S. 385 · 114th Congress
Biennial Appropriations Act
Key: what the circles and colors mean
Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:
Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.
Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.
Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 114th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
EnziSponsor4 cosponsors · 2 D, 2 R
4 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to change the annual appropriations process to a biennial process for nondefense spending. Congress must consider the defense appropriations bill annually and the remaining appropriations bills in either odd-numbered or even-numbered years.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 5, 2015
Biennial Appropriations Act
This bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to change the annual appropriations process to a biennial process for nondefense spending. Congress must consider the defense appropriations bill annually and the remaining appropriations bills in either odd-numbered or even-numbered years. In each year that the appropriations bill for an agency is not considered, Congress must conduct oversight hearings.
The bill requires the congressional budget resolution to be accompanied by committee allocations for biennial appropriations and the President's budget to include details that reflect the biennial process.
It also creates a point of order against considering: (1) legislation authorizing appropriations for less than two years unless the program requires no further appropriations and will be completed after appropriations are expended, and (2) authorization or revenue legislation until Congress completes action on the budget resolution, appropriations bills, and reconciliation bills.
The Office of Management and Budget must report to Congress on the impact and feasibility of a biennial budget process.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Biennial Appropriations Act
Latest action (Feb 5, 2015): Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 5, 2015
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.