The joint committees include members from both the Congress and the Parliament or any other legislative body. These committees focus on a specific issue such as the economy or taxes. They enhance communication between the two bodies. Typically, the leadership of the committee also rotates between the two bodies.
Joint Economic Committee
The Joint Economic Committee consults with Congress on economic issues. The committee’s primary duties involve reviewing economic conditions and recommending improvements in economic policy. It does this by holding hearings and commissioning studies that provide members of Congress with information on economic trends and specific economic events. This gives our elected officials the knowledge needed to vote on the thousands of bills they review each year.
The committee requires the Chair of the Federal Reserve to present a report on the state of the American economy and explain current monetary policy. The Chair must answer questions from committee members, justify actions, and disclose expectations for economic outlooks.
The Employment Act of 1946 established the Joint Economic Committee to provide economic expertise to Congress. The President’s Council of Economic Advisers was created to do the same for the president.
The Joint Economic Committee reviews the President’s economic report. It then creates an annual report addressing the points in the President’s report. This provides an alternate view of the economic outlook that Congress uses in the budgeting process.
The Joint Economic Committee consists of 20 members evenly divided between the Senate and House of Representatives. The majority party holds eleven members, while the minority party has nine members. Importantly, the chairmanship of the committee rotates between the Senate and House in each Congress session, typically alternating between the Republican and Democratic parties. This is because it is rare for one party to lead both chambers of Congress.
As a result, the Joint Economic Committee is often politically driven. Its reports attack the President’s policies when the opposition party chairs the committee and support them when the same party chairs it. However, its reports and statements still provide important knowledge if we set aside politics. Similarly, the reports from the Senate side and the House side differ in subject and approach.
The committee impacts the economy by highlighting issues that concern many representatives. Its reports and the hearings it conducts influence the decisions representatives make regarding bills and budgets. Since the committee serves your representatives, it may be more focused on local economic issues. For instance, it might emphasize trade protection and offshoring to safeguard local industries.
In addition to how the Joint Economic Committee affects the economy, it can impact you by providing information on various economic issues. Since the leadership of the Joint Economic Committee changes every year, your best option is to search for “Joint Economic Committee” in a search engine to find the current leader’s active site for that year.
Joint Tax Committee
The Joint Tax Committee helps Congress prepare and review tax legislation. The committee prepares official revenue estimates for all tax legislation considered by Congress. It establishes a legislative history for tax-related bills and examines aspects of the federal tax system.
In 2017, the committee reviewed President Trump’s tax plan. It stated that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. The committee estimated that the tax cuts would boost growth by 0.7 percent annually. This growth would mitigate some of the revenue losses from the $1.5 trillion in tax cuts.
According to the Joint Tax Committee’s website: “The staff of the Joint Committee interacts confidentially with Members of Congress, tax committee members and their staff, and enjoys a high level of trust from both sides of the political spectrum and in both chambers of Congress. Because the Joint Committee staff is independent, specialized in tax issues, and involved in all stages of the tax legislative process, they can ensure consistency and sequencing in the movement of tax bills through committees to the general session of each chamber, and to conference committee of the House and Senate.”
The creation of the Joint Tax Committee was designed to…
Congress Joint Committee on Taxation in the Revenue Act of 1926. Its staff comprises economists with doctorate degrees, lawyers, and accountants. The committee is chaired alternately by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. During the first session of each Congress, the House has the chairmanship and the Senate has the vice-chair. They alternate roles in the second session.
Joint Library Committee
The Joint Library Committee oversees the Library of Congress, the National Memorial Hall, the United States Botanic Garden, and the fine arts in the Capitol. It holds hearings on policy issues and includes members from the House management committee, the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and the Chairman and four other members of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. It was established on January 26, 1802 (2 Stat. 129), making it the oldest continuing joint committee in Congress.
Joint Printing Committee
The Joint Printing Committee supervises the work of the U.S. Government Printing Office. The Government Printing Office is the official publisher for federal government agencies. It aims to reduce printing costs for the government. Its members consist of five representatives and five senators, forming the team.
It was created under the Act of August 3, 1846 (9 Stat. 114; 44 U.S.C. 101).
Source: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/joint-economic-committee-3305990
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