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RSC and House GOP Alternative Budgets for FY 2015

by Michael Tasselmyer April 10, 2014

In the newest edition of The Taxpayers Tab, National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) compared some of the alternative budget proposals put forth by several Congressional caucuses, including the Republican Study Commission (RSC), the House Republicans, the House Democrats, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). We compared the top-line budget numbers from each proposal relative to the Congressional Budget Office's baseline projections for 2014 to give taxpayers an idea of how each of these budget alternatives differ.

This first of two posts will focus on each of the GOP alternatives.

FY 2015 Republican Budget Proposals
(in billions of dollars)
 
Defense
$514
$521
$521
Other Discretionary
$524
$429
$492
Mandatory
$2,116
$2,1572
$2,2103
OCO1
$92
$85
$85
Total
$3,246
$3,192
$3,308
Change from FY2014
N/A
-$54
+$62
Notes:
Totals may not add due to rounding.
Figures are in budget authority, except where noted.
BillTally does not track changes in debt interest servicing and so they are not included in these figures.
1Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding is not subject to budget caps.
2NTUF assumes that the Back to Basics budget reported mandatory spending in outlays. NTUF therefore must compare their outlay figures with the budget authority figures of the other entities. This may not reflect the caucus's budgetary intent.
3The Path to Prosperity budget reported mandatory spending in outlays. NTUF therefore must compare their outlay figures with the budget authority figures of the other entities. This may not reflect the caucus's budgetary intent.

Some notable points:

  • Both the RSC and Ryan budgets eventually balance, but the RSC's does so within four years, compared to the ten year goal in the Ryan proposal.
  • Both GOP budgets maintain Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding at $85 billion, and propose $521 billion in discretionary defense budget authority.
  • The RSC plan proposes deeper cuts to non-defense discretionary programs than does the Ryan plan, but a simplification of the current tax code is a stated priority for each group.

While the two GOP budgets are similar in that their ultimate goals are balanced books, the RSC plan would try to achieve that within a much shorter timeframe. In both cases, emphasis is placed on cutting discretionary spending rather than any wholesale or fundamental reforms of mandatory entitlement programs.

For more, check out NTUF's full analysis in The Taxpayer's Tab.