Budget Analyst - Federal Agency Money Matters

Opinion for March 22: Status of the Budget - Has anything changed?

• It is time to look at what is going on for appropriations for FY 2001, see if anything has changed from the past, and point out some tools you can use to keep score.  I have concluded that nothing basic has changed, and that the process will again play itself out along the lines of the last few years.   Brinkmanship will prevail, the majority in Congress will attempt to cut domestic programs, the President will have the upper hand, and the only real hope for shortening the time it will take for action is that the elections are coming up.

• There is no reason to expect anything else given the actions so far.  The overall budget numbers approved by the House imply cuts in domestic programs.   But such cuts are not acceptable to the President.  I will not restate what was stated last year about this same issue; a repeat of the basic events can be foreseen.   If you want to read the statements from last year, they are:

  • June 1999 - Furloughs?  Shutdowns?

  • July 27, 1999 - And the tricks keep on coming...

  • August 1, 1999 - Shutdowns, here we come again!  Everyone has the right answer

  • September 28, 1999 - One down, three close (maybe), and the rest?  Will Congress cave?  Who wins with shutdown?

   

• If you want to do your own score keeping, the places to go for the necessary information are:

   

  • The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities does analysis of the effects of various budget and appropriations actions.  The Center throws light onto the effects of budget actions on domestic programs, unraveling the obfuscation into which the official actions are wrapped.  Highly recommended if you are interested in the effects of Congressional actions on the budget and appropriations.

   

  • The House and Senate Majority Budget Committee sites.  (There are no minority sites; at least the Senate is honest about what they do.)   These committees set the overall amounts for the budget, as well as what will be provided for defense and domestic programs.  These sites also provide insights into the political spin imposed by the majority party.

   

  • The House and Senate Appropriations Committee sites.

• The process will play itself out, and some sort of appropriations will be passed.   Watching it will provide opportunities for fun, as well as for becoming appalled at how our government works.  Meanwhile we will have plenty of work related to performance management and to study the agency performance reports required by GPRA.

Copyright 1998-2010 Laszlo Bockh and Mary Blakeslee