U.S. Senator David Perdue (R-GA) is proposing bold changes to fix Congress’ broken funding process, and he’s receiving widespread support from former U.S. Senate leadership and policy groups.
Over the past four years, Perdue — a member of the Senate Budget Committee — has met with policy experts, outside groups, retired Members of Congress, and his colleagues from both parties and chambers to study best practices and highlight the flaws of the current funding process. The result — The Fix Funding First Act.
According to Perdue, the Fix Funding First Act would:
1. Change the Fiscal Year and End Vote-a-rama: Changes the federal government’s fiscal year to match the calendar year, giving Congress adequate time to complete the funding process, and eliminates spending bill delays.
2. Only Require Topline Spending Levels Every Two Years: The funding agreement will only require 302a allocations to set top line spending levels for the two year period.
3. Make the Funding Agreement a Law: The funding agreement will be a joint resolution signed by the President, giving it the force of law.
4. Create Consequences For Not Getting The Job Done: Sets new milestones before state work periods and imposes consequences, such as ‘No Funding, No Recess’ and ‘No Funding, No Pay.’
5. Repurpose the Budget Committee: The Senate Budget Committee will report out a 5-year bipartisan strategic plan every two years. This plan will include a target for the ratio of the public debt-to-GDP, federal revenue, discretionary spending, and mandatory spending.
6. “Anyone can see that Washington’s funding process is totally dysfunctional. Enough excuses – it’s time to find a solution,” said Senator Perdue. “Since I first came to the United States Senate, many of us have consistently called for changing this broken funding process. The reality is Congress has only funded the government on time four times since the Budget Act of 1974 was signed into law, and the last time was in 1996—more than 20 years ago. On top of that, Congress has kicked the can down the road 186 times with continuing resolutions and allowed the government to shut down 21 times. That’s unacceptable, and it only creates grave uncertainty for our military.”
Former Senate leadership agrees Perdue.
“Do we need funding process reform in the Congress? Obviously, we do and have for a long time,” said Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) “The system has broken down that funds the government. Senator Perdue of Georgia has a plan that would improve the process.
“His plan includes process milestones with consequences if they are not met. It makes budgets a law and quite sensibly changes the fiscal year in order to give Congress more time to complete the process. Senator Perdue’s plan won’t fix all the problems, but it is a major step to help make the budget process work.”
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget also spoke out in favor of Perdue’s plan. “We commend Senator Perdue for putting forward the Fix Funding First Act of 2019, a bill containing many proposals that would improve the federal budget process,” said Maya MacGuineas, President. “He deserves praise for his tireless work and commitment to reforming our broken budget process. Unfortunately, the process has descended into an exercise in political posturing and jumping from crisis to crisis. Sen. Perdue’s ideas are a helpful contribution to the reform debate and would create a framework for a more thoughtful and timely federal budget process.”
