Each year the House Budget Committee is tasked with passing a budget resolution that sets the overall spending level for the year and provides direction to the various committees tasked with overseeing federal spending.  The budget resolution is only passed by Congress; it is not signed into law by the President. For fiscal year 2014 and 2015 the House and Senate agreed on H.J.Res. 59, commonly called the Bipartisan Budget Agreement. The Budget Conference agreement set the fiscal year 2014 discretionary spending limit at $1.012 trillion and fiscal year 2015 discretionary spending limit at $1.014 trillion.

The agreement avoided another government shutdown, preserved jobs at Idaho National Laboratory, laid the groundwork for extending PILT payments, achieved greater savings for taxpayers than those contained in sequestration, and all of it without raising taxes. Read more here.