Washington, D.C. - Congressman Reid Ribble led a group of House and Senate members who are working on biennial budgeting legislation in sending a letter to the newly-appointed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shaun Donovan. The letter is intended to learn more about the Administration's thoughts on biennial budgeting and other ways to improve the badly broken Congressional budget process.

This February, the House Budget Committee approved Mr. Ribble's biennial budgeting legislation on a strong 22-10 bipartisan vote and the House Rules Committee recently held a hearing on the bill. Since the bill was introduced, 142 House members have cosponsored this important reform.

"Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all supported converting to a biennial budgeting system. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, a former OMB Director himself, supports biennial budgeting. With the growing support in the U.S. Congress, we believed it was time to ask President Obama and his Administration what they think of biennial budgeting," said Congressman Ribble.

The letter to Director Donovan was signed by Congressmen Reid Ribble and Kurt Schrader, the bipartisan leaders of biennial budgeting legislation in the House, and Senators Johnny Isakson, Jeanne Shaheen, and Angus King, the proponents in the Senate.

An excerpt from the letter to Director Donovan is below:

"We believe biennial budgeting would allow Congress to work on a more manageable budget and appropriations schedule while also providing agencies more time to plan and implement the programs that Congress authorizes. Congress and the Administration would then be able to accurately gauge the effectiveness of federal programs to promote more efficient uses of taxpayer funds...

...To that end, we are interested in any thoughts and insights you may have about the benefits of biennial budgeting and other process reforms. As OMB Director, you will play an important role in shaping the Administration’s thinking on this topic, so we are eager to hear from you."

To view the entire letter, please click here.

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