An early legislative fight could be brewing between Senate Budget Chairman Domenici and House Appropriations Chairman Livingston over a Domenici plan to create a two-year budget cycle.
Domenici plans to introduce legislation early in the 105th Congress that would transform the annual budget and appropriations cycle into a biennial cycle, a committee aide confirmed today. Domenici outlined his reasons for pushing the proposal in an op-ed piece in Sunday's Washington Post. In that column, Domenici said a bipartisan group, including President Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Lott, supports two-year budgeting. But on the House side, Livingston would fight such a proposal, a committee aide said today.
In the op-ed piece, Domenici said a two-year cycle would allow Congress to dispose of budget and appropriations issues in one year -- providing legislators with a year to concentrate on reauthorization and oversight issues. The proposal would create additional stability for the process, he said.
Domenici has favored two-year budgeting for several years and it has been included in broader legislation during previous Congresses, the Budget Committee aide said. "It's had considerable support in the past," the aide said, adding it could be introduced separately or included as part of Budget Act reauthorization.
If the proposal is introduced in the House, Livingston would oppose it, the House aide said. "Appropriators are the only ones who perform annual oversight," the aide said, adding federal agencies would require supplemental appropriations measures to deal with unanticipated circumstances in non-appropriations years. "There would be huge government-wide supplementals," she said. "We would end up going through the [appropriations] process anyway."
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