About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


1 1 (March 8, 2004)

handle is hein.crs/crsahgl0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS20398 Updated March 8, 2004 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Budget Sequesters: A Brief Review Robert Keith Specialist in American National Government Government and Finance Division Summary During the period encompassing FY1986-2002, the budgetary decisions of Congress and the President were guided in part by specific goals in statute enforced by a process known as sequestration. The statutory goals initially took the form of deficit targets, but later were changed to limits on discretionary spending (first effective for FY1991) and a pay-as-you-go requirement for direct spending and revenue legislation (first effective for FY1992). Five sequesters were triggered during years in which Congress and the President did not adhere to these statutory goals, three under the deficit targets and two under the discretionary spending limits. No sequester occurred, however, after FY 1991. In many of the years since FY1991, Congress and the President were able to avoid a sequester by ensuring that it did not enact spending or revenue legislation in violation of the statutory goals. At times, Congress and the President had to take advantage of flexibility in the procedures, such as the ability to designate certain spending as emergency requirements, in order to achieve this outcome. In other instances, however, Congress and the President prevented a sequester that otherwise would have occurred by enacting into law provisions that intervened in the normal operation of the process. This report will not be updated. The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 set forth deficit targets leading to a balanced budget and established the sequestration process as the means of enforcing them. The Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) of 1990 amended the 1985 act to effectively replace the deficit targets with two new enforcement mechanisms-limits on discretionary spending (i.e., spending controlled through the annual appropriations process) and a pay-as-you go (PAYGO) requirement applicable to legislation affecting direct spending (i.e., spending controlled outside of the annual appropriations process) and revenues. Procedures under the BEA of 1990 were revised and extended, affecting legislation enacted through FY2002, by several laws, including the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, the Budget Enforcement Act of 1997, and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), among others. Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress