Baselines and Scorekeeping
in the Federal Budget Process
Bill Heniff Jr.
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
December 1, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
98-560
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process
Introduction
Baselines and scorekeeping are an integral part of the federal budget process, providing
lawmakers with a framework for making and enforcing budgetary decisions. The existing-law
baseline, currently used by Congress, is a projection of federal spending, revenue, and the deficit
(or surplus) that would occur if existing law were left unchanged. The baseline serves as a
benchmark for federal budget decisions. Scorekeeping is the process by which the budgetary
impact of proposed and enacted budget policies is measured; it assists Congress in making and
enforcing budgetary decisions. This report provides a brief explanation of baselines and
scorekeeping and their uses in the federal budget process.
Baselines
A baseline is an estimate of federal spending and receipts during a fiscal year under existing law.
Congress set forth in law specific rules for calculating the direct spending, receipts, and
discretionary spending baselines in Section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985 (Title II of P.L. 99-177), as amended. Direct spending and receipts are
assumed to continue at the level prescribed by existing law. These projections are based upon
economic assumptions (e.g., economic growth, inflation, and unemployment) and other technical
assumptions (e.g., demographic and workload changes) about future years. Discretionary
spending is assumed to continue at the level of the current year’s spending level adjusted
“sequentially and cumulatively” for inflation and other factors.
A baseline provides a benchmark for comparing proposed budget policy changes to existing
policies and indicating changes that may be necessary to meet certain budget policy goals.
Therefore, the calculation of a baseline can be instrumental to the evaluation of budget policies.
Two baselines are commonly cited in the federal budget process: the current services estimates
calculated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the budget baseline projections
calculated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Each generally follows the rules set forth
in Section 257 of the Deficit Control Act of 1985, as described above.1 However, OMB and CBO
make their own economic and technical assumptions, reflecting different projections about future
economic and program performance. Thus, the estimated levels of spending and revenues may
differ between the current services estimates and the budget baseline projections.
Scorekeeping
Scorekeeping is the process of measuring the budgetary effects of pending and enacted legislation
against the baseline. The process allows Congress to compare proposed budget policy changes to
existing law and to enforce budget constraints, such as the spending and revenue levels agreed
upon in the budget resolution and the congressional and statutory pay-as-you-go (PAYGO)
requirements.
1 Until the expiration of this section at the end of FY2006, CBO was required to follow the provisions of Section 257 in
producing its baseline projections. CBO has indicated that it would follow these practices until directed otherwise by
Congress. See, for example, CBO, The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2017, p. xi, fn. 1.
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Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process
In the congressional budget process, scorekeeping is the responsibility of the House and Senate
Budget Committees, acting with the assistance of CBO. Section 308(b) of the 1974 Congressional
Budget Act requires the Budget Committees to make available, to their respective chambers,
monthly summary scorekeeping reports on the current status of congressional budget actions.
Section 308(a) of the Budget Act requires that any measure reported by a committee include
estimates of the budgetary impact of the proposed legislation. These estimates, usually in the
form of a statement in the accompanying committee report or published separately in the
Congressional Record, are calculated by CBO. For revenue measures, CBO is required to rely on
estimates provided by the Joint Committee on Taxation (Section 201(f) of the Budget Act).
Generally, scorekeeping is used to determine whether proposed legislation violates the budget
resolution levels and other budget rules, such as the House and Senate PAYGO rules. Under the
Budget Act, for example, any measure that violates the aggregate spending and revenue levels of
the most recently passed budget resolution or the subsequent committee allocation levels
generally is subject to a point of order.2 Section 312 of the Budget Act requires that the
determination of such violations, and any other enforcement provisions in the Budget Act, be
based on estimates made by the House and Senate Budget Committees. Similarly, the House and
Senate PAYGO rules (House Rule XXI, clause 10, and Section 201 of S.Con.Res. 21, the FY2008
budget resolution, respectively) require that a determination on whether direct spending or
revenue legislation increases the deficit must be based on estimates made by the House and
Senate Budget Committees.3
For statutory PAYGO purposes, the Statutory PAYGO Act (Title I of P.L. 111-139, 124 Stat. 8-29)
provides that OMB is responsible for maintaining five- and 10-year PAYGO scorecards to record
the budgetary effects of enacted legislation on the deficit.4 It also provides that the budgetary
effects of individual direct spending and revenue legislation are to be determined either by a
reference in the legislation to a statement of budgetary effects submitted for printing in the
Congressional Record by the chair of the House or Senate Budget Committee prior to passage, or
by OMB if no appropriate reference in the legislation or statement exists.5
To minimize any scorekeeping differences between the House and Senate Budget Committees,
OMB, and CBO, some of the key scorekeeping guidelines currently in use were set forth in the
joint explanatory statement accompanying the conference report to the Balanced Budget Act of
1997 (H.Rept. 105-217, pp. 1007-1014). These guidelines generally reflect the standard
scorekeeping practices used since the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (Title XIII of P.L. 101-
508). The scorekeeping guidelines are reviewed periodically. Any changes to these guidelines
must be agreed to by the House and Senate Budget Committees, OMB, and CBO.
2 For additional information on points of order under the Budget Act and their application, see CRS Report 97-865,
Points of Order in the Congressional Budget Process, by James V. Saturno.
3 For additional information on the House and Senate PAYGO rules, see CRS Report R41510, Budget Enforcement
Procedures: House Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Rule, by Bill Heniff Jr., and CRS Report RL31943, Budget Enforcement
Procedures: Senate Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Rule, by Bill Heniff Jr.
4 While the Statutory PAYGO Act requires the placement of the budgetary effects of legislation on five-year and 10-
year scorecards, it also requires that any budgetary effects in the current year shall be treated as though they occurred in
the budget year (i.e., the first year of the five- and 10-year periods), effectively applying the PAYGO requirement over
six-year and 11-year periods.
5 For additional information on the Statutory PAYGO Act, see CRS Report R41157, The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act
of 2010: Summary and Legislative History, by Bill Heniff Jr.
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Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process
Author Contact Information
Bill Heniff Jr.
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
wheniff@crs.loc.gov, 7-8646
Congressional Research Service
3