Fiscal Commission Act Reintroduced in the House
Representatives Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and Scott Peters (D-CA), Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Fiscal Forum, recently reintroduced the Fiscal Commission Act (FCA), which was first introduced in the 118th Congress. The bill would create a bipartisan fiscal commission tasked with providing recommendations to Congress on how to address our unsustainable fiscal trajectory.
As we have written before, a commission would help to address our country’s mounting fiscal challenges, providing a venue for lawmakers to discuss the issue and develop bipartisan solutions. While a commission’s recommendations are not always adopted, many commissions have been successful in developing “off the shelf” policy solutions, advancing bipartisan discussions, or raising awareness of an issue.
The FCA would create a commission with the main goal of providing Congress with recommendations to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio below 100 percent by Fiscal Year (FY) 2039. The commission would also be tasked with recommending changes to improve the solvency of federal trust funds. Notably, these goals are not binding, so the commission could produce recommendations that improve fiscal responsibility even if they don't reach the goals specified in the bill. Furthermore, the bill would require the commission to conduct a public education campaign informing people about our country’s current fiscal state. As part of that effort, the commission would hold public hearings and receive testimony from budget experts, lawmakers, and other government officials.
The panel created by the FCA would be comprised of 12 Members of Congress, chosen evenly between the leadership of both parties in the House and Senate, along with four non-voting outside experts. If the commission’s policy recommendations are approved by a majority of the lawmakers on the panel, with at least two from each party, its recommendations would be sent to Congress. The commission could provide policy recommendations no earlier than the week after the 2026 election and no later than April 13, 2027. The FCA would require the commission’s findings to be made public, regardless of whether its members voted to approve or reject them. If policy recommendations are approved by the commission, they would receive expedited consideration in both chambers of Congress and could not be amended. However, the recommendations would still be subject to the filibuster in the Senate, therefore requiring 60 votes to pass the chamber.
Last Congress, the House Budget Committee advanced this bill on a bipartisan vote. Prior to the markup, the Budget Committee held two hearings on the topic. In November of 2023, the committee had multiple Members testify on various commission proposals, including the Fiscal Commission Act. Overall, seven out of the eight members who testified supported a commission.
The idea to establish a fiscal commission has had broad bipartisan support, including from members of the House Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan majority of the Senate, a diverse group of experts and thought leaders, and former senators and representatives from both parties, among others.
This Congress, the number of original cosponsors for the FCA upon introduction doubled, and the bill currently has about 30 cosponsors in total. Representatives Huizenga and Peters worked with senators to introduce similar legislation last Congress – the Fiscal Stability Act – resulting in more than 45 current lawmakers supporting fiscal commission bills.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, praised the bill’s introduction this Congress (full statement here):
A bipartisan fiscal commission would give the country’s fiscal situation the attention it urgently deserves. Fixing our growing debt will not be easy, but the Fiscal Commission Act would create a venue for serious, cross-party dialogue and help pave the way toward a more sustainable fiscal future. We commend Representatives Huizenga and Peters, Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Fiscal Forum, for their leadership in putting forward a thoughtful, serious proposal to confront one of our greatest long-term challenges.
The Fiscal Commission Act would help lawmakers raise awareness of, and develop potential solutions for, our unsustainable long-term debt. Given the scale of the challenges we face, Congress needs to take these problems seriously. For more information on commissions, see our Fiscal Commission Act: Just the FAQs blog, our paper on the subject, or our Bipartisan Support for a Fiscal Commission blog.
