Summary of H.R. 6470 — Increasing Baseline Updates Act

Overview

H.R. 6470, the Increasing Baseline Updates Act, was introduced in the House on December 4, 2025. The bill would amend key provisions of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and related budget documents to increase the frequency and detail of baseline updates and technical budget data submitted to Congress. The sponsors include Rep. Blake Moore (primary) and several cosponsors.

What the bill would change

1) Baseline updates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

• Amends 2 U.S.C. 602(e) to require, unless directed otherwise by the chairs of the House and Senate Budget Committees, the CBO Director to provide:
  • At least two updates to the baseline report in a given year.
  • At least one of these updates must include the economic data used by the Director to calculate the update.
• The bill clarifies that this requirement does not prevent the Director from providing additional baseline updates during the year.

2) Annual technical budget data submission by the President

• Amends 31 U.S.C. 1106 to add a new subsection requiring, to the extent practicable, the President to submit technical budget data by February 1 of each calendar year.
• The submission would include:
  • Up-to-date estimates for the current fiscal year and prior year data.
  • Credit reestimates for the current year, as included in the Federal credit supplement of the budget.

Who is affected

• Congress (Budget Committees): Chairs have a potential directing role under the baseline update provision; increased flow of updated economic data for budget decisions.
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Expanded mandate to generate and provide more frequent baseline updates, including economic data sources used for those updates.
• The President and the Executive Branch: Required to provide more timely technical budget data annually, including current-year estimates, prior-year data, and credit reestimates.
• Budget and Fiscal Policymaking Process: Overall transparency and timeliness of baseline and technical budget information.

Procedural and timeline aspects

• Status: Introduced in the House and referred to the Committee on the Budget (as of the introduced date).
• Introdate: December 4, 2025.
• Timing demands:
  • CBO baseline updates: at least two per year (one with economic data used for the update).
  • President’s technical budget submission: targeted by February 1 each year, with current and prior year data, plus credit reestimates.

Potential impact and considerations

• Could improve transparency and timeliness of baseline projections and budget data.
• Increases the administrative workload for CBO and the President’s budget office.
• May affect how Congress uses baseline figures in policy analysis and scoring.
• The bill relies on direction by Budget Committee chairs to limit updates; without direction, the baseline update cadence remains at least two per year.

Note: This is a summary of a bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments or final enactment status.