GovTrack’s Written Testimony to the House of Representatives on Public Access to Legislative Information

May 2, 2017
This week, the House’s Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing. In anticipation, Joshua Tauberer has published online the testimony he submitted. Tauberer, who founded GovTrack.US… Read More

How Many Types of Appropriations Are There?

April 11, 2017
Illustration credit: Anthony McCann, “Forms of Appropriation: A Typology,” Public Budgeting and Finance , June 2016. According to Anthony McCann, there are 13 types. This is a big deal… Read More

House Votes to Increase Appropriations for Permanent Committees

March 19, 2017
Phillip Lohaus, Daniel Schuman and Mandy Smithberger report: Today [March 8, 2017] the Committee on House Administration took a small but important step to restore the House of Representatives… Read More

Congress and Fiscal Control

March 17, 2017
The way it is supposed to work, in short. Source: Congressional Research Service At the Library of Law & Liberty, Kevin R. Kosar writes: “Indubitably, our nation’s finances are… Read More

How to Put the “Most Complete and Effectual Weapon” Back in Their Hands

March 8, 2017
From the Library of Law & Liberty: Indubitably, our nation’s finances are a mess. America has run deficits 36 of the past 40 years. The national debt… Read More

Should Congress Bring Back Pork?

February 23, 2017
The University of Chicago’s Adam Chan certainly thinks so. He writes: “Congress passed a bill banning earmarks in 2010 with a rare combination of bipartisan support and President Obama’s… Read More

Should We Have a Long-term Budget for Entitlements?

February 22, 2017
Federal law treats Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other entitlements as “mandatory” spending programs, which means they are not subject to the annual appropriations process like the rest of… Read More

Want Your Member to Testify for Strengthening the Legislative Branch?

February 8, 2017
Then promptly let the House’s Legislative Branch Subcommittee know by this Friday. Full details are below. HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEELegislative Branch Subcommittee INSTRUCTIONS FOR MEMBERS TESTIFYING AND… Read More

Earmark Ban Fosters Lettermarks

January 30, 2017
The R Street Institute released a new policy study by Bowling Green State University Profs. Russell W. Mills and Nicole Kalaf-Hughes that found a rise in lettermarking occurring after… Read More

Why Process Matters in Congressional Appropriations

January 29, 2017
Image credit: Congressional Institute, http://conginst.org/ By C. Jarrett Dieterle As past legislative sessions have come to a close amid threats of a government shutdown, we’re forced to wonder:… Read More