CBO will release Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2017 to 2026, the latest edition in the agency’s periodic volume of budget options, on Thursday, December 8. The report will be available on CBO’s website at 2:00 p.m. The volume will contain 115 options—covering many areas, including defense, energy, Social Security, provisions of the tax code, and others—that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues over the next decade.
The budget options will also be available through an online search—a tool that CBO developed in recent years to make the options more easily accessible. Users can search for options by major budget category, budget function, topic, and date.
CBO’s budget options volume is meant to help inform federal lawmakers about the implications of possible policy choices. The options are not recommendations by CBO. They do not constitute an exhaustive list. Rather, they are intended to reflect a range of possibilities encompassing both spending and tax policies. The options come from a variety of sources, including legislative proposals, various Administrations’ budget proposals, Congressional staff, other government entities, and private groups.
The previous volume, Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2015 to 2024, was published in November 2014.
Deborah Kilroe is CBO’s Associate Director for Communications.