A Review of Cost Estimates for Direct Spending Legislation

Scorekeeping for direct spending legislation has taken on added importance with the passage of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. In part because of this increased importance, Representatives Michel, Gephardt, Panetta, and Gradison, and Senator Sasser requested that the Office of Management and Budget OMB and the Congressional Budget Office CBO jointly prepare a report on scoring of direct spending legislation. This report provides the information they requested. It reviews OMB and CBO scoring of direct spending legislation passed during the 101st Congress. It also discusses OMB and CBO scoring of the FY 1992 budget and legislation enacted to date by the 102nd Congress. In addition, the report lists scorekeeping issues that have arisen during discussions between OMB, CBO, and the Budget Committees. Comparative scoring is available for fourteen bills that were enacted during the 101st Congress. After eliminating OMBCBO scoring differences that are unlikely to recur or are likely to be reduced because of a variety of legislative and definitional changes, the remaining OMBCBO scoring differences are only 0.4 billion 1.7 percent of the savings estimated. OMB estimated that these bills produce five-year savings of 124.5 billion, while CBO estimated five-year savings of 133.3 billion a difference of 8.8 billion, or 7 percent. On balance, almost all of this difference arises in just three programs farm price supports, Medicare, and Medicaid.