A bill to require agencies submit zero-based budgets.

S 201 requires most federal agencies to submit zero-based budgets every six years. This means agencies must re-examine all programs, operations, and costs to identify the most essential activities and consider alternatives, ranking programs by importance. Agencies (excluding the Department of Defense and National Nuclear Security Administration) must also recommend at least a 2% cut to discretionary spending in their budget proposals. The bill mandates these submissions to the Office of Management and Budget and congressional budget committees for the next fiscal year and the following four years. This directly affects how federal agencies plan and justify their funding requests.