The conservation and reinvestment act: introduced legislation with lasting effects for coastal zone management

One of the most important changes in Congressional politics in the last thirty years has been those directly related to struggles over the control of the Federal budget. While the most famous budget battles have been between the Administration and Congress or the struggles within Congress between the parties there has been a long history of struggles among the committees in Congress over the power of the purse. This paper briefly reviews the major changes in budget laws and processes since 1974, when the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act was passed and reflects how these changes impacted the ability to control Federal funding among the committees in Congress and then examines how the House Resources and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committees sought to ensure that certain priority coastal management activities received significantly higher funding in the 106^th Congress and to a lessor extent in the 107^th Congress. The most astonishing fact is that the Congressional process of passing the Conservation and Reinvestment Act resulted in significantly higher funding for coastal management activities even though the Bill was never enacted.