27 Jun BPC Action Applauds Creation of the Bipartisan Budget Process Reform Effort in Budget and Appropriations, Economics and Finance

The following is a statement from Michele Stockwell, President of Bipartisan Policy Center Action: 

BPC Action applauds the announcement of a bipartisan budget process reform effort led by U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-PA). This initiative would drive a significant focus on strengthening the federal budget process, which in turn can help rebuild Americans’ trust in our government following another economically risky and damaging negotiation over the debt limit this spring.  

Since 2011, BPC has played a leading role in educating policymakers and the public on the budget process and debt limit and is committed to being a thought partner to shepherd lasting change. Today, our elected leaders confront an unsustainable debt trajectory and a budget process more fractured than ever coupled with debt limit brinkmanship that has repeatedly proven an ineffective vehicle for fundamental reform. 

We need a more deliberative examination of the budget process. Federal entitlement spending is growing without restraint and the tax code is bringing in insufficient revenues to fund our obligations. With interest paid on the national debt today being the fourth largest expenditure of the federal budget—behind only defense, Social Security, and health care—the process must be revamped to force policymakers to grapple with the drivers of the problem. As Americans feel the impact of these fiscal burdens and the consequences of an onerous budget process, we commend the Budget Committee’s commitment to convening roundtables and meetings across the country.  

We commend Chairman Arrington and Ranking Member Boyle for seeking achievable solutions to critical fiscal challenges. BPC has long championed policy efforts that offer realistic and politically viable solutions to getting our federal budget process back on track and reining in our unsustainable debt. Bipartisan leadership on this issue will indeed be key to its success. We stand ready to assist.