The CBO Data Sharing Act Passes the Senate, the First Bipartisan HBC Bill to Unanimously Pass Both Chambers in History

The CBO Data Sharing Act Passes the Senate, the First Bipartisan HBC Bill to Unanimously Pass Both Chambers in History

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 7032, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Data Sharing Act by unanimous consent.

Passage of H.R. 7032, led by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-PA), marks the first time EVER that a bipartisan House Budget Committee bill has passed both the House and Senate unanimously.

The CBO Data Sharing Act was considered by the House Budget Committee in February 2024, passing the House in April by voice vote. The bill now heads to President Biden's desk to be signed into law.

Chairman Arrington Statement on Passage:

"For the first time in history, a bipartisan House Budget Committee bill has unanimously passed both the House and the Senate.

In order for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide lawmakers accurate and timely information about the cost of legislation, they need access to all relevant government data. Our budget reform bill will empower CBO to provide information critical to good public policy and stewardship of tax dollars.

I am proud of our committee's great work in advancing common sense, bipartisan budget reform legislation. I am grateful to my friend and Ranking Member, Brendan Boyle, for working hard to find common ground to address our nation's broken budget process on behalf of all Americans."

Background:

The CBO Data Sharing Act will address ongoing challenges the CBO faces in accessing data from executive branch agencies, which can delay and diminish critically important budget analyses and economic forecasts.

This bipartisan, commonsense legislation will permanently expand CBO's authority to access necessary data from the executive branch while maintaining legal confidentiality protections. Most importantly, it will strengthen lawmakers' ability to make informed decisions regarding the fiscal impact of prospective legislation.

The CBO Data Sharing Act was advanced favorably by the House Budget Committee by a unanimous vote of 30-0 on February 6, 2024, during a full committee markup, and passed the House under suspension of the rules on April 29, 2024.

House Budget Committee's Historic Tenure:

This Congress, the House Budget Committee has passed a record 10 bipartisan bills out of committee since the start of the 118^th Congress.

For the first time in over a decade, not one, but two bills with sole House Budget Committee jurisdiction were passed out of the House of Representatives:

1. H.R. 766, the Dr. Michael C. Burgess Preventive Health Savings Act
   • Introduced by Michael Burgess (R-TX) and Diana DeGette (D-CO).
     • This bill reforms how CBO creates cost estimates on critically important health care legislation by extending the analysis horizon to capture long-term impacts. By providing a more comprehensive assessment of preventive health care measures, policymakers can make more informed decisions on policies that improve the nation's long-term fiscal health.
       
       
2. H.R. 7032, the Congressional Budget Office Data Sharing Act
   
   • Introduced by House Budget Committee Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-PA) and Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX).
     • This bill specifies that CBO is authorized to obtain data from executive branch agencies with or without a written agreement if CBO maintains the same level of confidentiality that is required of the agency that provides the data.
     • The bill also requires CBO to submit a report to Congress regarding requests for information from executive branch agencies and any challenges it faced in accessing the information.

The full list of bipartisan bills favorably advanced out of committee in the 118^th Congress includes:

• H.R. 5779, the Fiscal Commission Act of 2024
• H.R. 6952, the Fiscal State of the Nation Act
• H.R. 6957, the Debt-to-GDP Transparency and Stabilization Act
• H.R. 766, the Dr. Michael C. Burgess Preventive Health Savings Act
• H.R. 7032, the Congressional Budget Office Data Sharing Act
• H.R. 5301, the Eliminate Useless Reports Act of 2024
• H.R. 8341, the Cost Estimates Improvement Act
• H.R. 8372, the Debt Per Taxpayer Information Act
• H.R. 8342, the Improper Payments Transparency Act
• H.R. 8343, the Enhancing Improper Payment Accountability Act

More from the House Budget Committee:

Read a fact sheet on the CBO Data Sharing ActHERE.

Read the full text of the CBO Data Sharing Act HERE.

Find a full list of cosponsors of the CBO Data Sharing ActHERE.

Read stakeholder support for the CBO Data Sharing ActHERE.

Watch the markup of the CBO Data Sharing ActHERE.

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