Comprehensive Congressional Budget Act (one-pager, blog, essay)
Why: Strengthen legislative branch with deeper knowledge, empowerment and purpose, regular collaboration, and clear institutional positions. Improve fiscal responsibility through context-rich, holistic budgeting within reasonable guardrails. Greater democracy within Congress from empowering members in committees and on the floor to pursue bipartisan, ad hoc issue coalitions, shifting away from the bipolar, partisan culture.
How: An annual budget act with all spending and revenue managed by committees of jurisdiction and overseen by Budget Committees. Credible fallback positions at potential breakdown points: budget resolution and committee submissions. Maintains reconciliation option but generally would promote one bill that includes the entire budget including interest costs, new borrowing, Social Security, and potentially additional budget upgrades and debt limit increases. Every business and the most effective governments already do a real budget that includes everything.
Status: Reps. Blake Moore and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez introduced Jan. 2024. Re-introduction expected soon. Could ride wave of legislator discontent with current system in 2026.
Prevent Government Shutdowns Act (one-pager, opinion)
Why: Remove breakdown point that centralizes power to the exclusion of everyone else. Foster bottom-up legislating where votes are earned instead of bought with bloat.
How: Flat-funding automatic continuing appropriations instead of shutdown at end of funding period. Additional member-time-based incentives to finish the process: keep members in DC focused on appropriations until done. Rhode Island, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Kansas do this.
Status: Sens. Lankford/Hassan, Reps. Arrington/Panetta introduced in 118th with broad support. Sen. Kaine, Rep. Beyer have related bill with progressive backing. Re-introduction expected soon.
Why: Get Congress needed information to start appropriations and security authorizations on time. Improve the quality of SOTU discussions. Increase accountability for timeliness of required reports.
How: Congress invites POTUS to give SOTU after it gets the president’s budget request and national security strategy, both due on the first Monday in February. POTUS will push OMB/NSC staff to do reports so he can do SOTU.
Status: Sen. Ernst, Rep. Buddy Carter introduced Feb. 2024. Stand-alone re-introduction is not expected in 119th Congress, but appropriations or security legislation could carry it.
Responsible Budget Targets Act (blog, release)
Why: Stable/predictable budget guidelines that are responsible over the short and long-run and incorporate emergency response and subsequent offsets.
How: Primary structural balance budget targets where spending is linked to revenue. Adjusts for automatic stabilizers, emergencies, and revenue changes. Emergency spending subsequently offset over five years. U.S. version of gold standard Swiss debt brake.
Status: Rep. Emmer, Sen. Braun introduced in 117th Congress. Re-introduction expected soon.
Automatic enforcement (blog)
Why: Credible consequences for breaching budget targets to replace ineffective Statutory PAYGO enforcement and discretionary sequester. Meant to encourage responsibility on the front end.
How: Ratio of spending cuts to revenue increases to spread the pain over a reasonable period, applied to lists of incremental adjustments to current law on each side.
Status: Detailed concepts published, but no legislation introduced. Available for deal negotiations.
Balanced budget amendment (paper, testimony)
Why: Restore norm of budget balance in a form that Congress cannot amend or ignore. Catalyze statutory changes to support and facilitate responsible budgeting.
How: Principles-based BBA or Business Cycle BBA to allow balance over medium term, not annually. Avoid problems of other BBAs to get 2/3 support in Congress.
Status: Rep. Moran, Sen. Braun & Rep. Arrington introduced in 119th Congress. PBBA re-introduced in July 2025. BCBBA re-introduction TBD.
Fiscal commission (coalition)
Why: Rebuild bipartisan cooperation/trust on fiscal responsibility, increase member/staff knowledge of choices, provide political cover for chance to reach deal, and buy time to fix Congress.
How: Bipartisan fiscal commission with goals to stabilize debt-to-GDP ratio and/or improve solvency for trust fund programs.
Status: Reps. Huizenga, Peters introduced May 2025 with broad bipartisan support.
Appendix: Entitlement Reform
Hobbled by a weak process: OBBBA’s savings are good but modest. Reconciliation cannot mechanically change Social Security, nor can it politically fix other pension, health, or welfare programs.
Better process = better results: Budget reform can give members more political cover within restraints and let Congress achieve needed health and pension changes a little at a time.
© 2025 AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | PRIVACY POLICY
Receive email alerts to learn how to get involved
