Resources for New Members of Congress

In order to make it easy for you to find useful resources, we have created this webpage tailored to new Members of Congress and their staff.

New Member Packet

• New Member Packet - This packet provides some key resources on debt and deficits, how the issue impacts your constituents, how you can help address the debt, and how we can help your office.

Papers

• Analysis of CBO's January 2017 Budget and Economic Outlook – An examination of the Congressional Budget Office’s latest budget and economic projections.
• Analysis of the 2016 Social Security Trustees Report – Commentary on the latest report released by the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.
• CBO Long-Term Outlook – Analysis of CBO’s 2016 long-term budget and economic report.
• Running on Empty? Fiscal Space and the Next Recession – A recent paper outlining our ability to absorb and react to economic downturns through fiscal stimulus.
• A list of our recurring papers on budget topics, containing the most recent versions of the above papers.

Explainers

• What We Know About President-Elect Trump's Agenda–Commentary on the current state of President-elect Trump’s agenda and its potential impact on the debt and deficit.
• Debt Threat: The National Debt and You – How the national debt impacts individuals and families.
• Appropriations 101 – This paper explains what appropriations are, how they are implemented, and what happens when they are not completed on time.

Interactive Tools

• The Reformer: An Interactive Tool to Fix Social Security – “The Reformer” lets you choose options to modify Social Security tax and benefit levels in order to close the program’s 75-year shortfall and keep it sustainable for future generations.
• Stabilize the Debt: An Online Exercise in Hard Choices – This interactive simulation gives budget options from across the political spectrum and challenges users to develop their own plan to fix the debt. Members have found it a useful tool to provide their constituents.
• Corporate Tax Reform Calculator – This interactive simulation provides options to reform different parts of the corporate tax code .
• How Old Will You Be When Social Security's Funds Run Out? – Social Security’s trust funds are running out, and retirement benefits will be cut unless Washington acts. This tool allows you to find out how much you stand to lose.