Upcoming Congressional Fiscal Policy Deadlines
Feb 26, 2021 | Budget Process
Updated 2/26/2021: In late December, lawmakers enacted a combined omnibus appropriations bill and COVID-19 relief package. In addition to funding the government, the package included tax and health extenders, program extensions such as TANF, and more than $900 billion in support for individuals, businesses, and institutions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The package set up many of the deadlines described below.
The next few years will include several predictable fiscal policy deadlines that will force congressional action. Many provisions providing COVID relief are expiring either in March or at the end of the year. Many of the regular non-COVID 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 may be compelled to act on each of these dates or enact short-term extensions to move the deadlines to buy time for action.
| Issue | Deadline | More Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presidential FY 2022 Budget Submission | February 1, 2021 (non-binding) |
Under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the President is supposed to submit his budget to Congress for the following fiscal year on the first Monday in February each year. During a presidential transition year, this deadline is routinely delayed. | ||
| Committee FY 2021 Reconciliation Instructions Due | February 16, 2021 (non-binding) |
The FY 2021 budget resolution that was adopted on February 5 requires committees to whom reconciliation instructions were assigned to submit legislative recommendations to the House and Senate Budget committees no later than mid-February. | ||
| Increased Unemployment Compensation Benefits | March 14, 2021 | The CARES Act provided an additional $600 per week to recipients of unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. The December COVID relief and omnibus package extended benefits at a level of $300 per week. | ||
| Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program | March 14, 2021 & April 5, 2021 | The CARES Act created temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programs that provide an additional 13 weeks of benefits and expands who is eligible, among other changes. The December COVID relief and omnibus package provides for PUA and PEUC to accept new applicants through March 14, and existing beneficiaries getting benefits through Apr. 5. (Note that some UI recipients may exhaust all UI benefits before the deadline.) Other unemployment policies also expire on March 14. | ||
| Eviction Moratorium | March 31, 2021 | Centers for Disease Control-imposed moratorium on all evictions from residential properties was extended in the December COVID relief and omnibus package and then recommended for extension through March by President Biden. The moratorium does not change rules about payment of rent or charging of late fees. | ||
| Paycheck Protection Program | March 31, 2021 | The CARES Act allows the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make loans to businesses with less than 500 employees, capped at $10 million. The loan will be fully forgiven if funds are spent on payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities1. PPP was reauthorized for a second round of funding under the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act and a third round of funding under the December COVID relief and omnibus package. The program’s authorization ends in March, but funds could run out sooner. | ||
| Paid Sick Leave; Paid Family & Medical Leave | March 31, 2021 | The Families First Act required small employers and governments to offer two weeks of paid sick leave and an additional 10 weeks of paid family and medical leave for employees who are unable to work due to COVID. Private sector employers were reimbursed via payroll tax credits. The December COVID relief and omnibus package extended the tax credits (but the requirement) through March. | ||
| Delay of 2% Medicare Sequester | March 31, 2021 | The December COVID relief and omnibus package delayed the 2 percent Medicare sequester cuts that were supposed to resume January 1, 2021, for three additional months. | ||
| Adopt FY 2022 Budget Resolution | April 15, 2021 (non-binding) |
Under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, Congress is supposed to complete action on a budget resolution for the following fiscal year by mid-April. Lawmakers regularly miss this deadline. | ||
| Increased SNAP Benefits | June 30, 2021 | The December COVID relief and omnibus package increased the monthly SNAP benefit level by 15% through June. Statutory waivers for certain SNAP quality control requirements would also expire. | ||
| Employee Retention Credit | June 30, 2021 | Affected employers can receive a refundable payroll tax credit of 50 percent for up to $10,000 of wages per employee. The December COVID relief and omnibus package extended the credit through June and modified it by allowing businesses with PPP loans to qualify. | ||
| Foreclosure Moratorium | June 30, 2021 | In January, Biden asked certain federal departments to consider extending foreclosure moratoriums for federally-guaranteed mortgages and continuing applications for forbearance at least through March. On February 9, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) extended foreclosure moratoriums and continuing applications for forbearance for mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through March. On February 16, the Biden administration announced a further extension through June, with an additional six months of mortgage forebearance for borrowers who were already enrolled. | ||
| Trade Promotion Authority | July 1, 2021 | A 2015 law reauthorized the trade negotiating objectives, notifications, and consultations known as Trade Promotion Authority through July 2021. | ||
| Debt Ceiling | July 31, 2021 | The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 suspended the debt limit through July 2021. After the date of expiration, the Treasury Department would begin using so-called “extraordinary measures” to keep the ceiling from being breached for additional weeks or even months. | ||
| Student Loan Executive Order | September 30, 2021 | An August executive order provided for continued student loan deferral and 0% interest rate, which was later extended from December 31 to January 31. In January, President Biden asked the Department of Education to further extend it through September. | ||
| Funding the Government / Appropriations | September 30, 2021 | An omnibus combined with the COVID relief package, which funds the government for the rest of FY 2021, was signed into law in late December. Q&A: Everything You Should Know About Government Shutdowns; Appropriations Watch | ||
| Surface Transportation Authorization Expires | September 30, 2021 | The 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act authorized roughly $280 billion over five years and extended highway and transit programs through FY 2020. These programs have since been extended through the September 2020 CR, which also provided a transfer of general revenues to the Highway Trust Fund. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in September 2020 that the Highway Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2021, but recent general revenue transfers will keep the HTF solvent until 2022. | ||
| National Flood Insurance Program Authorization Expires | September 30, 2021 | A full-year flood insurance extension was included in the September 2020 CR. More on NFIP | ||
| Authorization of TANF & Related Programs Expires | September 30, 2021 | Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Child Care Entitlement to States were extended through FY 2021 in the December COVID relief and omnibus package. | ||
| Coronavirus Relief Fund for States & Localities | December 31, 2021 |
The CARES Act created a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund for states, local governments, tribes, and territories. State and local governments must spend or lose remaining funds given to them by the end of 2021, under an extension provided in the December COVID relief and omnibus package. |
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| Payroll Tax Deferral | December 31, 2021 | An August executive order allowed employers to defer paying the employee portion of Social Security taxes for September through December, with the amount to be repaid between January and April 2021. The December COVID relief and omnibus package extends the repayment period through the end of the year. | ||
| Charitable Deductions; rollover of Health & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account funds | December 31, 2021 | The CARES Act temporarily increased the amount of charitable contributions that can be deducted to 100 percent of income (up from 60 percent) for individuals. It also created a temporary above-the-line charitable deduction of up to $300 for donations made in 2020. The December COVID relief and omnibus package extended these provisions for an additional year, and it also allows workers with health and dependent care flexible spending accounts to roll over remaining funds from 2020 into 2021 or from 2021 into 2022. | ||
| “Tax Extenders” – about 20 tax breaks that routinely expire | December 31, 2021 | Several tax extenders were either made permanent or extended for five years under the December COVID relief and omnibus package. About 20, however, will expire again next year, including some that benefit individuals, alternative energy, and other businesses. | ||
| Emergency Injury Disaster Loans Advance Grants | December 31, 2021 | The December COVID relief and omnibus package included year-long extensions of Emergency EIDL grants of up to $10,000 per business. | ||
| Medicare Radiation Oncology Rules | December 31, 2021 | A delay to the implementation of the radiation oncology model under the Medicare program would expire. The December COVID relief and omnibus package provided for a statutory six-month additional delay, in addition to the delay announced by CMS. The change is intended to give providers more time to adapt to the new payment system. |
Longer-Term Deadlines
- 2022: Highway Trust Fund exhaustion1
- End of 2022: Full expensing tax phase-out begins; ends completely in 2027. Various tax provisions expire: amortization of research & experimentation costs, interest deduction rules, business meals deduction, energy investment tax credit for solar and residential energy-efficient property.
- End of 2023: Moratorium on payment under the Medicare physician fee schedule for complex services described by Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code G2211 expires, various Medicare extenders expire.
- FY 2024: Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A) Trust Fund exhaustion
- End of 2024: Current Medicare physician Alternative Payment Model (APM) thresholds expire (based on performance year 2022).
- End of 2025: TCJA individual income tax provisions expire; TCJA paid family leave credit expires; employer-paid student loans income exclusion expires; multiple tax extenders expire such as Empowerment Zones incentives, film and live performances expensing, and the wind energy investment tax credit; health extenders including the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration program.
- FY 2026: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Trust Fund exhaustion; Multiemployer Pension Insurance Fund exhaustion
- 2026: Export-Import Bank authorization expires
- 2031: Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund exhaustion (combined OASI and SSDI exhaustion date is 2031)
These trust fund exhaustion dates are estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office in its 2020 long-term budget outlook. In April 2020, the Social Security Trustees projected different dates of 2034 for Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and 2065 for Disability Insurance; those estimates do not include the impact of COVID-19 on projected insolvency of the trust funds.
1 In September, CBO estimated that the Highway Trust Fund would exhaust its reserves in 2021. However, general revenue transfers provided in the September 2020 CR will keep the HTF solvent until 2022.
