Budget Resolution Procedural Provisions

The table below surveys all budget resolutions for points of order and other procedures established by the respective resolutions. Most of the items below apply to specific fiscal years or have a sunset; however, items in bold with green highlighting apply beyond the budget year of the resolution and remain in

Abbreviations:  BOTH = House and Senate. CHIMPs = Changes in Mandatory Programs. OCO/GWOT = Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism. ESPC = Energy Savings Performance Contracts. HTF = Highway Trust Fund. CVF = Crime Victims Fund. FED = Federal Reserve Surpluses. CR = Credit Provisions. MCR = Macroeconomic Effects. EFF = Effect of Changes to Allocations or Aggregates.

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, ALL NUMBERS REFER TO SECTIONS IN RESOLUTIONS OR BILLS.

* Asterisk indicates Senate point of order with a supermajority (60-vote waiver) requirement.

[i] Points of order in the Senate against advance appropriations are in the form of a motion to strike; waivers and appeals require a supermajority vote.

[ii] This column includes provisions that permit spending limits, functional allocations, aggregate spending levels & committee allocations to be adjusted to accommodate specified legislation. For example, adjustment authority may effectively exempt from spending limits certain types of programs by adjusting the caps upwards for those programs. Reserve funds (sometimes called contingency funds) typically permit spending aggregates and committee allocations to be adjusted to accommodate specified legislation, provided it meets certain conditions (typically that it contains offsets, making it deficit-neutral). Allowances typically allow budget authority to be distributed among budget functions if a contingency is met.

[iii] Refers to section 13301 of the 1990 BEA addressing the off-budget status of Social Security.

[iv] The Senate supermajority (three-fifths) requirement for certain budget waivers (and related appeals) was first established in 1985 by §271(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended by §210 of the 1987 Reaffirmation Act, and was applied to additional points of order on a temporary basis by §10119 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, 2 USC 621 note with several extensions via budget resolution in fiscal years 1996, 2004, 2008, and 2016. The temporary requirements are currently scheduled to expire at the end of FY 2025.

[v] Replaced §201 of S.Con.Res. 21(110^th).

[vi] Section 4112 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, was repealed by section 4001 of S.Con.Res. 14 (117^th Congress).

[vii] HR 1314, §102 [BBA-15] operated until adoption of S.Con.Res. 3.

[viii] Sections 3108, 3109, 3111, and 3112 of this budget resolution pertain to the Congressional Budget Office:.

[ix] Points of order in the Senate against advance appropriations are in the form of a motion to strike.

[x] The Senate supermajority (three-fifths) requirement for certain budget waivers (and related appeals) was first established in 1985 by §271(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended by §210 of the 1987 Reaffirmation Act, and was applied to additional points of order on a temporary basis by §10119 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, 2 USC 621 note with several extensions via budget resolution in fiscal years 1996, 2004, 2008, and 2016. The temporary requirements are currently scheduled to expire at the end of FY 2025.

[xi] Per Senate Budget Committee, this point of order is no longer in effect; see: https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Budget_Points_of_Order_October_2021.pdf.

[xii] This is the first budget resolution reference to “changes in mandatory programs.”

[xiii] The Statement of Managers (S.Rept. 98-155) established a procedure whereby a reserve is set aside for 10 identified programs to be effective upon the enactment of authorizing legislation.

[xiv] During the early years operating under the 1974 Budget Act, reconciliation instructions also were sent to the Appropriations Committees. See, for example, the FY 1982 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 115, section 302(a)).

[xv] FY 1976 began July 1, 1975; and was followed by a transition quarter (7/1/76 – 9/30/76), with FY 1977 beginning October 1, 1976.