The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and an FY2019 Budget Resolution

Summary

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018, P.L. 115-123), enacted February 9, 2018, amended the statutory discretionary spending limits for FY2018 and FY2019. BBA 2018 comprised several other components as well, one of which was related to a congressional budget resolution for FY2019. These BBA 2018 “budget resolution” provisions (which may be referred to as a “deemer” or a budget resolution substitute) provide the House and Senate with enforceable levels of spending and revenue for FY2019 in ways that a “traditional” budget resolution would. While it is not unusual for Congress to employ such budget resolution substitutes, these substitutes differ from a “traditional” budget resolution in several ways.

The idea of a “traditional” budget resolution means a budget resolution as defined by the Congressional Budget Act, which specifies the way that a budget resolution shall be developed and considered and what components it must include. Budget resolution substitutes, such as the one in the BBA 2018, are not developed or considered in the manner specified by the Congressional Budget Act, nor do they include all of the components required by the act. Further, traditional budget resolutions often reflect a budget plan that differs from current law, while substitutes such as the BBA 2018 provisions set budgetary levels that are a reflection of baseline levels of spending and revenue that would occur if existing law were left unchanged. Additionally, traditional budget resolutions often include provisions triggering the budget reconciliation process; substitute provisions do not.

These provisions, however, do not preclude Congress from acting on a traditional budget resolution for FY2019. This means that Congress still has the option to consider a budget resolution for FY2019 even if it differs from the levels and components included in the BBA 2018 budget resolution provisions.