Lubbock Times

Yesterday, the House Budget Committee, led by Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX), held a markup session to discuss six bills aimed at improving the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) practices and operations.

One of the bills under consideration was H.R. 9716, the Increasing Baseline Updates Act. Congressman Moore stated, "My point is, at least the House is trying… to do things on a more consistent, sensible timeline. That's what we're doing with these CBO bills today." He emphasized that this initiative is not about blaming the CBO but rather about enabling it to provide more data and information for Congress.

Another bill discussed was H.R. 9751, the Executive Action Cost Transparency Act. Congressman Estes explained, "Our budget this year is the second time in 30 years that we've passed a budget before the President's budget was released." He noted that his bill aims to provide more transparency by delineating the cost of executive actions factored into CBO’s baseline updates.

H.R. 9714, known as the CBO Oversight Act, was also debated. Congresswoman McClain remarked on the importance of oversight and accountability: "It's our job to be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars and to know when we're spending money wisely." Congressman Norman added that regular reporting from CBO is essential: "To ask the CBO to come forward is an easy ask to make."

Congressman Lopez supported this view: "All we're asking is for someone to appear twice a year." He questioned whether opposition to this request was an attempt to protect someone or simply obstructionist behavior.

H.R. 9711, the Congressional Budget Office Scheduling Reform Act, received attention from Congressman Valadao who highlighted its goal of creating a clear release schedule for CBO reports: "By formalizing a release schedule, we give the CBO a framework to prioritize its workload."

Congressman Grothman addressed H.R. 8068, Stop the Baseline Bloat Act of 2024. He criticized emergency spending practices: "This culture of rampant emergency spending is encouraged by the CBO baseline budget."

Finally, H.R. 9686, known as HEALTH Panel Act, was discussed by Congressman Burgess who pointed out discrepancies in health care projections: "Every other individual and group that evaluated this said that number was significantly larger." Congressman Carter echoed these concerns emphasizing accurate representation in health care cost estimates: "That's why it's imperative for CBO to rely on the best available data."

The committee's efforts reflect ongoing bipartisan discussions aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability within federal budgeting processes.