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Reclaiming Our Fiscal Future FY2022 Budget

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For RSC's Fiscal Year 2022 Budget, click here.

Media Mentions:

RSC Budget and Spending Task Force Members Unveil Budget:

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FY2022 Budget Executive Summary:

Fiscal State of the Union:

We've faced a year of unprecedented federal spending – since last March, we've spent over $7.6 trillion dollars—almost $62,000 per American household. Our national debt exceeds $28.1 trillion and continues to climb rapidly under the Biden administration. Interest costs on the debt will nearly triple in ten years, making it the 3rd largest federal expenditure behind only Medicare and Social Security.

Path to Balance:

RSC's budget Balances in FY 2026 (5 years). This is possible for three reasons:

  • First, the RSC Budget would reduce spending by $14.4 trillion over 10 years, putting over $115,000 per household back into the hands of hard-working Americans. Cuts mandatory spending by over $10 trillion and non-defense discretionary outlays by over $3.4 trillion
  • Second, the RSC Budget would build off of the pro-growth tax and regulatory policies advanced during the Trump administration, which are still producing increased revenues.
  • Third, the RSC Budget takes advantage of the fact that current and projected interest rates are lower now than pre-pandemic.

While the present fiscal landscape is bleak, the RSC recognizes we must seize this moment to place our spending and debt trajectory on a sustainable path. Americans thrive when the federal government cuts both taxes and spending, and a path to balance is still possible.

Liberty through Deregulation:

The RSC Budget would reinstate President Trump's successful deregu- latory agenda and opposes President Biden's efforts to undo it. It includes over 30 specific deregulatory legislative proposals, underscoring the successful deregulation that the Trump administration championed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opportunity through Tax Reform:

The RSC Budget would advance pro-growth tax reforms that would result in more jobs, greater national prosperity, and stronger savings. Specifically, it would:

  • Cut taxes by over $1.9 trillion, returning almost $16,000 per American household.
  • Make individual provisions of the TCJA permanent.
  • Ensure full and immediate expensing for equipment, R+D, and educational services for workers.
  • Implement accelerated 20-year depreciation for all structures and a neutral cost recovery system.
  • Shield the middle class from capital gains taxes by indexing to inflation and adjusting the end of the 0% bracket to $75k for single filers and $150k for married filers.
  • Eliminate death taxes and repeal market distorting tax carve outs

Opportunity through Empowerment and Self-sufficiency:

The RSC Budget recognizes that as our na- tion emerges from the pandemic, resisting efforts to expand programs that increase dependency is paramount. To facilitate work and self-sufficiency, it would:

  • Adopt many of the reforms advanced by the RSC's American Worker Task Force and the RSC's Conservative Framework for Recovery, Accountability, and Prosperity, which both offered a path for leading American through the COVID-19 pandemic and reopening our economy.
  • Eliminate welfare cliffs, marriage penalties, and other barriers so families can thrive.
  • Instill and enhance work requirements to target welfare and promote long-term self-sufficiency.
  • Reforms federal housing programs to be market oriented and to facilitate work engagement by helping people to move to where they have a job offer.
  • Rein in the recent massive expansion of UI benefits
  • Reforming our welfare system by consolidating SNAP into TANF to promote stable families, facilitate long-term self-sufficiency, and to break the cycle of dependency.

Providing for the Common Defense:

The RSC Budget continues President Trump's efforts to rebuild and recast our military's resources to match today's defense and national security needs. It would:

  • Institute many of the reforms advanced by the RSC's National Security and Foreign Affairs Task Force.
  • Recognize that our nation's defense budget must reflect the challenges posed by renewed great power competition, particularly the malign threats of Communist China.
  • Immediately increase the national security budget by instituting a 3% real growth boost.

Safeguard Conservative Values:

The RSC Budget expresses the consensus conservative position that the Biden administration poses the greatest threat to conservative values in American history. To counter his ongoing onslaught, the RSC Budget would:

  • Offer the most pro-life congressional budget ever proposed.
  • Commit to protecting Americans' 2nd amendment right to bear arms.
  • Defend religious freedom and oppose federal efforts to redefine gender.
  • Commit to immigration policies that secure our borders, respect the rule of law, and put American citizens first.

Personalized and Affordable Health Care:

The RSC Budget promotes reforms that are designed to pro- tect those with from chronic illnesses, facilitate market innovative and cost reductions, and to stop Washing- ton from coming between patients and their preferred doctors. It would accomplish this and other important health care reforms by:

  • Instituting many of the reforms advanced by the RSC's Health Care Task Force.
  • Increasing options by reducing Washington mandates on private health insurance.
  • Creating parity between the tax treatment of individual and employer-provided health insurance.
  • Providing for a flexible state-administered block grants to care for our nation's truly sick and needy.

Saving Medicare:

The RSC Budget would preserve Medicare's commitment to seniors by making it finan- cially sustainable while increasing benefits for the seniors that need the program the most. It would:

  • Make Medicare more market oriented and efficient by combining traditional Medicare parts into a single federal option that would allow private plans to compete on an even playing field.
  • This would lead to market oriented innovation, reducing costs, and providing seniors with expanded plans tailored to their needs.
  • Restructure Medicare's subsidies to help the seniors that most need them while ensuring access to Medicare plans.

Social Security Solvency:

The RSC Budget puts Social Security on a permanent path to solvency without adjusting benefits for any Americans in or near retirement. It would:

  • Increase the minimum benefit up to 40% of average wages for those that worked 40 years or more. • Reform the full retirement age to track life expectancy.
  • Reduce initial benefits and auxiliary benefits for high-income earners.

Fixing the Broken Budget Process:

The RSC Budget would reclaim Article I authority, reasserting Con- gress' role in in protecting the hard work of Americans by opposing earmarks, strengthening budget en- forcement mechanisms, and increasing transparency in the federal budgeting process.


Support From Conservative Leaders:

"The RSC has long been known for developing the most thoughtful, serious, innovative, conservative, and promise-keeping budget on Capitol Hill--and this year's RSC Budget by RSC Chairman Jim Banks, BSTF Chairman Kevin Hern, and RSC Executive Director Dan Ziegler is no exception. The United States is on a scary fiscal path, but the RSC Budget gives us some hope for America's future."

-- Paul Teller, Executive Director, Advancing American Freedom

"The Republican Study Committee led by Budget and Spending Task Force Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) and RSC Chairman Jim Banks (R-Ind.) today released their Fiscal Year 2022 Budget. This budget contains numerous conservative proposals including nearly $2 trillion in tax cuts for working families and small businesses. The budget calls for making the individual tax reduction in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent, ensuring families and individuals will continue to see tax reduction for decades to come. The budget also calls for various pro-growth tax provisions to encourage American businesses to invest, create jobs, and raise wages."

-- Americans for Tax Reform

"In addition to nearly $2 trillion in tax cuts for working families and small businesses, the Budget also contains important institutional and constitutional protections for taxpayers, and vital constraints on spending."

-- Americans for Tax Reform

"The Employee Rights Act is the most pro-employee legislation introduced and debated since passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. It protects the secret ballot, gives union and non-union employees greater control over their own money, and protects their privacy, among other significant workplace protections. These changes to labor law have never been more urgent. Faced with a historic decline in membership, organized labor is desperate, and has thrown its might behind the government lifeline known as the PRO Act. I thank the RSC for its leadership in supporting the Employee Rights Act, and look forward to its consideration in the House and Senate."

-- Richard Berman, Executive Director, Center for Union Facts

"The RSC budget is not only a serious effort to bring fiscal sanity to Washington; it is also the only effort to produce a budget of any kind in the 117th Congress...RSC Chairman Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Budget Task Force Chairman Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) and their staff have provided a vital and practical contrast to this complete lack of fiscal responsibility. The RSC budget deserves to be taken seriously to help prevent the nation from continuing down the path to bankruptcy."

-- Tom Schatz, President, Citizens Against Government Waste

"The Republican Study Committee's (RSC) budget is the last hope to prevent against the inflationary pressures created by the President Biden's agenda that will cause the markets to crash. We know the recipe for strong economic growth is deregulation, tax cuts, and spending restraint. When the size, scope, and cost of the federal government is limited, innovation and investment can thrive in America. The RSC's budgetary vision is the complete opposite of Biden's agenda that closes, crushes, and constrains the American economy. This budgetary blueprint provides a plan of how to move America forward through tax relief, spending restraint, and deregulation after the pandemic that has deeply threatened the economic health of America. Club for Growth commends RSC Chairman Jim Banks, Budget and Spending Task Force Chairman Kevin Hern, and the rest of the RSC Members and staff that contributed to this pro-growth framework. Now the important work begins where the RSC needs to take this budget to the American people and win the argument on why this plan is superior to Biden's plan that mortgages our economic future through massive federal spending, special interest giveaways, tax hikes, and stifling regulation."

-- David McIntosh, President, Club for Growth

"In a year where the budget process has been essentially non-existent, the RSC deserves commendation for putting forward a budget, especially one that addresses our nation's rising debt and puts debt as a share of GDP on a clear downward path...With debt headed to record levels as soon as this year, it is unacceptable for the country to be running without a budget. Beginning with the President's budget request next week, we hope that will change soon."

-- Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

"We applaud the RSC Budget and Spending Task Force and Chairman Jim Banks for releasing the only comprehensive budget for Fiscal Year 2022. This budget balances in five years, cuts $14.4 trillion in spending over ten years, and implements reforms that will turn our country back toward the values and principles that have made us the freest and most prosperous nation in history. As power-hungry politicians drag the COVID-19 pandemic on, using it as an excuse to hurl the US trillions of dollars further into debt, we desperately need selfless and bold leadership in Washington to empower individuals and pare back government. The RSC budget does exactly this by outlining a positive vision for the future of our nation through free markets, decentralization of power, and choice."

-- FreedomWorks

"Gun Owners of America is pleased to see the Republican Study Committee come up with a budget that defends our 2A-protected rights. The Second Amendment is under siege from the Left, including President Joe Biden. The RSC Budget opposes the Left's crusade to infringe on Americans' right to bear arms. While the First Amendment defends our rights as individuals, the Second Amendment ensures the protection of these rights from others and would-be tyrants. Thank you Republican Study Committee for supporting the rights of gun owners with the RSC Budget!"

-- Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs, Gun Owners of America

"President Biden and the radical Left's unprecedented tax-and-spend plan has already led to higher prices, labor shortages, and depressed economic growth for American families. The Republican Study Committee and Chairman Jim Banks have introduced a strong budget that rejects this trend toward socialism. They have laid out a clear vision for governance through safety and security, fiscal sanity, and a smaller, less intrusive government of the people."

-- Garrett Bess, Vice President of Government Relations and Communications, Heritage Action

"It's no small feat to draft a complete budget proposal. Indeed, the Republican Study Committee's budget is currently the only such proposal introduced in this Congress. It's an impressive plan that includes many important policy proposals. Perhaps most significantly, it would help reclaim America's fiscal future."

-- Matthew Dickerson, Director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, The Heritage Foundation & Frederico Bartels, policy analyst for defense budgeting, The Heritage

"IFA appreciates the RSC's budget making clear the importance a joint employer standard that recognizes the benefits of the franchise model for brands, franchise owners, and employees alike. That rule and its clarity allowed franchise brands to distribute materials, supply personal protective equipment (PPE), and share best public health practices to help their franchise owners keep employees safe and protect their communities from COVID-19, and has traditionally kept employment decisions at the local level where they create better outcomes for employees."

-- Matt Haller, SVP of Government Relations & Public Affairs, International Franchise Association

"Overall, the RSC Budget is full of solid recommendations for tackling record federal spending and debt, all while decreasing federal tax and regulatory burdens that stifle American workers and businesses. NTU appreciates their thoughtful contribution on behalf of taxpayers, and hopes both parties in Congress give serious consideration to proposals within the Budget."

-- National Taxpayers Union

"The Republican Study Committee's Fiscal Year 2022 Budget is a bold statement of hope to the millions of working-class American citizens and lawful residents that our immigration system should serve your interests, not undercut them. We are thrilled to see the RSC call for reshaping the immigration system to protect national security, economic opportunity, and the rule of law. NumbersUSA applauds Chairman Banks, Chairman Hern, the Leadership and Membership of the RSC, and their staff for having the courage to stand squarely with the American people."

-- Chris Chmielenski, Deputy Director, NumbersUSA

"The House Republican Study Committee (RSC) released their alternative Fiscal Year 2022 budget, entitled Reclaiming Our Fiscal Future, which presents a bold plan to balance the federal budget in just five years. While the budget covers the full range of both mandatory and discretionary spending, the RSC rightfully targets agriculture as one area that can produce savings for taxpayers and create a more free-market agriculture economy that improves opportunity for farmers."

-- R Street Institute

"On behalf of our nearly 1,300 active pro-life student groups and tens of thousands of trained student activists in all 50 states, please stand with us in support of Representative Jim Banks and the Republican Study Committee's Fiscal Year 2022 Budget, the most pro-life congressional budget ever proposed. The RSC budget makes the sanctity of human life a top priority, advancing the codification of measures that would permanently and reliably protect innocent human life."

-- Students for Life Action

"The Republican Study Committee has just released their proposed budget. Thank you Rep. Jim Banks and Rep. Kevin Hern for your leadership to craft a budget that protects LIFE -- in stark contrast to the abortion extremism we're anticipating in the Biden-Harris budget."

-- Susan B. Anthony List

"While much of the tax policy now under debate aims to increase the tax burden on businesses, several policies in the newly released Republican Study Committee (RSC) budget for Fiscal Year 2022 focus on reducing the tax code's barriers to investment and saving. The RSC budget contains many possible tax reforms, but two proposals in particular stand out as cost-effective ways to boost investment, growth, and wages: permanent full and immediate expensing for investment in short-lived assets and accelerated and indexed depreciation for construction expenses."

-- Tax Foundation

"Decades of irresponsible federal spending in D.C. has contributed to diminished prosperity for families and entrepreneurs through costly redistribution, higher taxes, and more debt. The Republican Study Committee led by Chairman Jim Banks and Budget and Spending Task Force Chair Rep. Kevin Hern, put forward a bold path to rein in federal spending that better matches the average taxpayer's ability to pay for what is necessary. The RSC's pro-growth budget balances the federal budget in 5 years, makes the Trump tax cuts permanent, and continues the deregulatory efforts by the previous administration in stark contrast to the current reckless path by the Biden administration. TPPF looks forward to working with the RSC to advance the ideas in this budget on Capitol Hill."

-- Vance Gain, Chief Economist, Texas Public Policy Foundation

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