§10. Budget Resolutions
Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2013
None (115th Congress)
No budget resolution was adopted by Congress
See “Deeming Resolutions” serving as a budget for each House of Congress in lieu of a budget resolution. These are resolutions or laws that take the place of a formal budget resolution adopted, and allow each chamber a method to enforce the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 as if Congress had fulfilled its terms.
Legislative History
The House and Senate took much different paths for fiscal year 2013 in budget policy decisions. The Senate was controlled by a Democratic majority, while the House was held by the Republicans. In the House, H. Con. Res. 112 (112th Congress) included reconciliation instructions that were acted upon by the House, even though such a procedure requires both the House and the Senate to adopt the same concurrent resolution in order to be valid.
The Senate not only did not adopt H. Con. Res. 112, the Senate Budget Committee did not report a budget resolution, nor did the full Senate consider a majority budget resolution. The only budget that was considered by the Senate was a “motion to proceed” on S. Con. Res. 41 (112th Congress), introduced by Sen. Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee. It was a concurrent resolution that used the President’s budget numbers, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, and hence purported to be the President’s budget. This is done periodically by the political party in opposition to the President, and the President’s party denies the budget being considered is valid. Neither Senators nor Representatives vote in favor of the measure for which vote is held, and it is defeated. This happened to S. Con. Res. 41.
In the House, H.R.5652, Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012, was reported by the House Budget Committee, which had gathered together submissions from various House Committees and approved the “reconciliation” bill. Since the Senate Parliamentarian (or the House Parliamentarian) did not view it as a valid reconciliation bill, nor was a Democratic Senate inclined to consider it anyway, was not taken up in any fashion in that chamber. This was unfortunate, since it was a relatively good bill, though it served as a good precursor to the negotiations between then Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray, a year later would enable the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (Pub. L. 113-69) to be enacted.
Major Documents
House
(H. Con. Res. 112 (112th Congress), as Reported by the House Budget Committee
H. Rept. 112h-421 (House Budget Committee Report)
Rules – H. Res. 597 (112th Congress), Rule on Committee-reported Budget Resolution
Rules – H. Rept. 112–423; Rules Committee Report on H. Res. 597 – with Text of Amendments
Senate
S. Con. Res 41 (as Placed on Senate Calendar)
Legislative Activity
House
H. Con. Res. 112 (112th Congress)
| Date | Actions Overview |
|---|---|
| 03/23/2012 | Introduced in House |
| 03/23/2012 | The House Committee on The Budget reported an original measure, H. Rept. 112-421, by Mr. Ryan (WI). |
| 03/29/2012 | Passed/agreed to in House: On agreeing to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 228 – 191 (Roll no. 151). |
| 04/16/2012 | Senate Committee on the Budget discharged pursuant to Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act. |
Senate
S. Con. Res. 41 (112th Congress)
| Date | All Actions |
|---|---|
| 04/17/2012 | Referred to the Committee on the Budget. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2401-2405) Action By: Senate |
| 04/17/2012 | Senate Committee on the Budget discharged pursuant to Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act. Action By: Senate |
| 04/17/2012 | Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 357. Action By: Senate |
| 04/17/2012 | See also S.Con.Res. 37, S.Con.Res. 40, H.Con.Res. 112. Action By: Senate |
| 05/16/2012 | Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (consideration: CR S3183-3222) Action By: Senate |
| 05/16/2012 | Motion to proceed to consideration of measure rejected in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 0 – 99. Record Vote Number: 97. Action By: Senate |
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Budget Counsel 