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House Plans Vote on Resolution Asking Clinton to Resubmit Budget

Tuesday, March 11, 1997

Deloitte & Touche OnLine

House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, will introduce a non-binding resolution asking President Clinton to re-submit his fiscal 1998 budget request.

Kasich objects to the fact that the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate shows the administration’s budget will produce a budget deficit in 2002, rather than a balanced budget as promised. CBO projects Clinton’s proposal would produce a budget deficit of $69 billion in fiscal 2002, while the Office of Management and Budget projects a $17 billion surplus.

Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin told the House Budget Committee Tuesday that the administration will not react to the resolution, if it passes. The administration "fulfilled our responsibility" when the President sent a budget to Congress February 6.

No GOP Plan

Several Budget Committee Democrats questioned why GOP congressional leaders are criticizing Clinton’s budget proposal when they have not produced one of their own.

The House Budget Committee intends to develop its own budget plan, Kasich said, while the Senate Budget Committee will work from Clinton’s proposal, according to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

The House and Senate under congressional rules must produce a non-binding budget resolution that guides Congress when developing spending and tax policy for the upcoming year. The deadline for passing the resolution is April 15, but the deadline often is not met and action usually is not taken until late spring.

Tax Cuts Needed?

Senate Finance Committee member Bob Graham, D-Fla., sparred with leaders of the moderate "Blue Dog" coalition over the need for tax cuts.

Graham during a Senate Budget Committee hearing said tax cuts are needed to spur economic growth. The burden placed by the tax code on the economy depresses economic growth over the long-term, he said.

"A tax cut paid for with borrowed money makes sense," Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas, said. Middle-class families would be better served by lowering the deficit, which in turn would lower interest rates, he said.

Revenue Raisers Outlined: The Joint Committee on Taxation Tuesday issued a pamphlet analyzing some of the revenue-raising provisions in the President’s fiscal 1998 budget request.

The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing March 12 on the revenue-raising proposals. Representatives of various banks, exporters, and anti-tax think tanks will testify at the hearing.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, last year opposed many of the revenue raisers. When announcing the hearing, Archer said it is intended to determine which proposals had merit and which do not.

Hearing On IRS Budget Announced: The Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee will hold a hearing March 18 on the fiscal 1998 budget request for the Internal Revenue Service and on the 1997 tax filing season.

The IRS has made progress in recent years in streamlining its organizational structure and improving its financial accountability, but more remains to be done in terms of downsizing, redirecting resources, reducing waste, and correcting the Tax Systems Modernization initiative, subcommittee chair Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., said in a press release.