Budget Options
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CBO periodically publishes a reference volume, often referred to as “Budget Options,” that includes dozens of policy options to reduce federal budget deficits. Those options are derived from a broad spectrum of sources and represent a range of ways to reduce spending or increase revenues. The options are illustrative, and CBO’s reports do not make recommendations. CBO also prepares analytic reports that examine specific federal programs, aspects of the tax code, and budgetary and economic challenges. Most of these reports present a set of options for changes in the programs or tax rules being examined. A list of some recent reports with options related to this topic is below. Visit CBO’s Reports with Policy Options page for a list of all recent reports with policy options.
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Social Security Policy Options, 2015
December 15, 2015CBO analyzes 36 policy options commonly proposed by policymakers and analysts. Most of them would improve Social Security’s long-term finances, but only a few would significantly postpone the combined trust funds’ exhaustion date.
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Child Nutrition Programs: Spending and Policy Options
September 25, 2015Since 1990, real spending for child nutrition programs more than doubled—to $20 billion in 2014. CBO expects that increases in food prices and demographic changes will cause spending to rise further in the future.
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Federal Housing Assistance for Low-Income Households
September 9, 2015CBO describes federal housing assistance to low-income households and how it has changed since 2000, provides information about the households that receive assistance, and assesses options for altering that assistance.
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Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Spending and Policy Options
January 21, 2015This report examines spending on TANF, how TANF compares to other low-income support programs, and the effects of TANF on employment. CBO also analyzes policy options that would change the program’s funding and requirements for states.
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Veterans' Disability Compensation: Trends and Policy Options
August 7, 2014From 2000 to 2013, the number of veterans receiving VA disability payments rose by nearly 55 percent, and spending for those benefits almost tripled. How might changes in VA’s disability compensation program affect the federal budget?
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Choices for Deficit Reduction: An Update
December 20, 2013Federal debt is projected to rise significantly over the long term. What policy changes could reduce future deficits and thus lower the trajectory of federal debt? What criteria might be used to evaluate those policy changes?
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Health-Related Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2014 to 2023
December 5, 2013This document is a reprint of Chapter 5 of CBO’s publication Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2014 to 2023 (November 2013).
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Raising the Age of Eligibility for Medicare to 67: An Updated Estimate of the Budgetary Effects
October 24, 2013CBO’s new estimate of the net budgetary savings from adopting this policy is much lower than its earlier estimates for proposals to raise Medicare’s eligibility age. This report describes CBO’s new estimate and the reasons for the change.
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Testimony on Using the Chained CPI to Index Social Security, Other Federal Programs, and the Tax Code for Inflation
April 18, 2013How does the chained consumer price index (CPI) differ from the traditional CPI and what would be the budgetary effects of using the chained CPI to make automatic adjustments in Social Security, other federal programs, and the tax code?
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Choices for Deficit Reduction
November 8, 2012Are fiscal rules a useful tool for achieving budgetary goals? View the appendix of this report to learn more.