The current budget process doesn't work well, and we need to fix it. And the states that pass budgets every two years tend to be small, he noted. He said the ability of the Appropriations Committees to drag in executive branch officials every year and threaten their funding gives Congress tremendous power. It is the length of that leash that determines the balance of power in this government, and this proposal would significantly lengthen that leash. The states' experience delivers a mixed message to Congress.
Some small states have biennial budgets because their legislatures meet every two years.
In those states, governors generally have tighter control on spending. Of the large states, only Texas and Ohio have two-year budgets. According to Tim Keen, assistant director of Ohio's Office of Budget and Management, the process has worked very well. Meanwhile, Garton said he is pleased with the way the two-year budget system has worked in Indiana, where the General Assembly made the change in 1970. Nonbudget years allow for better planning, Garton said.