Upcoming Congressional Fiscal Policy Deadlines
Jul 9, 2019 | Budget Process
Updated 7/9/2019: The next two years will include several predictable fiscal policy deadlines that will force congressional action. Many of these deadlines could bring additional costs if Congress acts irresponsibly, or they could present an opportunity for Congress to reduce deficits.
We will regularly update this tracker to help reporters, congressional staff, and others interested in fiscal policy keep tabs of major deadlines. We recommend that you bookmark it and come back to check in.
Congress will need to act on each of these dates or enact short-term extensions to move the deadlines. Dates in red indicate past due deadlines.
| Issue | Deadline | Potential 2019-2029 Cost | More Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Expiration of the 2017 Tax Bill: Medical Expense Deduction | December 31, 2018 | $1 billion for 1 year; $30 billion if extended permanently | The deduction would shrink, covering expenses that exceed 10% of adjusted gross income instead of 7.5% currently. | |||
| “Tax Extenders” – 20+ tax breaks that expired in 2017 | December 31, 2017 | ~$20 billion for 1 year; ~$100 billion if extended permanently | Retroactively reinstated for 2017; were expired for 2018 and not reinstated before tax filing for the year. Congress could revive them for future years. | |||
| Lift Debt Ceiling | March 2, 2019 Must-act deadline: Late summer-early September 2019. |
N/A | Lawmakers suspended the debt limit until March 2019 in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. Treasury is able to use “extraordinary measures” past that point to avoid breaching the debt ceiling. Estimates for the date of exhaustion of extraordinary measures range as follows: CBO estimates late FY 2019 or early FY 2020, Treasury notes a risk of late summer, and the Bipartisan Policy Center estimates the first half of September. Q&A: Everything You Should Know About the Debt Ceiling |
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| Reauthorization of TANF & Related Programs Needed | September 30, 2019 | TBD | Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Child Care Entitlement to States will expire under a three-month extension enacted in late June. | |||
| National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Needed | September 30, 2019 | TBD | The House and Senate extended the deadline for another three and a half months in the disaster supplemental enacted in early June. More on NFIP | |||
| Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Needed | September 30, 2019 | TBD | The Export-Import Bank was reauthorized for another four years in 2015 after Congress allowed its general statutory authority to expire for several months. | |||
| Increased Defense/Non-Defense Discretionary Caps | October 1, 2019 | One-year: $125 billion; up to $1.7 trillion if extended | The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 set funding levels for 2018 and 2019. Sequester-level caps return for FY 2020 and 2021. Discretionary spending caps are scheduled to fall by $125 billion between 2019 and 2020. | |||
| Funding the Government / Appropriations | October 1, 2019 | None if Congress abides by budget caps | Congress passed full appropriations for the remaining seven appropriations bills for the rest of fiscal year 2019, and the president signed the omnibus prior to the expiration of the existing continuing resolution (CR) at midnight on February 15. Q&A: Everything You Should Know About Government Shutdowns Appropriations Watch |
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| FISA Reauthorization Needed | December 15, 2019 | TBD | Certain activities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act were reauthorized for another four years in 2015 after a one-day lapse in the law. | |||
| Paid Family Leave Credit Expires | December 31, 2019 | $1 billion for 1 year; $25 billion if extended permanently | The 2017 tax bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), created a paid leave credit that expires at the end of 2019. |
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| ACA Taxes Reinstated | December 31, 2019 | $15 billion for 1 year; $190 billion if extended permanently |
Includes the delays of the medical device tax and health insurance tax from the January 2018 CR. Three-Week Funding Deal Includes $30 Billion in Tax Cuts |
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| Alcohol Taxes | December 31, 2019 | $1 billion for 1 year; $15 billion through 2029 | Provisions from TCJA modifying the rates of taxation of beer, wine, and distilled spirits and certain other rules expire at the end of 2019. |
Longer-Term Deadlines
- End of FY 2020: Surface transportation law expiration
- 2022: Highway Trust Fund exhaustion
- 2022: Various tax provisions expire: amortization of research & experimentation costs, interest deduction rules, Cadillac tax delay
- 2023: Full expensing tax phase-out begins; continues until 2027
- 2025: Multiemployer Pension Insurance Fund exhaustion
- 2026: TCJA individual income tax provisions expire
- 2026: Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A) Trust Fund exhaustion
- 2034: Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund exhaustion (combined OASI and SSDI exhaustion date is 2035)
- 2052: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Trust Fund exhaustion
These trust fund exhaustion dates are estimates provided by the Social Security Trustees. The Congressional Budget Office projected different dates of 2028 for Disability Insurance and 2032 for Old-Age and Survivors Insurance in its recent long-term budget outlook.
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