Congressman Blake Moore has reintroduced the Increasing Baseline Updates Act, a bill aimed at improving congressional access to economic data. The legislation would require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to produce at least two baseline updates each year, with one update including economic data. This measure is intended to provide Congress with current budget and economic figures for use in appropriations and other legislative decisions.
The bill was first introduced during the 118th Congress and received unanimous approval from both the House Budget Committee and the House of Representatives in December 2024.
“Americans have made it abundantly clear that they welcome the Trump Administration’s efforts to rein in wasteful federal spending and lower our crippling national debt,” Congressman Moore said. “The Increasing Baseline Updates Act will help this critical initiative by enhancing Congress’s ability to make informed decisions during the budgeting process with more consistently updated data from the Congressional Budget Office.”
House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington also commented on the bill: “We can’t get our fiscal house in order or be good stewards of the taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars if we’re flying blind. Rep. Blake Moore’s smart, commonsense reform ensures Congress has timely, accurate budget and economic data so we can make better decisions and better confront our out-of-control debt. This is a practical fix that strengthens the budget process and serves the American people well.”
According to current law, specifically under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, CBO must publish its baseline before February 15 each year. The baseline projects federal spending and revenues for current and future years based on existing law. However, there is no statutory requirement for CBO to issue multiple updates throughout the year, even though such updates are important for ongoing policymaking. In recent years, lawmakers have often relied on outdated information; for example, after July 2020 there were no further baseline updates published that year, and three baselines were last published in a single year in 2019.
Blake Moore represents Utah’s 1st district in Congress after replacing Rob Bishop in 2021. He was born in Ogden, Utah in 1980, currently lives in Salt Lake City, graduated from University of Utah with a BA in 2005, and has served as representative since 2021.
The full text of the bill is available online through official congressional resources.
