Every person who earns money and pays bills goes through a budgeting process. A high school senior with a part-time job may just be looking to cover car payments, movie nights, and some savings for college. The head of a household may need to make tough decisions about cutting back, if the money coming in doesn't cover expenses. Another may be setting funds aside for retirement or a young child's eventual college tuition — while helping an elderly relative with medical bills.

Now imagine this on the enormous scale of the federal budget. Students in every state seeking Pell grants and student loans for college. Millions of low-income people looking to Medicaid for their health care needs. Communities looking for funds to repair roads and bridges, finance affordable housing, beef up their homeland security preparations. Funding decisions made in the nation's capital affect every layer of government down to the most local. For example, close to 30 percent of the dollars spent by state governments in Fiscal 2004 came directly through the federal budget process.

The President Proposes, Congress Disposes
On February 7th, President Bush will unveil his budget blueprint for FY 2006. This is the first step in the complicated federal budgeting process. Congress will then take a look at the President's proposal and craft legislation to enact it.

Usually, this is a lengthy process that can take up to a year, as House and Senate committees work through the process. Congress is supposed to finish the first major part of the work, passage of a budget resolution, by April 15, though this deadline is not always met. Then, from May through July, the appropriations committees work on the budgets for their particular areas of responsibility. That's why advocates are generally busy in the springtime, educating legislators about how various budget proposals will affect different groups.

However, with a single political party in control of the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, there is a possibility that Congress will move more quickly this year. And since President Bush has signaled that his deficit-reduction plan will include cuts in spending for the so-called entitlement programs, including such key social programs as Medicaid, child nutrition and Food Stamps, there is also a possibility that the budget reconciliation process will be employed this year.

Fast-Track Procedures
The budget reconciliation process was established by law in 1974. Its purpose is to change the laws that govern mandatory spending programs in order to bring revenue and mandatory spending levels into line with budget resolution policies. It can only be used to change programs that don't require annual appropriations — the entitlement programs — and Social Security is exempt.

Let's use Medicaid as an example of how the budget reconciliation process could work. If the President proposes to limit federal funding of Medicaid, the budget resolution proposed by the Senate and House would give reconciliation directives (or instructions) to the committees of jurisdiction. Those instructions would indicate the savings that need to be realized in the program, but would not say how to achieve them. That would be up to the committees.

The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, and could be directed to make changes in the law governing Medicaid that would establish spending limits, regardless of other factors, such as increased demand due to growth in the eligible population, for example. On the House side, the Committee on Energy and Commerce has jurisdiction over Medicaid and could be given similar directives. These committees would then submit reconciliation legislation to their respective Budget Committees. The Budget Committees would then incorporate all submissions into a single omnibus budget reconciliation measure.

House Committee on Energy and Commerce [1] Senate Finance Committee [2] House Committee on the Budget [3] Senate Budget Committee [4]

During this first step of the process, it's important to note that once the committees submit their reconciliation legislation to the Budget Committees, no substantive revisions can be made. In other words, advocates need to make sure that their concerns are heard by the committees of jurisdiction in this process before they make their submissions to the Budget Committees.

The second step in the budget reconciliation process occurs when the House and the Senate consider their respective omnibus budget reconciliation measures. These measures are given priority for consideration in both legislative chambers. Procedures are designed to expedite or "fast track" this process. In the Senate, for example, debate time on a reconciliation measure is limited to 20 hours — so, no filibustering allowed — and amendments must be relevant.

For child advocates who want their concerns heard, close attention must be paid to the timetable that will unfold once President Bush unveils his budget blueprint. Here are some resources for more information:

Resources

• Coalition on Human Needs [5]
• Voices for America's Children [6]
  (Click on Federal Update: Challenges for Children in 2005.)
• Children's Defense Fund [7]:
• Child Welfare League of America [8]
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities [9]
• Center for Law and Social Policy [10]

Talk Back

If you've got comments or questions about this story, we'd like to hear them. Send your response to Susan Phillips (info@connectforkids.org [11]).