Reserve Funds in the Congressional Budget Process: Frequently Asked Questions

Reserve funds authorize the chair of the Budget Committee to revise the budgetary levels agreed to in the budget resolution in order to accommodate certain policies or legislation. A reserve fund provision may therefore change the initial levels provided in the resolution, allowing certain policies to be considered on the House or Senate floor without triggering a point of order for violating levels in the budget resolution. The authority granted by a reserve fund may be exercised only under the circumstances specified in the reserve fund and within any specified budgetary limits. While a reserve fund may demonstrate congressional support for subsequent legislative action on a specific policy, reserve funds themselves do not provide funding for that policy.