In this way, both the legislative committees and the Budget Committees in both chambers have important roles to play in using the reconciliation process. During the final stages of the reconciliation process, the reported legislation is considered under expedited procedures in both the House and Senate. When reconciliation directives are included in an annual budget resolution, their purpose is to require committees to develop and report legislation that will allow Congress to achieve the budgetary goals set forth in the annual budget resolution. The Date by Which Committees Are Directed to Report

Reconciliation directives included in an annual budget resolution direct a committee to report (or submit to the Budget Committee) legislation by a specific date. There is no procedural mechanism, such as a point of order, for enforcing the date specified in the reconciliation directive as it appears in the budget resolution. Committees have sometimes reported reconciliation legislation in response to their directives after the date specified in the directive with no impact on whether the resultant legislation was considered as reconciliation legislation. Each chamber, however, may employ methods of moving forward with reconciliation legislation and include legislative language that falls within the non-reporting committee's jurisdiction in the event that the committee has not yet reported. These methods vary by chamber. The Recent Practice of House and Senate Committees in Responding to Reconciliation Directives

The following section provides information on the timing of committee responses to reconciliation directives during the period covering 1989-2015 and offers insight on the extent to which the submission due date included in a reconciliation instruction is a predictor for the timing of committee responses. Both include the relevant Congress and session, the fiscal year to which the budget resolution pertains, the budget resolution number, the date the budget resolution was agreed to by both chambers, the committees directed to report reconciliation legislation, the date by which the committee was directed to respond, the date on which the committee responded, the date that the budget committee reported a reconciliation bill (if applicable), and the reconciliation legislation that was subsequently passed by Congress. Committees have not always formally responded to the reconciliation directive instructing them to report legislation.
When reconciliation directives (also referred to as reconciliation instructions) are included in an annual budget resolution, their purpose is to require committees to develop and report reconciliation legislation that will achieve the budgetary goals set forth in the annual budget resolution. The reconciliation directives included in the budget resolution specify several things, including the committee instructed to report reconciliation legislation, the level of budgetary changes the committee should report, and the date by which the committee should report.
Although reconciliation directives included in an annual budget resolution direct a committee to report legislation achieving a specific budgetary outcome by a specific date, there is no procedural mechanism for enforcing this date. Committees have often reported reconciliation legislation in response to their directives after the date specified with no impact on whether the resultant legislation was considered under House and Senate procedures as reconciliation legislation.
In some years, committees have not formally responded to the reconciliation directive instructing them to report legislation. Although there is no procedural mechanism for enforcing the date included in the committee's reconciliation directive, Congress may employ methods of moving forward with reconciliation legislation that falls within a non-reporting committee's jurisdiction in the event that the committee has not yet reported. These methods vary by chamber and are employable only in certain situations.
Both the legislative committees and the Budget Committees in both chambers have important roles to play in using the reconciliation process. This report examines the timing of certain stages of the reconciliation process and the extent to which the submission due date included in a reconciliation instruction is a predictor for the timing of committee response. Specifically, it provides information on the dates by which committees have been directed to respond to reconciliation directives and the timing of House and Senate committees in responding to such directives in the past 14 Congresses (101st-114th Congresses).
This report will be updated as needed.