Biennial Budgeting for the Federal Government

A two-year budget and appropriations cycle at the federal level has been endorsed by Republicans and
Democrats during the past 20 years. The first congressional proposal for a federal biennial budget appeared in
the late 1970s, and several others have since been submitted. There are two dominant models for a biennial
budget: the stretch model, which expands action on the budget resolution over a two-year period, and the
split-sessions model, which confines budget resolution and appropriations actions to the first session of
Congress. In this working paper, Resident Scholar Charles J. Whalen reviews states’ experience with biennial
budgeting and outlines policy implications of extending the budget period.