As the FY 2010 budget cycle gets underway, casual readers and even some familiar with the budget process may find themselves looking for more detailed information on the budget process to better understand what's going on in Congress with respect to budgetmaking. Fortunately, for novices and budget aficionados alike, the House Rules Committee has posted myriad CRS reports on not only the budget process, but on the legislative process in general.

But here are the CRS reports related to the budget process:

• Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill: Fact Sheet on Structure, Content, and Process (.pdf)
• The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction (.pdf)
• Overview of the Authorization-Appropriation Process (.pdf)
• Overview of the Congressional Budget Process (.pdf)
• Basic Federal Budgeting Terminology (.pdf)
• The Federal Fiscal Year
• Functional Categories of the Federal Budget (.pdf)
• The Spending Pipeline: Stages of Federal Spending
• Allocations and Subdivisions in the Congressional Budget Process (.pdf)
• The Executive Budget Process Timetable (.pdf)
• Congressional Budget Resolutions: Formulation, Content, and Historical Information
• Appropriations Bills: What Is Report Language?
• Appropriations Bills: What Are "General Provisions"?
• Earmarks and Limitations in Appropriations Bills
• Government Performance and Results Act and the Appropriations Process
• Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process
• The Budget Enforcement Act: Its Operation Under a Budget Surplus
• Budget Resolution Enforcement (.pdf)
• Discretionary Spending Limits (.pdf)
• Pay-As-You-Go Rules in the Federal Budget Process (.pdf)
• The Sequestration Process (.pdf)
• Timetable for Sequestration Actions (.pdf)
• Budget Reconciliation Legislation: Development and Consideration (.pdf)
• Congressional Budget Act Points of Order (.pdf)
• The Congressional Budget Process Timetable
• Consideration of the Budget Resolution (.pdf)
• Formulation and Content of the Budget Resolution (.pdf)
• The Senate's Byrd Rule Against Extraneous Matter in Reconciliation Measures
• The President's Budget: Requirement for a Mid-Session Review
• Debt-Limit Legislation in the Congressional Budget Process
• Revenue Legislation in the Congressional Budget Process
• Tax-Cut Legislation: Applicable Budget Enforcement Procedures
• Points of Order in the Congressional Budget Process (.pdf)
• The Role of the President in Budget Development (.pdf)
• S.Res. 160: Rule XVI and Reversing the Hutchison and FedEx Precedents
• Continuing Appropriations Acts: Brief Overview of Recent Practices (.pdf)
• Shutdown of the Federal Government: Causes, Effects, and Process
• Preventing Federal Government Shutdowns: Proposals for an Automatic Continuing Resolution (.pdf)
• Emergency Spending: Statutory and Congressional Rules (.pdf)
• Origination Clause of the U.S. Constitution: Interpretation & Enforcement (.pdf)
• Congressional Budget Resolutions: Motions to Instruct Conferees (.pdf)