We're Opposed to Congress Turning Bi

A proposal in Congress to move from annual to biennial federal budgets is wrong. The federal government, which is a significant part of our economy both in its size and what it can influence, needs the flexibility to adjust to emerging economic and policy challenges. The number of people involved in federal programs, for instance the number of Defense personnel needed or the number of people seeking job training, changes daily. Government needs to adjust its budget according to events such as natural disasters, foreign situations, unemployment rates, etc. A government locked into a “cast in stone” budget over a two-year period is less able to meet changing needs.

In a time when computers make economic and financial information more readily available, it is a step in the wrong direction to make less use of this information. Federal budgeting need to be more responsive to changes, not less. A biennial federal budget is a step in the wrong direction.