Oct. 1 is the start of federal fiscal year 2015, and like all New Year's days, today offers a chance to reflect on the past year and look to the year that lies ahead.

Fiscal year 2014 started with a government shutdown, a political battle that cost taxpayers billions and undermined public confidence in the ability of Congress to govern. What emerged from the shutdown was a two-year budget deal with lots of flaws, which nevertheless was an important step in demonstrating that Congress could work in a bipartisan way. The deal set spending limits for two years, giving Congress the opportunity to pass appropriations for fiscal year 2015 through regular order – that is, individual appropriations bills considered by committees, voted on by each chamber and signed by the president. Appropriating is important work, and I was hopeful we might see signs of cooperation and progress in this area. But alas, no such luck. Not a single appropriations bill has passed both chambers, and, instead, Congress kicked the can down the road by passing a continuing resolution that funds the government with few changes to existing policy through Dec. 11.

Outside of the budget and appropriations process, fiscal year 2014 also included a couple of other doozies. Two much-lauded pieces of legislation, the $1 trillion farm bill, passed early in this calendar year, replacing outdated programs with other wasteful subsidies that will increase the budget deficit. The Orwellian-named Water Resources Reform and Development Act fell short of reform and missed an opportunity for meaningful fiscal discipline.

There was a little bit of good news in fiscal year 2014: The country avoided a second government shutdown. And just last week, Congress declined to reprogram more than $1 billion to buy eight F-35 fighter jets. This is an unaffordable plane, still in development, and the Pentagon wanted to use funds from the Overseas Contingency Operations account. The House Appropriations Committee blocked this attempt on the grounds that there was no way to categorize purchasing those planes as an overseas contingency. While it is too soon to call that one action the start of a trend, it is great news that common sense prevailed.

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2015, we start the year holding hope against experience that Congress will take on some of the more difficult decisions it needs to make. Whatever the outcome of the election, the lame-duck Congress will still need to fund the remainder of fiscal year 2015. It is within Congress’ power to actually pass appropriations bills instead of cobbling together another continuing resolution or omnibus spending bill, and we urge it to do so. And, in turn, the year holds yet another opportunity to pass a budget and appropriations bills in regular order, on time and in advance of the start of fiscal year 2016.

We hope that, in keeping with Speaker John Boehner’s recent optimistic comments about the ability of Congress to tackle tax reform and a highway bill next year, Congress will do just that. As every political observer will tell you, there are very few points of consensus in Congress. But there is almost universal agreement that our tax code is broken, and that we need to make investments in infrastructure. Taking on these tasks in a serious way by providing clear-eyed solutions where the numbers add up without gimmicks would make fiscal year 2015 a year to remember.

So happy fiscal new year, America. This month, while members of Congress are home asking for their constituents' opinions and votes, let’s ask them to resolve this year to solve problems in a productive way.