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1 1 (May 25, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedko0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional A Research Service The Budget Reconciliation Process and the Statutory Limit on the Debt May 25, 2021 The budget reconciliation process is an optional, expedited legislative process provided under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended (PL. 93-344; the Budget Act). It consists of several different stages, beginning with the adoption of the budget resolution. The purpose of the reconciliation process is to allow Congress to use special procedures when considering legislation that would bring existing budgetary laws into compliance with the fiscal policies that Congress establishes in the annual budget resolution. If Congress intends to use this process, reconciliation directives (also referred to as reconciliation instructions) must be included in the annual budget resolution. These directives trigger the second stage of the process by instructing individual committees to develop and report legislation that would change laws within their respective jurisdictions related to direct spending, revenue, or the debt limit. Once a specified committee develops legislation in response to a reconciliation directive, that legislation is eligible to be considered under expedited procedures in both the House and the Senate. These procedures are especially important in the Senate, as they include a 20-hour limit on debate time and therefore mean that reconciliation legislation does not require the support of three-fifths of all Senators to bring debate to a close. The Debt Limit in Reconciliation Legislation The Budget Act specifies that a budget resolution may include reconciliation directives instructing a committee to report legislation that would (1) change levels of direct spending, (2) change levels of revenue, and (3) change the amount of the statutory limit on the public debt. Specifically, in relation to the statutory limit on the public debt, Section 310(a) of the Budget Act reads in part: Sec. 310(a) INCLUSION OF RECONCILIATION DIRECTIVES IN CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS ON THE BUDGET.-A concurrent resolution on the budget for any fiscal year, to the extent necessary to effectuate the provisions andrequirements of suchresolution, shall ... (3) specify the amounts by which the statutory limit on the public debt is to be changed and direct the committee having jurisdiction to recommend such change. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11681 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Membersand Committeesof Congress

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