The Bipartisan Working Group, headed by Rep. John Carney (D-Del.) and Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) heard presentations last week from Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby and Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Bixby and MacGuineas were invited by the working group to share their thoughts on the Fiscal 2017 budget and the country’s long-term fiscal challenges.
Both speakers emphasized the unsustainability of current fiscal policy and identified the projected growth of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as the main cost-drivers of future spending budgets.
MacGuineas suggested that progress could be made in the 2017 budget by assembling a package of health care savings drawn from proposals in the President’s budget that Republicans could agree with. Bixby suggested that even if such a bipartisan package were not enacted this year, it could help set the stage for productive negotiations over the next president’s first budget, regardless of who wins in November.
The Bipartisan Working Group has 26 members, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. The group meets regularly in an effort to foster bipartisan progress on a range of issues.
External links:
Reality Check From the Congressional Budget Office (Concord)
How House Republicans Could Attract Bipartisan Support on Entitlement Savings (CRFB)
