	Introduction

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344 , as amended; 2 U.S.C. 601-688; hereafter referred to as the "Budget Act") provides for the annual adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget each year. The congressional budget resolution represents a budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year and at least the following four fiscal years. As a concurrent resolution, it is not presented to the President for his signature and thus does not become law. Instead, when adopted by Congress, the budget resolution serves as an agreement between the House and Senate on a congressional budget plan. It also provides information on the consideration and adoption of budget resolutions, including an identification of the House special rules that provided for consideration of budget resolutions, the amendments in the nature of a substitute to the budget resolution considered in the House, the number and disposition of House and Senate amendments to budget resolutions, and dates of House and Senate action on budget resolutions. During the 41 years under the Budget Act (1975 to the present), Congress has completed action on 40 budget resolutions, including in some years multiple budget resolutions for a single fiscal year. In 32 of the 41 years, Congress adopted at least one budget resolution for the fiscal year. Congress did not complete action on a budget resolution for nine fiscal years, most recently for FY2015. Congress also adopted a second budget resolution in seven of the 41 years. Content of the Budget Resolution

Section 301(a) of the Budget Act requires that the budget resolution include the following matters for the upcoming fiscal year and at least the ensuing four fiscal years:
Aggregate levels of new budget authority, outlays, the budget surplus or deficit, and the public debt; Aggregate levels of federal revenues and the amount, if any, by which the aggregate levels of federal revenues should be increased or decreased by legislative action; Amounts of new budget authority and outlays for each of the major functional categories; and For purposes of Senate enforcement procedures, Social Security outlays and revenues (although these amounts are not included in the budget surplus or deficit totals due to their off-budget status). In order to accomplish this, Congress first includes budget reconciliation directives in a budget resolution directing one or more committees in each chamber to recommend changes in statute to achieve the levels of direct spending, revenues, debt limit, or a combination thereof agreed to in the budget resolution. Such directives have resulted in 24 budget reconciliation measures. On four occasions (in 1982, 1986, 1997, and 2006), Congress adopted two budget reconciliation measures in one year. During the period between 1975 and 2015, the Senate considered an average of almost 54 amendments per budget resolution, agreeing to an average of 31 of these. Timing of Action on the Budget Resolution

The Budget Act sets April 15 as a target date for completing action on the annual budget resolution. During this period, Congress adopted the budget resolution by the target date only six times, most recently in 2003 with the FY2004 budget resolution. (Current law requires budget resolutions to cover at least five fiscal years.)
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, as amended; 2 U.S.C. 601-688) provides for the annual adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget each year. The congressional budget resolution represents a budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year and at least the following four fiscal years. As a concurrent resolution, it is not presented to the President for his signature and thus does not become law. Instead, when adopted by Congress, the budget resolution serves as an agreement between the House and Senate on a congressional budget plan. As such, it provides the framework for subsequent legislative action on budget matters during each congressional session.
In 32 of the 41 years under the Budget Act, Congress adopted at least one budget resolution for the fiscal year beginning in such year. Congress did not complete action on a budget resolution for nine fiscal years, most recently for FY2015. A second budget resolution for a fiscal year was adopted in each of the first seven years, and a third budget resolution was adopted in one year (for FY1977). Since 1982, Congress has considered only one budget resolution for each fiscal year. Congress initially was required to cover only the upcoming fiscal year in the budget resolution, but over the years Congress has expanded this time frame. Currently, the budget resolution must include at least five fiscal years.
The budget resolution may include budget reconciliation directives instructing one or more committees to recommend legislative changes to meet the direct spending and revenue levels included in the budget resolution. In the past 41 years, Congress included budget reconciliation directives in 22 budget resolutions. Such directives have resulted in 24 budget reconciliation measures and the enactment of 20 of them. (Four budget reconciliation measures have been vetoed.)
The House has considered and adopted fewer amendments to the budget resolution than the Senate. For the last three decades, the House has considered the budget resolutions under special rules that generally have made in order only amendments in the nature of a substitute. Since 1983, the House typically has considered between three and seven such amendments to the budget resolution each year, rejecting all but two of these. In contrast, during the period between 1975 and 2015, the Senate considered an average of almost 54 amendments per budget resolution, agreeing to an average of about 31 of these.
The Budget Act sets April 15 as a target date for completing action on the annual budget resolution. (Prior to 1986, the date was May 15.) During the past 41 years, when Congress has completed action on a budget resolution, Congress adopted the budget resolution by the target date only six times, most recently in 2003 with the FY2004 budget resolution. Budget resolutions have been adopted an average of almost 36 days after the target date.
This report will be updated as warranted.