>Senator Robert Menendez responds to questions regarding the budgeting and appropriations process
Thank you for contacting me regarding the budgeting and appropriations process. I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter and having the opportunity to respond.
Congress passed the Budget Control Act and it was signed into law on August 2, 2011. It set discretionary spending caps, provided enforcement mechanisms, and created a process for addressing entitlement spending and revenues.
The Budget Control Act was even more extensive than a traditional budget because it has the force of law, unlike a budget resolution that is not signed by the President. It provided mechanisms to increase the debt limit ceiling so that the United States government can meet existing obligations the Congresses and presidents of both parties have made in the past. The Budget Control Act established discretionary caps for 10 years, instead of the one year normally set in a budget resolution. These caps will provide approximately $1 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade. Additionally, the Budget Control Act stipulated that if the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction did not produce an agreement to further reduce deficits by $1.2 trillion, then automatic spending cuts will be trigged by sequestration beginning in January 2013. The Joint Committee was not able to produce an agreement by the November 2011 deadline so the automatic spending cuts will take place unless Congress can develop a balanced plan this year to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion.
The President has laid out a blueprint of his budget priorities for the coming fiscal year, and it will ultimately be up to Congress to pass appropriation bills that will fund the federal government and provide additional deficit reduction. I share your desire to see our country headed down a more sustainable path, and I am committed to a balanced approach to reducing our nation’s deficits. In 2010, I voted to establish the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action, the precursor to the Bowles-Simpson commission, to review all aspects of the financial conditions of our government including tax policy and entitlement spending. I have supported budget enforcement measures like statutory PAYGO to control both spending and revenue. I led the effort to cut $21 billion in unwarranted oil subsidies and supported saving almost $6 billion this year alone by cutting ethanol subsidies. In addition, I voted for $2.4 trillion in cuts combined with a joint committee process that could include revenues as part of the deficit reduction equation. I also voted to cut more than $40 billion in discretionary spending from FY10 funding levels in this year’s appropriations bills alone.
I share your frustration and recognize that deficit spending and our accumulated debt must be addressed in a way that will substantially reduce the gap between our commitments and our resources. Getting our fiscal house in order must go hand-in-hand with policies that will restore economic growth, create jobs and strengthen the middle class. I have said from the beginning that we must do so in a balanced way that calls for shared sacrifice, just as the American people have continually demanded. That’s why I have proposed cutting unwarranted big oil and ethanol subsidies as well as closing off-shore tax havens, which will enhance revenues as part of the way to achieving significant deficit reduction.
Again, thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts on this important issue. As your federal representative, I will keep your views in mind as I work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to enact sound fiscal policy that invests in our future and protects the economic security our nation’s children. I invite you to visit my website (https://menendez.senate.gov) to learn more about how I am standing up for New Jersey families in the United States Senate.
