The 1974 Congressional Initiative in Budget Making

Abstract

While passage of Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 had been proclaimed a major advance in redressing congressional-presidential imbalance, knowledgeable participants and observers remain aware that passage of legislation itself does not guarantee congressional reassertion of leadership in fiscal matters without a corresponding performance. That a compromise between House and Senate versions of legislation was forthcoming became known on June 5, 1974, when Conference Committee announced reaching agreement. Supported by a massive staff effort, conferees had labored long to reconcile HR 7130, passed December 5, 1973, with a Senate version of March 22, 1974. After passage by House on June 18 and by Senate on June 21 and a delayed enrollment, it became Public Law 93-344 (88 Stat 297). Senator Sam Irvin, chairman of Government Operations Committee and Senate Floor Manager, had proclaimed this measure to be most important piece of legislation with which he was involved in his culminating 20-year career in Senate and the finest example of legislative process at work that I have witnessed.' While need for congressional budget reform had been recognized for decades, a major impetus during 20-month congressional struggle with procedural reform was its concern for recouping * The new Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, heralded by some as most important budget reform measure since Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, has objective of enabling Congress to gain a better control over spending priorities and other aspects of budget process. It provides for new congressional institutions, an improved analytical capability, a revised timetable with fiscal year shifted to begin October 1, and a demand on President to furnish additional budget data. It further curtails President's authority to withhold appropriations. Its new Budget Committees, assisted by a new Congressional Budget Office, are to take lead in establishing target relationship between appropriation totals and revenue expectations early in each session and then lead in reaffirming congressional position, once appropriation totals are known just before beginning of new fiscal year. It also requires an overt congressional approval of any appropriation rescissions. New officials, tasked with carrying out Act, concur in difficulty of this undertaking because of stringent time limitations, complexity of forces to be reconciled, and scope of decisions to be made.