Charles J. Whalen, senior economist with the Institute of Industry Studies at Cornell, is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on April 23 in Washington, D.C., in support of establishing a two-year budget and appropriations cycle for the U.S. government.

Whalen has written extensively on U.S. economic trends and public policy, with special attention to federal budget issues. He testified before the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995 on the proposed balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He is the author of "Political Economy for the 21st Century "(M.E. Sharpe, 1996).

In his article "Biennial Budgeting for the Federal Government: Lessons from the States" that was published in the Policy Studies Review (Vol. 14. Nos. 3, 4), Whalen makes the following points:

• State-level experience with biennial budgeting indicates there can be significant benefits if this practice is adopted at the federal level. He suggests that a two-year federal budget and appropriations cycle can streamline the budget process, leading to considerable savings of time and money; make policies more effective by providing more time for legislative oversight and consideration of long-term consequences; promote economic stability by providing states and localities, corporations and citizens with greater certainty regarding federal fiscal actions. Whalen notes that at least 20 states have biennial budgets.
• Biennial budgeting can contribute to the goal of further deficit reduction. "Two-year budgets can contribute to the goal of deficit reduction not only by providing legislators with an opportunity to give closer scrutiny to particular outlays and program effectiveness but also by enabling Congress to impose changes gradually and without an annual revisiting of spending decisions. Moreover, state experience does not indicate that agencies pad their budgets under a biennial system," he said.