The document contains three charts related to amendments filed on the Senate budget resolution from 1982 to 2016. The first chart shows the number of amendments filed each year, ranging from around 100 to over 800. The second chart shows the percentage of symbolic amendments sponsored by committee members handling the issue, ranging from around 0.1 to 0.7. The third chart shows the average number of amendments per appropriations bill in the House from 2004 to 2017, ranging from around 20 to over 100, with an outlier removed.

1. Number of Amendments Filed on the Senate Budget Resolution,
FY1982-FY2016
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2014
2016
Presentation to the Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, 9/19/16. Please do not cite without permission.

2. Share of Symbolic Amendments on the Budget Resolution with Sponsors
on Committee Handling Issue, FY1982-FY2016
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2014
2016
% of Filed % of Proposed
Notes: “Symbolic amendments” are sense of the Senate amendments and amendments creating Deficit Neutral Reserve Funds.

3. Average “Amendment Demand” Per Appropriations Bill, House, FY2004-
2017
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
“Amendment demand” is calculated by dividing the total number of amendments proposed on the floor (for bills considered under open rules) plus the total number of
amendments filed with the Rules Committee (for bills considered under structured rules) by the total number of appropriations bills considered on the floor in each year.
Blue dotted line removes an outlier (553 amendments filed on the FY2010 Defense Appropriations bills by then-Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)) from the time series.