Reserve Funds in the FY2002 Budget Resolution Page: 4 of 6
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funds included in budget resolutions since 1983, 42 applied only in the Senate, six applied
only in the House, and 35 applied in both chambers. The FY1995 budget resolution
adopted in 1994 included the most reserve funds, 13, with 11 of them applied only in the
Senate. About two-thirds, or 55, of the reserve funds since 1983 did not specify the
amount of any revisions to the committee allocations. However, in most of these cases,
the reserve fund provision required that the legislation not cause an increase in the deficit.
Thus, for example, any increase in spending had to be offset by a reduction in other
spending, an increase in revenues, or a combination of the two. The remaining 28 limited
any revisions to a specific amount, as in the case of the example reserve fund presented in
the box above.
Although the reserve funds have been available to revise the committee spending
allocations and other budgetary levels, Congress seldom has used them. In the Senate, out
of the 77 reserve funds available, only six were used. In the House, out of the 41 reserve
funds available, only four were used.9
Reserve Funds in the FY2002 Budget Resolution
The FY2002 budget resolution includes nine reserve funds (see Table 1). Six apply
to both chambers; one applies only in the Senate; and two apply only in the House. Most
reserve funds are for a single purpose or specific legislation, but the two that apply only
in the House provide for multiple purposes. Further, most reserve funds specify an
amount which the adjustments may not exceed. Two out of the three reserve funds that
do not specify an amount, however, are not open-ended. First, the Senate reserve fund
for additional defense spending ties the adjustments to the recommendations of the
President's National Defense Review.10 Second, the additional tax cuts and debt reduction
reserve fund in the House ties the adjustments to any additional on-budget surplus
estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in its budget and economic outlook
update that exceeds the on-budget surplus amount estimated in its January 2001 budget
and economic outlook report."1
Unlike most reserve funds in the past, the FY2002 reserve funds do not require that
any spending increases be offset with other spending reductions, revenue increases, or a
combination of the two. Instead, with the exception of the Medicare reform reserve fund,
the FY2002 reserve funds require that the cost of any applicable legislation, when
8 (...continued)
funds, but the House version included none.
9 The number of adjustments related to reserve funds was based on a review of the Congressional
Record. Reserve funds were used from the following budget resolutions: FY1984 (House and
Senate); FY1989 (Senate); FY1993 (Senate); FY1995 (House and Senate); FY1998 (two in the
Senate); and FY2001 (two in the House).
In connection to his National Defense Review, the President submitted a request for an additional
$18.5 billion in budget authority and $11.4 billion in outlays for FY2002, on June 27, 2001.
" The CBO's update report estimated on-budget surpluses for all fiscal years during the period
FY2002 through FY2011 substantially less than its estimates in January 2001. See CBO, The
Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update (Washington: August 2001). Therefore, no
adjustments are allowed under the provisions of this reserve fund.
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Reserve Funds in the FY2002 Budget Resolution, report, October 10, 2001; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc809748/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.