Articles Posted in Legislative Information

H.R. 3874, Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act

As ordered reported  by the House Committee on Veterans Affairs on July 26 2023.

H.R. 3874 would make changes to education benefit programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The costs of those programs are paid from mandatory appropriations. Enacting the bill would decrease net direct spending by $5 million over the 2023-2033 period, CBO estimates.

The federal budget deficit was $1.6 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimates—more than twice the shortfall recorded during the same period last year. Revenues were 10 percent lower and outlays were 10 percent higher from October through July than they were during the same period in fiscal year 2022.

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The federal budget deficit was $1.6 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimates—more than twice the shortfall recorded during the same period last year. Revenues were 10 percent lower and outlays were 10 percent higher from October through July than they were during the same period in fiscal year 2022.

Report: August 4, 2023.

On July 12, 2023, the Senate Committee on the Budget convened a hearing at which Phillip L. Swagel, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, testified about Social Security’s finances. After the hearing, Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse, Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, and Senator Ron Wyden submitted questions for the record. This document provides CBO’s answers.

Full Text of Document Providing CBO’s Answers to questions submitted.

August 4, 2023.

As ordered Reported  by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on July 12, 2023.

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Originally posted by John McClellan et. al. on July 25, 2023.

As part of the legislative process, the Congressional Budget Office* supplies the Congress with cost estimates for legislation, economic and budget projections, and other economic assessments. Information from the research community is an important element of CBO’s analyses. This is the seventh in a series of blog posts discussing research that would enhance the quality of the information that CBO uses in its work. (Earlier posts in the series discussed the need for new research in the areas of energy and the environmentfinancehealthlabormacroeconomics, and national security.) Please send comments to communications@cbo.gov. Since this CBO blog post is believed to contain information of general interest it is being reproduced here, in full, as an information service.

CBO regularly provides the Congress with information about the ways that the government’s tax and transfer system affects the distribution of household income (for example, CBO 2022). That analysis is built on the models and data underlying the agency’s baseline projections of revenues and spending (CBO 2023). CBO is on the lookout for new research that would enhance its analysis of taxes and transfers, including research related to distributional analysis and projections of revenues from business income. The agency is currently working on those topics, and there are significant gaps in the relevant research literature.

Original Posting  by David Mosher et.al. on  July 24, 2023*

As part of the legislative process, the Congressional Budget Office supplies the Congress with cost estimates for legislation, economic and budget projections, and other economic assessments. Information from the research community is an important element of CBO’s analyses. This is the sixth in a series of blog posts discussing research that would enhance the quality of the information that CBO uses in its work. (Earlier posts in the series discussed the need for new research in the areas of energy and the environmentfinancehealthlabor, and macroeconomics.) Please send comments to communications@cbo.gov.

The Department of Defense (DoD) received about $850 billion in funding in 2023. With those funds, DoD hires personnel (members of the military and civilian employees) and purchases a variety of goods and services from private-sector companies. Some of the purchased goods, such as aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and nuclear submarines, are highly complex weapon systems. CBO is on the lookout for new research on various topics related to DoD’s personnel and weapon systems, including the implications of the military’s use of in-kind compensation and the causes of, and future trends in, sector-specific inflation. CBO is currently working on those topics, and there are significant gaps in the relevant research literature.

Original posting by Richard DeKaser on the CBO Blog, July 21,2023.*

As part of the legislative process, the Congressional Budget Office supplies the Congress with cost estimates for legislation, economic and budget projections, and other economic assessments. Information from the research community is an important element of CBO’s analyses. This is the fifth in a series of blog posts discussing research that would enhance the quality of the information that CBO uses in its work. (Earlier posts in the series discussed the need for new research in the areas of energy and the environmentfinancehealth, and labor. Please send comments to communications@cbo.gov.

The following is a list of CBO reports and other documents reflecting recent activity, received on July 21, 2023:

Report, July 14, 2023

CBO estimates that plans for U.S. nuclear forces, as described in the fiscal year 2023 budget and supporting documents, would cost $756 billion over the 2023–2032 period, $122 billion more than CBO’s 2021 estimate for the 2021–2030 period.

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