In a time when working across the aisle is seemingly rare, Representatives Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Ed Case (D-HI), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), and Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) have joined together to reintroduce the Stop the Baseline Bloat Act. This commonsense reform would prevent one-time or emergency spending from artificially inflating the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) baseline projections.
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires CBO to produce a ten-year baseline projection of federal revenues and spending. The baseline serves as the benchmark for evaluating the fiscal impact of legislation. Though there are some key exceptions, this baseline generally assumes that revenues and outlays will continue over the decade based on current law.
When Congress considers a new piece of legislation, CBO produces cost estimate analyses measured against. the baseline to determine whether spending or revenues will increase or decrease.
Unfortunately, the baseline rules CBO is required to follow – set by Congress – has some flaws. For example, one-time emergency spending is often carried forward in future projections even though they were not intended to be permanent. Including these temporary expenditures in the baseline, locking in higher federal spending levels for future budget cycles.
A recent example occurred in May 2024 as Congress was considering reauthorizing the Farm Bill, a multi-year law that funds agriculture and nutrition programs. During his first term, President Donald Trump used a Commodity Credit Corporation program to provide upwards of $28 billion in tariff relief payments to farmers.
This spending did not go through the normal congressional appropriations process. Some members of Congress pushed CBO to include some of this higher spending in the baseline. Doing so would have artificially increased the projected “savings” from a proposed cap on that authority, creating room for new farm subsidies without triggering budget enforcement rules.
The Stop the Baseline Bloat Act addresses this problem by instructing the CBO to exclude temporary or supplemental appropriations from long term budget projections. This simple reform would help ensure that the baseline reflects a more accurate picture of future federal spending.
Rep. Grothman emphasized the need for this reform:
The Stop the Baseline Bloat Act will increase transparency between the government and the American people, painting a clear and honest picture of how Washington is spending their hard-earned money. The CBO cannot continue to create a budget baseline that justifies outrageous spending levels. Getting the country’s fiscal house in order starts with an unbiased CBO baseline.
“A budget that inflates prior year spending to conceal real growth year-to-year is neither accurate nor transparent. Our measure would eliminate these budgetary tricks that conceal our dangerous journey into fiscal irresponsibility.”
The Stop the Baseline Bloat Act will give lawmakers the ability to ensure accountability regarding the use of taxpayer dollars, obtain accurate budget information, and cut down on bloated projections and gimmicks.