Part offederal budget →

S181FEDERALin_committee

Proposed Requirement for Zero-Based Federal Agency Budgeting

Original title: A bill to require agencies submit zero-based budgets.

January 22, 2025

federal budget government accountability agency oversight

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Where This Stands

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

Signed

Currently in_committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.

Last action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.Jan 22, 2025

Lead sponsor

James Risch

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

The Frame

What this does

If enacted, this bill would change how federal agencies justify their annual funding requests by requiring them to build budgets from zero rather than adjusting previous years' spending levels.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Federal Agencies

Agencies would be required to justify all expenditures from zero for each budget cycle if the bill becomes law.

What changed

Current stage: in_committee.

What's next

Floor Vote.

Summary

This bill proposes a requirement for federal agencies to use ing, a process where every expense must be justified for each new period. The bill has been introduced in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for review.

Why It Matters

If enacted, this bill would change how federal agencies justify their annual funding requests by requiring them to build budgets from zero rather than adjusting previous years' spending levels.

Key Facts

The bill mandates that federal agencies submit zero-based budgets.
The bill is designated as type 'S' (Senate bill).
The bill has been read twice in the Senate.
The bill is currently under review by the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is zero-based budgeting?

It is a budgeting method where all expenses must be justified for each new period, starting from a 'zero base' rather than using the previous period's budget as a starting point.

What is the current status of this bill?

The bill has been and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Shift to Zero-Based Budgeting

The bill represents a structural attempt to move federal agencies away from incremental budgeting toward a zero-based model.

Federal Agencies

Connected Entities

organizationCommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs“The Senate committee currently reviewing the bill.”Map →

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance60
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy40
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz20
Current news / social attention level

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