U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) announced his bill to require the Congressional Budget Office to produce more economic data passed in the House Wednesday.
The bill, Increasing Baseline Updates, would increase Congressional access to information by requiring the CBO to produce at least two baseline updates per year, with at least one of those updates including economic data. Moore said the updated budget and economic figures would allow law makers to have the most up-to-date economic information as they vote on appropriations and other legislation.
“Americans have made it abundantly clear that they welcome the Trump Administration’s efforts to rein in wasteful federal spending and lower our crippling national debt,” Moore said. “The Increasing Baseline Updates Act will help this critical initiative by enhancing Congress’s ability to make informed decisions during the budgeting process with more consistently updated data from the Congressional Budget Office.”
Moore introduced the legislation with U.S. Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY). The bill was unanimously passed out of the House Budget Committee in September.
Currently, the CBO is required to publish its baseline, a projection of federal outlays and revenues under current and future fiscal years according to existing law, before Feb. 15 every year. However, there is no statutory obligation for the CBO to provide a specific number of baseline updates. In fact, the last time CBO published a baseline update was July 2020, Moore’s office said. Since Congress passed the majority of government funding at the end of the calendar year, updated baselines will help Congress members make more informed decisions, officials said.
“We can’t get our fiscal house in order, responsibly steward taxpayers’ treasure, and address our national debt without fixing our broken budget process, which is exactly what Rep. Blake Moore’s legislative reform will help us achieve,” Budget Committee Chair U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) said.