<P> Although reconciliation was originally understood to be for the purpose of either reducing deficits or increasing surpluses, the language of the 1974 act refers only to "changes" in revenue and spending amounts, not specifically to increases or decreases . Per former Parliamentarian of the Senate Robert Dove: </P> <P> (Reconciliation) was never used for that purpose . But in 1975, just a year after it had passed, a very canny Senate committee chairman, Russell Long of Louisiana, came into the Parliamentarian's Office, and he kept having trouble with his tax bills because of the Senate rules . People were offering amendments to them that he didn't like . They were debating them at length, and he didn't like that . And he saw in the Budget Act a way of getting around those pesky little problems . And he convinced the Parliamentarian at the time--I was the assistant--that the very first use of reconciliation should be to protect his tax cut bill . </P> <P> Congress has used the procedure to enact omnibus budget bills, first in 1980 . Between 1980 and 2009, 17 of 23 reconciliation bills have been signed into law by Republican presidents (a Republican was president for 20 of those 29 years). Since 1980, reconciliation has been used nine times when Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate, six times when Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate, one time when the Democrats controlled the Senate and the Republicans the House, and seven times when the Republicans controlled the Senate and the Democrats controlled the House . Reconciliation has been used at least once nominally for a non-budgetary purpose (for example, see the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, when a Republican was president and the Democrats controlled Congress). The 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) contained some health care provisions . </P> <P> The Byrd Rule (as described below) was adopted in 1985 and amended in 1990 . Its main effect has been to prohibit the use of reconciliation for provisions that would increase the deficit beyond 10 years after the reconciliation measure . The removal of such provisions has been described as a "Byrd Bath ." </P>

How many senate votes needed to pass budget