CRFB's MacGuineas Calls for Budget Reform

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas has an op-ed in The Hill online today. Citing the end-of-the-year dance surrounding the appropriations bills that Congress annually participates in, MacGuineas states that although the bills will help avoid another series of stopgap Continuing Resolutions, they highlight the need for budget process reform. Noting that the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform has been formed to make recommendations for how best to improve the nation’s fiscal future, the op-ed delves into the seriousness of Congress' inability to pass individual appropriations bills on time. It says:

"....the impact is serious. Managers of federal programs, already well into developing their next year’s budgets, still do not have their final Fiscal 2010 funding levels.  Then there’s the question of whether lawmakers seriously discuss federal priorities when spending programs are lumped into a huge piece of legislation. If Congress cannot not even pass the annual appropriations bills on time, how can we expect it to deal with the unsustainable fiscal path that awaits us over the next decade?"