all legislative initiatives included in the Manager’s Statement.
e. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY1999. Entries represent FY1999 budget resolutions agreed to by the respective chamber.
f. This number does not include a provision allowing for revisions in spending levels if the line-item veto was ruled unconstitutional.
g. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY2003. Entries represent FY2003 budget resolutions agreed to by the House and reported by the Senate Budget Committee,
respectively.

---

CRS-28
Appendix F. Budget Resolutions and Resultant Reconciliation Acts, FY1981-FY2003
Fiscal Years Covered by
Date Enacted
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution
Resultant Reconciliation Laws
Reconciliation Instructions
or Vetoed
1981
H.Con.Res. 307
1980-1981a
Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-499)
12-05-1980
1982
H.Con.Res. 115
1981-1984b
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (P.L. 97-35)
08-13-1981
1983
H.Con.Res. 92
1983-1985
Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-248)
09-03-1982
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-253)
09-08-1982
1984
H.Con.Res. 91
1984-1986
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1983 (P.L. 98-270)
04-18-1984
1986
S.Con.Res. 32
1986-1988
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985
04-07-1986
(P.L. 99-272)
1987
S.Con.Res. 120
1987-1989
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-509)
10-21-1986
1988
S.Con.Res. 93
1988-1990
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-203)
12-22-1987
1990
H.Con.Res. 106
1990 (Senate)
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-239)
12-19-1989
1990-1991 (House)
1991
H.Con.Res. 310
1991-1995
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-508)
11-05-1990
1994
H.Con.Res. 64
1994-1998
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66)
08-10-1993
1996
H.Con.Res. 67
1996-2002
Balanced Budget Act of 1995 (H.R. 2491)
12-06-1995
(vetoed)c
1997
H.Con.Res. 178
1997-2002
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
08-22-1996
of 1996 (P.L. 104-193)

---

CRS-29
Fiscal Years Covered by
Date Enacted
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution
Resultant Reconciliation Laws
Reconciliation Instructions
or Vetoed
1998
H.Con.Res. 84
1998-2002
Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33)
08-05-1997
Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-34)
08-05-1997
2000
H.Con.Res. 68
2000-2009
Taxpayer Refund and Relief Act of 1999 (H.R. 2488)
09-23-1999
(vetoed)
2001
H.Con.Res. 290
2001-2005
Marriage Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2000 (H.R. 4810)
08-05-2000
(vetoed)
2002
H.Con.Res. 83
2001-2011
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
07-07-2001
(P.L. 107-16)
Source: CRS Report RL30458, The Budget Reconciliation Process: Timing of Legislative Action, by Robert Keith.
Notes:
a. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees were instructed in the budget resolution to submit legislation (e.g., rescissions of previously enacted appropriations) to reduce
spending for FY1980.
b. The Senate Appropriations Committee was instructed in the budget resolution to submit legislation to reduce spending for FY1981 (budget authority and outlays) and FY1982-1984
(outlays only).

---

CRS-30
Appendix G. Source of Economic Assumptions
Associated with Budget Levels in Budget
Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003
Fiscal
Source of Economic
Budget Resolution
Conference Report(s)
Year
Assumptions
1976
H.Con.Res. 218
H.Rept. 94-198
Not indicated
S.Rept. 94-113
1977
S.Con.Res. 109
H.Rept. 94-1108
Not indicated
S.Rept. 94-805
1978
S.Con.Res. 19
H.Rept. 95-291
Not indicated
S.Rept. 95-134
1979
S.Con.Res. 80
H.Rept. 95-1173
Not indicated
S.Rept. 95-866
1980
H.Con.Res. 107
H.Rept. 96-211
Not indicated
S.Rept. 96-192
1981
H.Con.Res. 307
H.Rept. 96-1051
CBO
S.Rept. 96-792
1982
H.Con.Res. 115
H.Rept. 97-46
“closely correspond to”
S.Rept. 97-86
OMB (March 1981)
1983
S.Con.Res. 92
H.Rept. 97-614
Negotiators from
S.Rept. 97-478
House, Senate, and
Administration during
April 1982
1984
H.Con.Res. 91
H.Rept. 98-248
CBO (revised)
S.Rept. 98-155
1985
H.Con.Res. 280
H.Rept. 98-1079
CBO (revised–August
1984)
1986
S.Con.Res. 32
H.Rept. 99-249
OMB
1987
S.Con.Res. 120
H.Rept. 99-664
CBO
1988
H.Con.Res. 93
H.Rept. 100-175
OMB (adjusted to
S.Rept. 100-76
reflect revisions in
economic data for
1986)
1989
H.Con.Res. 268
H.Rept. 100-658
OMB (adjusted to
reflect revisions in
economic data for
1987)
1990
H.Con.Res. 106
H.Rept. 101-50
OMB
1991
H.Con.Res. 310
H.Rept. 101-820
OMB

---

CRS-31
Fiscal
Source of Economic
Budget Resolution
Conference Report(s)
Year
Assumptions
1992
H.Con.Res. 121
H.Rept. 102-69
CBO
1993
H.Con.Res. 287
H.Rept. 102-529
CBO
1994
H.Con.Res. 64
H.Rept. 103-48
CBO
1995
H.Con.Res. 218
H.Rept. 103-490
CBO
1996
H.Con.Res. 67
H.Rept. 104-159
CBO (adjusted for
anticipated CPI
revisions)
1997
H.Con.Res. 178
H.Rept. 104-612
CBO (revised–May
1996, adjusted for
anticipated CPI
revisions)
1998
H.Con.Res. 84
H.Rept. 105-116
CBO (revised–May
1997, adjusted for non-
legislative technical
CPI revisions)
1999a
H.Con.Res. 284
—
CBO
S.Con.Res. 86
CBO
2000
H.Con.Res. 68
H.Rept. 106-91
CBO (adjusted for
increased real GDP
growth)
2001
H.Con.Res. 290
H.Rept. 106-577
CBO
2002
H.Con.Res. 83
H.Rept. 107-60
CBO
2003b
H.Con.Res. 353
—
OMB
S.Con.Res. 100
CBO
Source: Conference reports on the budget resolutions, unless indicated otherwise.
Notes: This list includes first budget resolutions only. For the first 7 years of the congressional
budget process, Congress adopted multiple budget resolutions each year. Since the FY1983 budget
resolution, Congress has adopted only one a year.
a. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY1999. Entries represent FY1999 budget
resolutions agreed to by the respective chamber. The economic assumptions were specified in
the respective Budget Committee reports (H.Rept. 105-555 and S.Rept. 105-170).
b. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY2003. Entries represent FY2003 budget
resolutions agreed to by the House and reported by the Senate Budget Committee, respectively.
The economic assumptions were specified in the respective Budget Committee reports (H.Rept.
107-376 and S.Rept. 107-141).

---

CRS-32
Appendix H. Number of Years Covered by
Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003
Current
Number of Years
Fiscal
Budget
Fiscal Year(s)
Fiscal Year
Covered, Excluding
Year
Resolution
Covered
Revision
Current Year
1976
H.Con.Res. 218
1976
—
1
1977
S.Con.Res. 109
1976-1977
1976
1
1978
S.Con.Res. 19
1978
—
1
1979
S.Con.Res. 80
1979
—
1
1980
H.Con.Res. 107
1979-1980
1979
1
1981
H.Con.Res. 307
1980-1983
1980
3
1982
H.Con.Res. 115
1981-1984
1981
3
1983
S.Con.Res. 92
1982-1985
1982
3
1984
H.Con.Res. 91
1983-1986
1983
3
1985
H.Con.Res. 280
1984-1987
1984
3
1986
S.Con.Res. 32
1985-1988
1985
3
1987
S.Con.Res. 120
1987-1989
—
3
1988
H.Con.Res. 93
1988-1990
—
3
1989
H.Con.Res. 268
1989-1991
—
3
1990
H.Con.Res. 106
1990-1992
—
3
1991
H.Con.Res. 310
1991-1995
—
5
1992
H.Con.Res. 121
1991-1996
1991
5
1993
H.Con.Res. 287
1993-1997
—
5
1994
H.Con.Res. 64
1994-1998
—
5
1995
H.Con.Res. 218
1995-1999
—
5
1996
H.Con.Res. 67
1996-2002
—
7
1997
H.Con.Res. 178
1997-2002
—
6
1998
H.Con.Res. 84
1998-2002
—
5
1999a
H.Con.Res. 284
1998-2003
1998
5
S.Con.Res. 86
1998-2003
1998
5
2000
H.Con.Res. 68
2000-2009
—
10
2001
H.Con.Res. 290
2000-2005
2000
5

---

CRS-33
Current
Number of Years
Fiscal
Budget
Fiscal Year(s)
Fiscal Year
Covered, Excluding
Year
Resolution
Covered
Revision
Current Year
2002
H.Con.Res. 83
2001-2011
2001
10
2003b
H.Con.Res. 353
2003-2007
—
5
S.Con.Res. 100
2003-2013
—
10
Notes: This list includes first budget resolutions only.
a. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY1999. Entries represent FY1999 budget
resolutions agreed to by the respective chamber.
b. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY2003. Entries represent FY2003 budget
resolutions agreed to by the House and reported by the Senate Budget Committee, respectively.

---

CRS-34
Appendix I. Special Rules Providing for
the Consideration of Budget Resolutions in
the House, FY1976-FY2003
Fiscal
Date Special Rule
Special Rule
Budget Resolution
Year
Was Adopteda
Vote
1976
none
H.Con.Res. 218
—
—
1977
none
H.Con.Res. 611
—
—
1978
H.Res. 515
H.Con.Res. 195b
04-26-1977
400-1
none
H.Con.Res. 214
—
—
1979
none
H.Con.Res. 559
—
—
1980
none
H.Con.Res. 107
—
—
1981
H.Res. 642
H.Con.Res. 307
04-23-1980
261-143
H.Res. 649c
H.Con.Res. 307
04-30-1980
voice
1982
H.Res. 134
H.Con.Res. 115
04-30-1981
328-76
1983
H.Res. 477
H.Con.Res. 345b
05-21-1982
voice
H.Res. 496
H.Con.Res. 352
06-10-1982
339-72
1984
H.Res. 144
H.Con.Res. 91
03-22-1983
230-187
H.Res. 243
H.Con.Res. 91
06-23-1983
voice
(conf. rept.)
1985
H.Res. 476
H.Con.Res. 280
04-04-1984
302-89
1986
H.Res. 177
H.Con.Res. 152
05-22-1985
273-141
H.Res. 253
S.Con.Res. 32
08-01-1985
voice
(conf. rept.)
1987
H.Res. 397
H.Con.Res. 296b
03-13-1986
239-168
H.Res. 455
H.Con.Res. 337
05-14-1986
voice
1988
H.Res. 139
H.Con.Res. 93
04-08-1987
241-168
H.Res. 201
H.Con.Res. 93
06-23-1987
voice
(conf. rept.)
1989
H.Res. 410
H.Con.Res. 268
03-23-1988
voice
H.Res. 461
H.Con.Res. 268
05-26-1988
voice
(conf. rept.)
1990
H.Res. 145
H.Con.Res. 106
05-03-1989
voice
1991
H.Res. 382
H.Con.Res. 310
04-26-1990
voice
H.Res. 488
H.Con.Res. 310b
10-04-1990
339-94
(conf. rept.)
H.Res. 496d
H.Con.Res. 310
10-06-1990
285-105
(conf. rept.)

---

CRS-35
Fiscal
Date Special Rule
Special Rule
Budget Resolution
Year
Was Adopteda
Vote
1992
H.Res. 123
H.Con.Res. 121
04-16-1991
392-9
H.Res. 157
H.Con.Res. 121
05-22-1991
257-164
(conf. rept.)
1993
H.Res. 386
H.Con.Res. 287
03-04-1992
239-183
H.Res. 463
H.Con.Res. 287
05-21-1992
253-160
(conf. rept.)
1994
H.Res. 131
H.Con.Res. 64
03-17-1993
voice
H.Res. 133e
H.Con.Res. 64
03-18-1993
251-172
H.Res. 145
H.Con.Res. 64
03-31-1993
250-172
(conf. rept.)
1995
H.Res. 384
H.Con.Res. 218
03-10-1994
245-171
H.Res. 418
H.Con.Res. 218
05-05-1994
228-168
(conf. rept.)
1996
H.Res. 149
H.Con.Res. 67
05-17-1995
225-168
H.Res. 175
H.Con.Res. 67
06-29-1995
234-180
(conf. rept.)
H.Res. 309
H.Con.Res. 122b
12-19-1995
229-189
1997
H.Res. 435
H.Con.Res. 178
05-16-1996
227-196
H.Res. 450
H.Con.Res. 178
06-12-1996
232-190
(conf. rept.)
1998
H.Res. 152
H.Con.Res. 84
05-20-1997
278-142
H.Res. 160
H.Con.Res. 84
06-05-1997
373-47
(conf. rept.)
1999
H.Res. 455
H.Con.Res. 284
06-04-1998
216-197
2000
H.Res. 131
H.Con.Res. 68
03-25-1999
228-194
H.Res. 137
H.Con.Res. 68
04-14-1999
221-205
(conf. rept.)
2001
H.Res. 446
H.Con.Res. 290
03-23-2000
228-194
H.Res. 474
H.Con.Res. 290
04-13-2000
221-205
(conf. rept.)
2002
H.Res. 100
H.Con.Res. 83
03-28-2000
282-130
H.Res. 134f
H.Con.Res. 83
05-08-2001
409-1
(conf. rept.)
H.Res. 136
H.Con.Res. 83
05-09-2001
218-208
(conf. rept.)
2003
H.Res. 372
H.Con.Res. 353
03-05-2002
222-206
Notes: A special rule is a simple resolution reported by the House Rules Committee to provide for
consideration of legislation by the House. This list includes first budget resolutions only.
a. No special rules were rejected.
b. Budget resolution was defeated (see Appendix C).
c. Provided for technical corrections of H.Res. 642.

---

CRS-36
d. Provided for consideration of a revised conference report (H.Rept. 101-820); the original
conference report (H.Rept. 101-802) was rejected on October 5, 1990, by a vote of 179-254.
e. Provided for further consideration of H.Con.Res. 64.
f. Provided for the recommittal of the conference report to the conference committee; two pages were
reportedly missing from the original printed conference report (H.Rept. 107-55).

---

CRS-37
Appendix J. Number of Amendments to Budget
Resolutions Considered in the House,
FY1976-FY2003
Fiscal
Amendmentsa
Budget Resolution
Year
Accepted
Rejected
Total
Success Rateb
1976
H.Con.Res. 218
3
3
6
50%
1977
H.Con.Res. 611
2
14
16
13%
1978
H.Con.Res. 195c
6
10
16
60%
H.Con.Res. 214
2
6
8
25%
1979
H.Con.Res. 559
3
13
16
19%
1980
H.Con.Res. 107
11
34
45
24%
1981
H.Con.Res. 307
1
10
11
9%
1982
H.Con.Res. 115
2
2
4
50%
1983
H.Con.Res. 345c
11
27
38
29%
H.Con.Res. 352
1
1
2
50%
1984
H.Con.Res. 91
0
0
0
—
1985
H.Con.Res. 280
0
7
7
0%
1986
H.Con.Res. 152
1
6
7
14%
1987
H.Con.Res. 296c
0
0
0
—
H.Con.Res. 337
0
3
3
0%
1988
H.Con.Res. 93
1
3
4
25%
1989
H.Con.Res. 268
0
3
3
0%
1990
H.Con.Res. 106
1
4
5
20%
1991
H.Con.Res. 310
0
3
3
0%
1992
H.Con.Res. 121
1
3
4
25%
1993
H.Con.Res. 287
0
3
3
0%
1994
H.Con.Res. 64
0
3
3
0%
1995
H.Con.Res. 218
0
4
4
0%
1996
H.Con.Res. 67
0
3
3
0%
H.Con.Res. 122c
0
0
0
—
1997
H.Con.Res. 178
0
3
3
0%
1998
H.Con.Res. 84
0
5
5
0%

---

CRS-38
Fiscal
Amendmentsa
Budget Resolution
Year
Accepted
Rejected
Total
Success Rateb
1999
H.Con.Res. 284
0
2
2
0%
2000
H.Con.Res. 68
0
3
3
0%
2001
H.Con.Res. 290
0
5
5
0%
2002
H.Con.Res. 83
0
4
4
0%
2003
H.Con.Res. 100
0
0
0
—
Notes: This list includes first budget resolutions only.
a. No amendments were withdrawn or ruled out of order.
b. “Success rate” is the percentage of amendments accepted.
c. Budget resolution was rejected in the House; see Appendix C in this report.

---

CRS-39
Appendix K. Amendments in the Nature of a
Substitute to Budget Resolutions Made in Order by
a Special Rule in the House, FY1976-FY2003
Fiscal
Budget
Amendment
Date
Vote
Disposition
Year
Resolution
Sponsor
1976
H.Con.Res. 218a
—
—
—
—
1977
H.Con.Res. 611a
—
—
—
—
1978
H.Con.Res. 195b
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 214a
—
—
—
—
1979
H.Con.Res. 559a
—
—
—
—
1980
H.Con.Res. 107a
—
—
—
—
1981
H.Con.Res. 307
Obey
04-30-1980
201-213
rejected
Ottinger
04-30-1980
70-336
rejected
Holt
05-01-1980
164-246
rejected
Rousselot
05-06-1980
191-218
rejected
Latta
05-06-1980
175-242
rejected
1982
H.Con.Res. 115
Fauntroy
05-06-1981
69-356
rejected
Obey
05-06-1981
119-303
rejected
Latta
05-07-1981
253-176
accepted
1983
H.Con.Res. 345c
Miller (CA)
05-24-1982
181-225
rejected
Obey
05-24-1982
152-268
rejected
Fauntroy
05-24-1982
86-322
rejected
Rousselot
05-25-1982
182-242
rejected
Latta
05-27-1980
192-235
rejected
Aspin
05-27-1980
137-289
rejected
Jones (OK)
05-27-1980
171-253
rejected
H.Con.Res. 352
Latta
06-10-1982
220-207
accepted
Jones (OK)
06-10-1982
202-225
rejected
1984
H.Con.Res. 91
Lattad
—
—
—
1985
H.Con.Res. 280
Wirth
04-04-1984
1-401
rejected
Dannemeyer
04-04-1984
51-354
rejected
Roemer
04-04-1984
59-338
rejected
Dixon
04-05-1984
76-333
rejected
McHugh
04-05-1984
132-284
rejected
MacKay
04-05-1984
108-310
rejected
Latta
04-05-1984
107-311
rejected
1986
H.Con.Res. 152
Dannemeyer
05-22-1985
39-382
rejected
Pursell
05-22-1985
87-335
rejected
Leland
05-22-1985
54-361
rejected
Latta
05-23-1985
102-329
rejected
1987
H.Con.Res. 296e
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 337
Dannemeyer
05-15-1986
73-338
rejected
Leland
05-15-1986
61-359
rejected
Latta
05-15-1986
145-280
rejected

---

CRS-40
Fiscal
Budget
Amendment
Date
Vote
Disposition
Year
Resolution
Sponsor
1988
H.Con.Res. 93
Gray (PA)
04-09-1987
230-192
accepted
Gray (PA)
04-09-1987
27-394
rejected
Dannemeyer
04-09-1987
47-369
rejected
Dymally
04-09-1987
56-362
rejected
1989
H.Con.Res. 268
Dannemeyer
03-23-1988
75-347
rejected
Porter
03-23-1988
64-354
rejected
Penny
03-23-1988
27-394
rejected
1990
H.Con.Res. 106
Dannemeyer
05-04-1989
72-350
rejected
Dellums
05-04-1989
81-343
rejected
Kasich
05-04-1989
30-393
rejected
Gephardt
05-04-1989
49-373
rejected
1991
H.Con.Res. 310
Kasich
04-26-1990
106-305
rejected
Dannemeyer
04-26-1990
48-354
rejected
Dellums
05-01-1990
90-334
rejected
1992
H.Con.Res. 121
Dannemeyer
04-17-1991
79-332
rejected
Kasich
04-17-1991
114-303
rejected
Gradison
04-17-1991
89-335
rejected
1993
H.Con.Res. 287
Dannemeyer
03-04-1992
60-344
rejected
Gradison
03-04-1992
42-370
rejected
Towns
03-05-1992
77-342
rejected
1994
H.Con.Res. 64
Kasich
03-18-1993
135-295
rejected
Solomon
03-18-1993
20-409
rejected
Mfume
03-18-1993
87-335
rejected
1995
H.Con.Res. 218
Frank (MA)
03-10-1994
105-313
rejected
Solomon
03-10-1994
73-342
rejected
Mfume
03-11-1994
81-326
rejected
Kasich
03-11-1994
165-243
rejected
1996
H.Con.Res. 67
Gephardt
05-18-1995
100-325
rejected
Neumann
05-18-1995
89-342
rejected
Payne (NJ)
05-18-1995
56-367
rejected
H.Con.Res. 122f
—
—
—
—
1997
H.Con.Res. 178
Payne (NJ)
05-16-1996
63-362
rejected
Orton
05-16-1996
130-295
rejected
Sabo
05-16-1996
117-304
rejected
1998
H.Con.Res. 84
Doolittle
05-21-1997
119-313
rejected
Brown (CA)
05-21-1997
91-339
rejected
Waters
05-21-1997
72-358
rejected
Kennedy (MA)
05-21-1997
123-306
rejected
Shuster
05-21-1997
214-216
rejected
1999
H.Con.Res. 284
Neumann
06-05-1998
158-262
rejected
Spratt
06-05-1998
164-257
rejected
2000
H.Con.Res. 68
Coburn
03-25-1999
2-426
rejected
Minge
03-25-1999
134-295
rejected
Spratt
03-25-1999
173-250
rejected

---

CRS-41
Fiscal
Budget
Amendment
Date
Vote
Disposition
Year
Resolution
Sponsor
2001
H.Con.Res. 290
Owens
03-23-2000
70-348
rejected
DeFazio
03-23-2000
61-351
rejected
Stenholm
03-23-2000
171-243
rejected
Sununu
03-23-2000
78-339
rejected
Spratt
03-23-2000
184-233
rejected
2002
H.Con.Res. 83
Kucinich
03-28-2001
79-343
rejected
Stenholm
03-28-2001
204-221
rejected
Flake
03-28-2001
81-341
rejected
Spratt
03-28-2001
183-243
rejected
2003
H.Con.Res. 353
—
—
—
—
Notes: See Appendix H for a list of special rules providing for consideration of budget resolutions in the House.
An amendment in the nature of a substitute strikes all text after the resolving clause and replaces it with a
different text. This list includes first budget resolutions only.
a. Budget resolution was not considered under a special rule.
b. Budget resolution was considered under an open rule (H.Res. 515) ; no specific amendments in the nature of
a substitute were made in order. H.Con.Res. 195 was defeated (see Appendix C).
c. H.Con.Res. 345 was defeated (see Appendix C).
d. The special rule (H.Res. 144) made in order an amendment in the nature of a substitute by, and if offered by,
Rep. Latta, but he did not offer one.
e. Budget resolution was considered under a closed rule (H.Res. 397). H.Con.Res. 296 was defeated (see
Appendix C).
f. Budget resolution was considered under a closed rule (H.Res. 309). H.Con.Res. 122 was defeated (see
Appendix C).

---

CRS-42
Appendix L. Number of Amendments to Budget Resolutions
Considered in the Senate, FY1976-FY2003
Amendments
Withdrawn or
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution
Accepted
Rejected
Total
Success Ratea
Ruled Out-of-Order
1976
S.Con.Res. 32
1
4
0
5
20%
1977
S.Con.Res. 109
1
7
0
8
13%
1978
S.Con.Res. 19
5
2
0
7
71%
1979
S.Con.Res. 80
0
9
0
9
0%
1980
S.Con.Res. 22
5
12
0
17
29%
1981
S.Con.Res. 86
11
28
0
39
28%
1982
S.Con.Res. 9b
4
31
1
36
11%
S.Con.Res. 19
2
17
0
19
11%
1983
S.Con.Res. 92
9
28
0
37
24%
1984
S.Con.Res. 27
7
24
0
31
23%
1985
S.Con.Res. 106
2
0
0
2
100%
1986
S.Con.Res. 32
14
23
0
37
38%
1987
S.Con.Res. 120
15
5
2
22
68%
1988
S.Con.Res. 49
4
9
2
15
27%
1989
S.Con.Res. 113
8
4
0
12
67%

---

CRS-43
Amendments
Withdrawn or
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution
Accepted
Rejected
Total
Success Ratea
Ruled Out-of-Order
1990
S.Con.Res. 30
23
2
1
26
88%
1991
S.Con.Res. 110
1
0
0
1
100%
1992
S.Con.Res. 29
7
5
3
15
47%
1993
S.Con.Res. 106
15
3
3
21
71%
1994
S.Con.Res. 18
22
28
0
50
44%
1995
S.Con.Res. 63
26
9
4
39
67%
1996
S.Con.Res. 13
26
34
9
69
38%
1997
S.Con.Res. 57
41
22
4
67
61%
1998
S.Con.Res. 27
39
12
13
64
61%
1999
S.Con.Res. 86
57
8
41
106
54%
2000
S.Con.Res. 20
57
8
30
95
60%
2001
S.Con.Res. 101
38
12
8
58
66%
2002
H.Con.Res. 83c
51
10
5
66
77%
2003
S.Con.Res. 100d
—
—
—
—
—
Notes: This list includes first budget resolutions only.
a. “Success rate” is the percentage of amendments accepted.
b. Budget resolution was adopted by the Senate on April 2, 1981, by a vote of 88-10; no further action was taken.
c. The Senate Budget Committee did not mark up or report a budget resolution for FY2002. Instead, the House-passed budget resolution was discharged from the committee and
considered by the Senate.
d. The Senate Budget Committee reported the FY2003 budget resolution, but it was not considered on the Senate floor.

---

CRS-44
Appendix M. Timing of House Action on Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003
Date Conference
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution (companion measure)
Typea
Date Consideration Began
Date of Initial Passage
Report Adopted
1976
H.Con.Res. 218 (S.Con.Res. 32)
first
04-30-1975
05-01-1975
05-14-1975
H.Con.Res. 466 (S.Con.Res. 76)
second
11-11-1975
11-12-1975
12-12-1975
1977
S.Con.Res. 109 (H.Con.Res. 611)
first
04-27-1976
04-29-1976
05-13-1976
S.Con.Res. 139 (H.Con.Res. 728)
second
09-08-1976
09-09-1976
09-16-1976
S.Con.Res. 10 (H.Con.Res. 110)
third
02-22-1977
02-23-1977
03-03-1977
1978
S.Con.Res. 19 (H.Con.Res. 214)
first
05-03-1977
05-05-1977
05-17-1977
H.Con.Res. 341 (S.Con.Res. 43)
second
09-07-1977
09-08-1977
09-15-1977
1979
S.Con.Res. 80 (H.Con.Res. 559)
first
05-02-1978
05-10-1978
05-17-1978
H.Con.Res. 683 (S.Con.Res. 104)
second
08-15-1978
08-16-1978
09-21-1978
1980
H.Con.Res. 107 (S.Con.Res. 22)
first
04-30-1979
05-14-1979
05-24-1979
S.Con.Res. 53 (H.Con.Res. 186)b
second
11-28-1979
11-28-1979
—
1981
H.Con.Res. 307 (S.Con.Res. 86)
first
04-23-1980
05-07-1980
06-12-1980
H.Con.Res. 448 (S.Con.Res. 119)
second
11-18-1980
11-18-1980
11-20-1980
1982
H.Con.Res. 115 (S.Con.Res. 19)
first
04-30-1981
05-07-1981
05-20-1981
S.Con.Res. 50 (H.Con.Res. 230)c
second
12-10-1981
12-10-1981
—

---

CRS-45
Date Conference
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution (companion measure)
Typea
Date Consideration Began
Date of Initial Passage
Report Adopted
1983
S.Con.Res. 92 (H.Con.Res. 352)
—
06-10-1982
06-10-1982
06-22-1982
1984
H.Con.Res. 91 (S.Con.Res. 27)
—
03-22-1983
03-23-1983
06-23-1983
1985
H.Con.Res. 280 (S.Con.Res. 106)
—
04-04-1984
04-05-1984
10-01-1984
1986
S.Con.Res. 32 (H.Con.Res. 152)
—
05-22-1985
05-23-1985
08-01-1985
1987
S.Con.Res. 120 (H.Con.Res. 337)
—
05-14-1986
05-15-1986
06-26-1986
1988
H.Con.Res. 93 (S.Con.Res. 49)
—
04-08-1987
04-09-1987
06-23-1987
1989
H.Con.Res. 268 (S.Con.Res. 113)
—
03-23-1988
03-23-1988
05-26-1988
1990
H.Con.Res. 106 (S.Con.Res. 30)
—
05-03-1989
05-04-1989
05-17-1989
1991
H.Con.Res. 310 (S.Con.Res. 110)
—
04-25-1990
05-01-1990
10-08-1990
1992
H.Con.Res. 121 (S.Con.Res. 29)
—
04-16-1991
04-17-1991
05-22-1991
1993
H.Con.Res. 287 (S.Con.Res. 106)
—
03-04-1992
03-05-1992
05-21-1992
1994
H.Con.Res. 64 (S.Con.Res. 18)
—
03-17-1993
03-18-1993
03-31-1993
1995
H.Con.Res. 218 (S.Con.Res. 63)
—
03-10-1994
03-11-1994
05-05-1994
1996
H.Con.Res. 67 (S.Con.Res. 13)
—
05-17-1995
05-18-1995
06-29-1995
1997
H.Con.Res. 178 (S.Con.Res. 57)
—
05-15-1996
05-16-1996
06-12-1996
1998
H.Con.Res. 84 (S.Con.Res. 27)
—
05-20-1997
05-21-1997
06-05-1997
1999d
H.Con.Res. 284 (S.Con.Res. 86)
—
06-04-1998
06-05-1998
—
2000
H.Con.Res. 68 (S.Con.Res. 20)
—
03-25-1999
03-25-1999
04-14-1999

---

CRS-46
Date Conference
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution (companion measure)
Typea
Date Consideration Began
Date of Initial Passage
Report Adopted
2001
H.Con.Res. 290 (S.Con.Res. 101)
—
03-23-2000
03-23-2000
04-13-2001
2002
H.Con.Res. 83e
—
03-27-2001
03-28-2001
05-09-2001
2003f
H.Con.Res. 353 (S.Con.Res. 100)
—
03-20-2002
03-20-2002
—
Notes:
a. “Type” refers to whether the budget resolution was the first, second, or third for the fiscal year. For the first 7 years of the congressional budget process, Congress adopted multiple
budget resolutions each year. Since the FY1983 budget resolution, Congress has adopted only one a year.
b. House rejected its budget resolution (see Appendix C of this report) and adopted Senate resolution; no conference report necessary.
c. House laid its budget resolution on the table by unanimous consent and adopted Senate resolution; no conference report necessary.
d. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY1999.
e. The Senate Budget Committee did not mark up or report a budget resolution for FY2002. Instead, the House-passed budget resolution was discharged from the committee and
considered by the Senate.
f. Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY2003.

---

CRS-47
Appendix N. Timing of Senate Action on Budget Resolutions, FY1976-FY2003
Date Conference
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution (companion measure)
Typea
Date Consideration Began
Date of Initial Passage
Report Adopted
1976
H.Con.Res. 218 (S.Con.Res. 32)
first
04-29-1975
05-05-1975
05-14-1975
H.Con.Res. 466 (S.Con.Res. 76)
second
11-19-1975
11-20-1975
12-11-1975
1977
S.Con.Res. 109 (H.Con.Res. 611)
first
04-08-1976
04-12-1976
05-12-1976
S.Con.Res. 139 (H.Con.Res. 728)
second
09-08-1976
09-09-1976
09-15-1976
S.Con.Res. 10 (H.Con.Res. 110)
third
02-21-1977
02-22-1977
03-03-1977
1978
S.Con.Res. 19 (H.Con.Res. 214)
first
05-02-1977
05-03-1977
05-13-1977
H.Con.Res. 341 (S.Con.Res. 43)
second
09-07-1977
09-09-1977
09-15-1977
1979
S.Con.Res. 80 (H.Con.Res. 559)
first
04-24-1978
04-26-1978
05-15-1978
H.Con.Res. 683 (S.Con.Res. 104)
second
08-25-1978
09-06-1978
09-23-1978
1980
H.Con.Res. 107 (S.Con.Res. 22)
first
04-23-1979
04-25-1979b
05-23-1979
S.Con.Res. 53 (H.Con.Res. 186)c
second
11-16-1979
11-16-1979
—
1981
H.Con.Res. 307 (S.Con.Res. 86)
first
05-05-1980
05-12-1980
06-12-1980
H.Con.Res. 448 (S.Con.Res. 119)
second
11-18-1980
11-19-1980
11-20-1980
1982
H.Con.Res. 115 (S.Con.Res. 19)
first
05-07-1981
05-12-1981
05-21-1981
S.Con.Res. 50 (H.Con.Res. 230)c
second
12-08-1981
12-09-1981
—

---

CRS-48
Date Conference
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution (companion measure)
Typea
Date Consideration Began
Date of Initial Passage
Report Adopted
1983
S.Con.Res. 92 (H.Con.Res. 352)
—
05-14-1982
05-21-1982
06-23-1982
1984
H.Con.Res. 91 (S.Con.Res. 27)
—
05-02-1983
05-19-1983
06-23-1983
1985
H.Con.Res. 280 (S.Con.Res. 106)
—
05-18-1984
05-18-1984
09-26-1984
1986
S.Con.Res. 32 (H.Con.Res. 152)
—
04-25-1985
05-09-1985
08-01-1985
1987
S.Con.Res. 120 (H.Con.Res. 337)
—
04-21-1986
05-01-1986
06-27-1986
1988
H.Con.Res. 93 (S.Con.Res. 49)
—
04-28-1987
05-06-1987
06-24-1987
1989
H.Con.Res. 268 (S.Con.Res. 113)
—
04-11-1988
04-14-1988
06-06-1988
1990
H.Con.Res. 106 (S.Con.Res. 30)
—
05-02-1989
05-04-1989
05-18-1989
1991
H.Con.Res. 310 (S.Con.Res. 110)
—
06-14-1990
06-14-1990
10-09-1990
1992
H.Con.Res. 121 (S.Con.Res. 29)
—
04-23-1991
04-25-1991
05-22-1991
1993
H.Con.Res. 287 (S.Con.Res. 106)
—
04-07-1992
04-10-1992
05-21-1992
1994
H.Con.Res. 64 (S.Con.Res. 18)
—
03-17-1993
03-25-1993
04-01-1993
1995
H.Con.Res. 218 (S.Con.Res. 63)
—
03-22-1994
03-25-1994
05-12-1994
1996
H.Con.Res. 67 (S.Con.Res. 13)
—
05-18-1995
05-25-1995
06-29-1995
1997
H.Con.Res. 178 (S.Con.Res. 57)
—
05-15-1996
05-23-1996
06-13-1996
1998
H.Con.Res. 84 (S.Con.Res. 27)
—
05-20-1997
05-23-1997
06-05-1997
1999d
H.Con.Res. 284 (S.Con.Res. 86)
—
03-27-1998
04-02-1998
—
2000
H.Con.Res. 68 (S.Con.Res. 20)
—
03-25-1999
03-25-1999
04-15-1999

---

CRS-49
Date Conference
Fiscal Year
Budget Resolution (companion measure)
Typea
Date Consideration Began
Date of Initial Passage
Report Adopted
2001
H.Con.Res. 290 (S.Con.Res. 101)
—
04-04-2000
04-07-2000
04-13-2001
2002
H.Con.Res. 83e
—
04-02-2001
04-06-2001
05-10-2001
2003f
H.Con.Res. 353 (S.Con.Res. 100)
—
—
—
—
a. “Type” refers to whether the budget resolution was the first, second, or third for the fiscal year. For the first 7 years of the congressional budget process, Congress adopted multiple
budget resolutions each year. Since the FY1983 budget resolution, Congress has adopted only one a year.
b. Text of S.Con.Res. 22 inserted in H.Con.Res. 107 on May 15, 1979.
c. House adopted Senate resolution; no conference report necessary.
d. House and Senate did not reach final agreement on a budget resolution for FY1999.
e. The Senate Budget Committee did not mark up or report a budget resolution for FY2002. Instead, the House-passed budget resolution was discharged from the committee and
considered by the Senate.
f. The Senate did not consider the FY2003 budget resolution on the floor; ultimately, Congress did not agree to a budget resolution for FY2003.

---

CRS-50
Appendix O. Debt-Limit Legislation Automatically Engrossed Upon Adoption of
the Budget Resolution Pursuant to the “Gephardt Rule,” Calendar Years 1980-2002
Date Engrossed and
Senate Disposition
Final Disposition
Budget Resolution
Debt-Limit Legislation
Deemed Passed by House
(date of action)
(date of action)
H.Con.Res. 307
H.J.Res. 569
06-13-1980
Passed without amendment
P.L. 96-286
(06-26-1980)
(06-28-1980)
H.Con.Res. 307
H.J.Res. 570
06-13-1980
Passed without amendment
P.L. 96-556
(12-12-1980)
(12-19-1980)
H.Con.Res. 448
H.J.Res. 636
11-21-1980
Laid aside
—
(12-12-1980)
H.Con.Res. 115
H.J.Res. 265
05-21-1981
Passed without amendment
P.L. 97-49
(06-29-1981)
(06-30-1981)
H.Con.Res. 115
H.J.Res. 266
05-21-1981
Passed without amendment
P.L. 97-48
(09-29-1981)
(06-30-1981)
S.Con.Res. 92
H.J.Res. 519
06-23-1982
Passed without amendment
P.L. 97-204
(06-23-1982)
(06-28-1982)
S.Con.Res. 92
H.J.Res. 520
06-23-1982
Passed without amendment
P.L. 97-270
(09-23-1982)
(09-30-1982)
H.Con.Res. 91
H.J.Res. 308
06-27-1983
Passed, amended
P.L. 98-161
(11-17-1983)
(11-21-1983)
H.Con.Res. 280
H.J.Res. 654
10-01-1984
Passed without amendment
P.L. 98-475
(10-12-1984)
(10-13-1984)

---

CRS-51
Date Engrossed and
Senate Disposition
Final Disposition
Budget Resolution
Debt-Limit Legislation
Deemed Passed by House
(date of action)
(date of action)
S.Con.Res. 32
H.J.Res. 372
08-01-1985
Agreed to motion to concur with
P.L. 99-177
further amendment
(12-12-1985)
(11-06-1985)
S.Con.Res. 126
H.J.Res. 668
06-26-1986
Passed, amended
Senate requested conference
(08-09-1986)
(08-09-1986) and no further
action was taken
H.Con.Res. 93
H.J.Res. 324
06-23-1987
Passed, amended
P.L. 100-119
(07-31-1987)
(09-29-1987)
H.Con.Res. 268a
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 106
H.J.Res. 280
05-17-1989
Passed, amended
P.L. 101-140
(11-07-1989)
(11-08-1989)
H.Con.Res. 310b
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 121c
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 287
H.J.Res. 494
05-21-1992
No action taken
—
H.Con.Res. 64
H.J.Res. 174
03-31-1993
No action taken
—
H.Con.Res. 218d
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 67e
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 178f
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 84g
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 284h
—
—
—
—

---

CRS-52
Date Engrossed and
Senate Disposition
Final Disposition
Budget Resolution
Debt-Limit Legislation
Deemed Passed by House
(date of action)
(date of action)
H.Con.Res. 68i
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 290j
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 83k
—
—
—
—
H.Con.Res. 353k
—
—
—
—
Source: Legislative Information System [http://www.congress.gov] and Congressional Record, various years.
Notes: The “Gephardt rule” provides for the automatic engrossment of a House joint resolution increasing the public debt limit once Congress agrees to the conference report on a
budget resolution. At the beginning of the 96th Congress, the “Gephardt Rule” was codified as House Rule XLIX. The rule was recodified as House Rule XXIII at the beginning of
the 106th Congress, and subsequently was repealed at the beginning of the 107th Congress. The rule was restored as a new rule, Rule XXVII, by H.Res. 5 at the beginning of the 108th
Congress.
a. Pursuant to H.Res. 461, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended because there was no need to increase the public debt limit. See comments by Rep. Butler C. Derrick in Congressional
Record, vol. 134, May 26, 1988, p. 12529.
b. Pursuant to H.Res. 488, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended because the House previously had passed and sent to the Senate legislation (H.R. 5355) providing for a long-term increase
in the public debt limit. See comments by Rep. Derrick in Congressional Record, vol. 136, Oct. 4, 1990, p. 27590.
c. Pursuant to H.Res. 157, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended because the previous year’s reconciliation act (P.L. 101-508) provided a sufficient increase. See comments by Rep.
Derrick in Congressional Record, vol. 137, May 22, 1991, p. 11856.
d. Pursuant to H.Res. 418, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended because at the time the current public debt limit was expected to be sufficient until spring or summer 1995. See comments
by Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson in Congressional Record, vol. 140, May 5, 1994, pp. 9411-9412.
e. Pursuant to H.Res. 149, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended because some Members wanted the House to have a separate vote on legislation increasing the public debt limit instead
of an automatic engrossment of such legislation. See comments by Rep. Gerald B. H. Solomon in Congressional Record, vol. 141, May 17, 1995, pp. 13275-13276.
f. Pursuant to H.Res. 435, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended because at the time the current public debt limit was expected to be sufficient until at least October 1997. See comments
by Rep. Solomon in Congressional Record, vol. 142, May 16, 1996, p. 11477.
g. Pursuant to H.Res. 152, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended because legislation increasing the public debt limit was contemplated by the balanced budget agreement with the White
House in the context of reconciliation legislation. See comments by Rep. Solomon in Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 143, May 20, 1997, pp. H2946-H2947.
h. The House and Senate did not agree to a conference report on the FY1999 budget resolution in 1998.
i. Pursuant to H.Res. 131, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended presumably because at the time legislation increasing the public debt limit was not necessary due to expected future
surpluses. See Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 145, Mar. 25, 1999, pp. H1699-H1700.
j. Pursuant to H.Res. 446, the “Gephardt rule” was suspended presumably, as in 1999, because at the time legislation increasing the public debt limit was not necessary due to expected
future surpluses. See Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 146, Mar. 23, 2000, pp. H1291-H1292.
k. The “Gephardt rule” was repealed at the beginning of the 107th Congress by H.Res. 5, adopted on Jan. 3, 2001. See Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 147, Jan. 3, 2001,
pp. H6-H11.

---