March 2, 2o18
This week, the last of the 16 members of the new Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform were named by Congressional leaders.
Speaker Ryan chose new House Budget Committee chairman Steve Womack (R-AR) to serve on the panel, and Minority Leader Pelosi chose the ranking member on Budget, John Yarmuth (D-KY) and the ranking member on Appropriations, Nita Lowey (D-NY). Senate leaders did not chose senior officials on Budget or Appropriations (though some rank-and-file members serve).
MEMBERS OF THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS REFORM |
|
Budg? |
Appr? |
|
Budg? |
Appr? |
House GOP |
|
|
House Dem |
|
|
Womack (AR) |
Y |
Y |
Lowey (NY) |
|
Y |
Sessions (TX) |
|
|
Yarmuth (KY) |
Y |
|
Woodall (GA) |
Y |
|
Roybal-Allard (CA) |
|
Y |
Arrington (TX) |
Y |
|
Kilmer (WA) |
|
Y |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Senate GOP |
|
|
Senate Dem |
|
|
Blunt (MO) |
|
Y |
Whitehouse (RI) |
Y |
|
Perdue (GA) |
Y |
|
Bennet (CO) |
|
|
Lankford (OK) |
|
Y |
Schatz (HI) |
|
Y |
Ernst (IA) |
|
|
Hirono (HI) |
|
|
(Ed. Note: The existing Congressional budget process was established by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. That process was started by a Joint Study Committee on Budget Control which had seven members each from House Appropriations, Senate Appropriations, House Ways and Means, and Senate Finance, as well as two at-large members from each chamber.)
The new panel was established by section 30442 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. Under the statute, the panel must vote by November 30 of this year on recommendations, which must be approved by at least five of the Republicans and at least five of the Democrats (assuming all members are present) in order to be valid. A bill so reported is guaranteed to get a vote on the “motion to proceed to the bill” in the Senate (any member can offer the motion if the Majority Leader declines to offer it).
A motion to proceed to the Joint Committee’s bill will still need 60 votes, but since many rules relating to the authorization-appropriation process that would presumably be changed by the bill are considered rules of the Senate, those would normally require 67 votes for cloture, not 60.
For discussion of how budget process reform could address transportation programs specifically, see the following ETW coverage: