Omnibus Bills, Essay Example

Omnibus bills allow Congress to conclude the work quickly toward the end of the year and clear the status for the next session, thereby allowing Congress to send the year with a sense of accomplishment. The problem persists that it is hard to dispute the use of omnibus bills since it combines multiple annual spending measures into one measure.  Omnibus bills tend to occur in the United States due to a variation in reasons; however, most likely are due to political spending differences.   In addition, the bills occur when Congress cannot complete their work on time, need to leave town for election campaigning or holiday leave.  Basically, omnibus bills are the last resort and must pass legislation.  (Wilson Center, 2006)

Omnibus bills as a last resort are brought about through pressure for political leaders to add an additional item in a bill.  In fact, the pressures could include a Member’s re-election status and promises made to political groups in order to achieve a task.  An example of an omnibus bill in Congress in the United States occurred in 1988 during President Ronald Reagan’s presidency.  During this occurrence, stacks of budget bills were rolled into one.  (Wilson Center, 2006)  The process of reconciliation leads to the passing of the bills being rolled into one.  For instance, at some point in time, the House and Senate have similar bills that are introduced and the chamber that finishes first sends its completed measure to the other chamber.  The other chamber passes the bill in form of the of a substitute amendment to the first chambers bills, in which it can be implied that both chambers passed the same bill.   In regard to omnibus bills, if more than one committee within each House is given instructions, each committee enters reconciliation legislation to the Budget Committee.  The Budget Committee is responsible for revising the bills into one single omnibus budget measure, which is considered by both the House and Senate for implementation.  (Heniff, 2010)

References

Heniff, B. (2010).  The Budget Reconciliation Process: The Senate’s “Byrd Rule”. Congressional Research Service.  Retrieved from: http://democrats.budget.house.gov/sites/democrats.budget.house.gov/files/documents/reconciliation.pdf

Wilson Center.  (2006).  Ominous Spending Bills Portend Ominous Consequences. Retrieved from: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/omnibus-spending-bills-portend-ominous-consequences