FEDERALhearing transcript

Congressional Budget Office Oversight Hearing: Behavioral Modeling

Original title: CBO OVERSIGHT: THE ROLE OF BEHAVIORAL MODELING IN SCORING AND BASELINE CONSTRUCTION

January 1, 2018

Congressional Budget Office Budgetary Oversight Economic Modeling Legislative Scoring Federal Budget Process

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The Frame

What this does

The hearing examines the technical methods the CBO uses to predict how people and businesses will react to new laws, which directly determines the official cost estimates used by Congress to pass or reject federal legislation.

Who is mentioned in the record

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

Congressional Budget Office

The agency is undergoing a formal oversight review of its operational structure and modeling processes.

Members of Congress

Legislators rely on CBO cost estimates and economic projections to make decisions on federal spending and policy.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2018.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The House Committee on the Budget held a hearing to examine how the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) uses to estimate the costs and economic impacts of proposed legislation. This session was the third in a five-part series aimed at reviewing CBO operations and ensuring the agency's processes remain effective for modern legislative needs.

Key Facts

The hearing took place on February 27, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
This was the third of five planned oversight hearings regarding the CBO.
The CBO has not undergone a comprehensive review since its establishment in 1974.
The hearing focused on 'behavioral modeling,' which involves making assumptions about how individuals and entities will respond to new policy changes.
CBO models are used to estimate the cost of legislation, project baseline impacts, and produce long-term economic analysis.
The committee heard testimony from CBO Director Keith Hall, Dr. Jessica Banthin, and Dr. Jeffrey Kling.

Why It Matters

Frequently Asked Questions

What is behavioral modeling in the context of the CBO?

It is the process of making assumptions about how people and businesses will change their behavior in response to new government policies, which helps the CBO estimate the financial cost of those policies.

Why is the House Budget Committee reviewing the CBO?

The committee is conducting a series of hearings to understand how the CBO carries out its nonpartisan mandate and to identify potential areas for improvement in its processes.

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 shift100% confidence

CBO Modernization Review

The committee explicitly noted that the CBO had not undergone a comprehensive review of its operations since its inception in 1974, signaling a push for modernization.

Congressional Budget Office

Connected Entities

otherCongressional Budget Impoundment Act of 1974“The legislation that established the CBO”Map →

personJessica Banthin“Deputy Assistant Director for health retirement long-term analysis”Map →

personKeith Hall“Director of the Congressional Budget Office”Map →

personSteve Womack“Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget”Map →

personJeffrey Kling“Associate Director for Economic Analysis”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance60
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy20
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment5
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz10
Current news / social attention level

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