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1 (August 15, 2001)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaaaeq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS20480 Updated August 15, 2001 Congressional Budget Resolutions: Motions to Instruct Conferees Robert Keith Specialist in American National Government Government and Finance Division Summary Both the House and the Senate have procedures whereby the full bodies may issue instructions to conferees on budget resolutions, usually in the form of a motion. The practices of the House and Senate regarding such motions differ markedly in key respects. First, the House resorts to such motions regularly (having considered 10 such motions in the past 12 years), while the Senate seldom uses them. Second, the House has considered only one motion per budget resolution, while the Senate considered five motions on one budget resolution. Finally, the House regards the motion to instruct conferees strictly as a prerogative of the minority party, while the Senate does not. This report will be updated as developments warrant. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the House and Senate to reach agreement on at least one budget resolution each year.1 In most years, the House and Senate initially pass separate versions of a budget resolution and then resolve their differences through regular conference procedures, but sometimes the differences have been resolved by means of the two chambers formally exchanging amendments. Both the House and the Senate have procedures whereby the full bodies may issue instructions to conferees on legislation.2 Instructions to conferees on a budget resolution usually are issued in the form of a motion, but in at least one instance the Senate adopted a simple resolution containing such instructions. If a motion (or resolution) instructing 1 For detailed information regarding the record of experience with budget resolutions, see: U.S. Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Congressional Budget Resolutions: Selected Statistics and Information Guide, by Bill Heniff Jr., CRS Report RL30297 (Washington: September 2, 1999), 37 pages. The House and Senate have adopted at least one budget resolution every year since 1975, except in 1998 (for FY1999). 2 For information on these procedures generally, see: U.S. Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, (1) Instructing Senate Conferees, by Richard S. Beth, CRS Report RS20209 (Washington: updated January 31, 2001), 3 pages; and (2) Instructing House Conferees, by Stanley Bach, CRS Report 98-381 GOV (Washington: updated January 25, 2001), 2 pages. Congressional Research Service +. The Library of Congress CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web

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