# Understanding the 2021 Congressional Budget Resolution

This is a budget blueprint that Congress creates every year to set spending limits and priorities for the federal government. Think of it like a family deciding how much money they'll spend on different categories—housing, food, healthcare—for the next decade. In this case, Congress is laying out its financial plan for fiscal year 2021 (which runs from October 2020 through September 2021) and providing guidelines through 2030.

The budget resolution doesn't directly spend money itself, but it sets the framework that allows other bills to move forward. It establishes how much Congress can spend on different areas like defense, Social Security, Medicare, education, and infrastructure. It also sets limits on how much the government can borrow and provides guidance on tax policy. Essentially, it tells individual committees in Congress "here's how much you can allocate to your area of responsibility." Without this resolution in place, Congress can't pass specific spending bills or make changes to tax law.

For everyday Americans, this matters because the budget resolution influences what programs get funded and at what levels. It affects whether there's money available for things like veterans' benefits, highway repairs, scientific research, or student loan programs. The resolution also signals Congress's priorities—if they allocate more money to defense and less to education, that tells you where their focus is. While you won't see immediate changes in your life from this resolution alone, it's the foundation that determines which specific bills Congress will consider and how much money will actually be available for the services and programs that affect your daily life.

A concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2021 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2022 through 2030.

Sanders, Bernard

This concurrent resolution establishes the congressional budget for the federal government for FY2021, sets forth budgetary levels for FY2022-FY2030, and provides reconciliation instructions for legislation that increases the deficit. The resolution recommends levels and amounts for FY2021-FY2030 for <ul> <li> federal revenues, </li> <li> new budget authority, </li> <li> budget outlays, </li> <li> deficits, </li> <li> public debt, </li> <li> debt held by the public, and </li> <li> the major functional categories of spending. </li> </ul> It also recommends levels and amounts for Social Security and Postal Service discretionary administrative expenses for the purpose of budget enforcement in the Senate. The resolution includes reconciliation instructions that direct several House and Senate committees to submit changes in laws within their jurisdictions that will increase the deficit over FY2021-FY2030 by no more than an amount specified for each committee. The committees must submit the legislation to their respective budget committees by February 16, 2021. (Under current law, reconciliation bills are considered by Congress using expedited legislative procedures that prevent a filibuster and restrict amendments in the Senate.) The resolution establishes reserve funds that allow (1) the chairs of the House and Senate Budget Committees to revise committee allocations, aggregates, and other budgetary levels to accommodate reconciliation legislation that complies with the instructions in this resolution; and (2) the chair of the House Budget Committee to make similar adjustments for deficit-neutral legislation. The resolution also exempts reconciliation legislation that complies with this resolution from various budget points of order, including the congressional pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules.