Congressional Budget Office Data Access Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 9716) to amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office to provide baseline updates, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 9716.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of my bill, the Increasing Baseline Updates Act.

I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi) for co-leading this effort.

The Increasing Baseline Updates Act would require CBO to produce at least two baseline updates per year, including at least one with economic data. Currently, under the Budget Act, CBO is required to publish its baseline before February 15 of each year, but a specific number of baseline updates is not statutorily required.

As a result, in recent years, CBO has not published updates to the baseline later in the calendar year. The last time CBO published a baseline update after July was in 2020, and the Office has not published three baseline updates in a calendar year since 2019.

By requiring these two additional baseline updates each year, the Increasing Baseline Updates Act will ensure Congress has updated information on the most relevant budget and economic figures to better inform the appropriations process and other legislative proposals we consider later in any given calendar year.

The bill also ensures CBO will receive the relevant technical data from the executive branch by February 1 of each year so CBO can complete their baseline in a timely manner.

I was proud that this bill unanimously passed the Budget Committee this past September, with the help of the ranking member from Pennsylvania.

During the 118th Congress, the Budget Committee has been laser focused on sounding the alarm about the threat posed to our Nation by the debt and deficit crisis in which we find ourselves. This has included bipartisan efforts with our Democratic colleagues on reforms to bolster improper payment accountability, improve the budget process, and shore up our long-term fiscal solvency.

Critical to our efforts to rein in the Federal debt and deficit is providing oversight of CBO to ensure this office is providing Congress the most accurate and timely information possible to inform legislative efforts.

There is a sincere desire in a bipartisan way to get after the fiscal state of this Nation, and we have seen several proposals emerge. Not all of them have passed, but a lot of them have been worked on together with my Democratic colleagues on the Budget Committee to accomplish things to improve this process. That is what the Increasing Baseline Updates Act aims to accomplish.

We know we have a lot more work to do. We are $36 trillion in debt, and we had a staggering $1.8 trillion deficit last fiscal year. We are paying more just to service the debt than on our national defense for the first time. It is unacceptable, and we must reverse our debt culture.

Madam Speaker, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the new Congress on efforts to grow the economy, cut spending, and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government. The Increasing Baseline Updates Act is a commonsense reform solidifying a total of three baseline updates per year to provide Congress with a better and more up-to-date sense of fiscal and economic developments, while paving the way for a return to regular order.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record letters and statements of support from various organizations and individuals as part of H.R. 9716. These include the Economic Policy Innovation Center and National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

Economic Policy Innovation Center,

December 10, 2024.

Hon. Jodey Arrington,

Chairman, Committee on the Budget,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Hon. Brendan Boyle,

Ranking Member, Committee on the Budget,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Chairman Arrington and Ranking Member Boyle: The

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on

Taxation (JCT) serve Congress by providing non-partisan

analysis. To accomplish this mission, it is essential that

Congress and the public have faith in the methodology by

which the CBO and the JCT produce their estimates and

reports. An important way to improve trust in the

Congressional scorekeepers is by increasing transparency

through more frequent updates to the baseline and regular

releases of economic data.

H.R. 9716, the Increasing Baseline Updates Act, introduced

by Congressman Blake Moore (R-UT-01) would improve the CBO's

ability to access data from the Executive Branch. It would

also ensure Congress has updated information to use when

legislating.

The bill requires the CBO to submit to Congress at least

two updates to the budget and economic baseline each year.

The bill further stipulates that the President must submit

technical data necessary for the CBO's estimates to Congress

``on or before February 1 of each calendar year.''

The federal budget process must evolve to confront the

serious fiscal challenges of today and tomorrow. The proposed

bill ensures access to the accurate and timely information

necessary for lawmakers to do their work for the American

people.

We at EPIC applaud your work in improving the federal

budget process to enable Congress and the public to be better

informed about the true impact of legislation under

consideration.

Sincerely,

Paul Winfree, Ph.D,

President and CEO.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

As we close this debate, even if it might have been a little more abrupt, it doesn't take away from the impact of something like this. That is what happens in this place when we can strike a balance and find an opportunity to recognize both the ranking member and the chairman of the Budget Committee. That is where a lot of this work on budget reform has been done. It has taken countless discussions and getting to the right spot, and

that is the product that we have here today--sensible, reasonable reforms that are needed.

We are going to get an opportunity to hear from CBO more frequently as we try to continue to navigate this incredibly difficult fiscal situation that we are in. We are in a tough spot.

The Budget Committee held another hearing just this morning on this very subject. We have a responsibility to our constituents and our kids' generation to get our finances in check.

This bill will help Congress get back to regular order and ensure we have updated information and the most relevant budget data and economic figures as we continue to craft policy.

I once again thank the Committee for its unanimous support on this bill. In order to get to that unanimous support, Ranking Member Boyle has been a significant leader in doing that. I thank him and Mr. Suozzi for their efforts on this bill.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 9716, the Increasing Baseline Updates Act, a bipartisan measure to ensure Congress has the accurate and timely information we need to govern responsibly.

This bill is fairly straightforward. It requires that the Congressional Budget

Office, or CBO, to provide at least two updates to its annual budget baseline each year, with one update including the underlying economic data. It also ensures the President submits technical budget data to Congress by February 1, giving the CBO the tools it needs to fulfill its critical role.

CBO's baseline projections are the foundation for evaluating proposed policies. They are the measuring stick for determining how legislation will impact our budget and economy. Regular updates ensure we aren't working with outdated information.

Let me emphasize something else. The CBO is nonpartisan. Its mission is not Democratic nor Republican. It is simply to provide Congress with unbiased, fact-based analysis. For decades--indeed, 50 years, to be exact--it has done an outstanding job, consistently delivering reliable and transparent baseline updates. However, we cannot ignore the fact that some on the other side of the aisle are working to undermine this institution.

Madam Speaker, the numbers don't lie. We may not like CBO reports from time to time, but the numbers are the numbers. Instead of facing these facts, some, instead, would rather attack the messenger. That is wrong, and we can't let that happen. CBO's credibility and independence are essential. It must be able to continue to operate free from political interference.

Now, this bill highlights what we can achieve when we work together. On the Budget Committee this year, working alongside my friend, Chairman Arrington, we have had unprecedented support from the minority party to make sure we could achieve bipartisan reforms. This bill is further evidence of that. Through real bipartisan collaboration, we found a solution. That is why every single member of the Budget Committee, all 32 of us, voted to advance the gentleman from Utah's bill.

I thank my colleague, Mr. Moore, for introducing this bill. I, again, thank my Republican colleagues. Especially Messrs. Arrington, Estes, and Norman, for working with us, and I thank my Democrat colleague, Congressman Tom Suozzi, for his contributions to this effort.

I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 9716, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

I was waiting for one other speaker, but seeing that he is not here, I will conclude this brief discussion.

I, again, thank everyone who worked tirelessly to make this bill a reality. Once again, I extend my gratitude to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore), and I urge all of my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Again, let this be a lesson to all of us, that through bipartisan work we can achieve meaningful reforms. I hope that in the new year we will continue to build upon the bills that we passed through this committee and through this House on a bipartisan basis.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1549) to provide the Congressional Budget Office with necessary authorities to expedite the sharing of data from executive branch agencies, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, is the legislative branch agency responsible for helping Congress accurately analyze the budgetary impact of proposed legislation.

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 authorized CBO to collect information and data directly from agencies. Timely access to agency data is necessary for CBO to produce accurate cost estimates for legislation and prepare other congressional reports. However, agencies often delay or restrict CBO's access to data. One of the most common reasons agencies restrict CBO's access to Federal agency data is because of perceived Privacy Act obstacles.

This bill, the Congressional Budget Office Data Access Act, solves this problem by granting CBO the same Privacy Act exemption afforded to the Government Accountability Office and Congress.

Under existing law, CBO must meet the confidentiality standards required of the agency that is providing the data, and this bill maintains that standard of confidentiality while expanding CBO's data access authority, such access that GAO and Congress already possess.

CBO access to agency data is critical for the legislative branch agency's ability to fulfill its mission.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my House Oversight Committee colleagues, Representative Grothman and Representative Mfume, for their work on the House companion of this legislation, H.R. 7184. I also thank House Budget Committee Chairman Arrington and Ranking Member Boyle and their staff for coordinating with the Oversight Committee on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this commonsense bill to support CBO in carrying out its mission, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the CBO Data Access Act is a commonsense, good government bill. I commend Senator Gary Peters and Senator Susan Collins for introducing it on the Senate side, as well as Congressman LaTurner, the gentleman from Kansas, and Chairman Grothman and Ranking Member Mfume for sponsoring the House companion.

The bill would accelerate the speed and improve the accuracy with which the CBO analyzes the budgetary consequences of proposed legislation by providing CBO with an exemption to the Privacy Act.

H.R. 7032, which has passed both the House and Senate, requires CBO to treat any information it receives with the same level of confidentiality as the agency from which it is received. That is a wise safeguard that will work well in tandem with this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc: Calendar No. 36, S. 264; Calendar No. 37, S. 829; Calendar No. 38, S. 349; Calendar No. 44, S. 206; Calendar No. 72, S. 111; and Calendar No. 94, S. 1549.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments, where applicable, be considered and agreed to; that the bills, as amended, if amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.