Publications

A two-year budget and appropriations cycle at the federal level has been endorsed by Republicans and Democrats during the past 20 years. The first congressional proposal for a federal biennial budget appeared in the late 1970s, and several others have since been submitted. There are two dominant models for a biennial budget: the stretch model, which expands action on the budget resolution over a two-year period, and the split-sessions model, which confines budget resolution and appropriations actions to the first session of Congress. In this working paper, Resident Scholar Charles J. Whalen reviews states' experience with biennial budgeting and outlines policy implications of extending the budget period.