In the words of Barry Anderson, Deputy Director, National Governors Association, the U.S. Federal Budget “is arguably the most transparent in the world, but it may also be the most complex.”
On February 25-26, 2014, I participated in the Brookings Executive Education (BEE) course Inside the Budgetary Process and was introduced to the world of authorizations and appropriations, concurrent resolutions, OMB, discretionary and mandatory funding, sequestration, and the dreaded national debt. The phrase, “you don’t know, what you don’t know” never rang more true.
Inside the Budgetary Process provides a comprehensive overview of the many policy decisions made throughout the budget process. I examined how agencies can best position themselves as funding decisions are made and how nongovernmental organizations can engage in these important deliberations.
BEE made the federal budgetary process fun.
I discovered cabinet departments (Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, etc.) begin preparing their ideal +/-5% budget for FY16 in May of 2014 without knowing what their budget will be in FY15.
What a challenging task!
I learned that if we don’t act as a country to decrease the national debt, the interest we pay on the national debt will surpass the amount we allocate to discretionary spending. Furthermore, I was surprised that half of our national debt is held by foreign investors.
Source: Congressional Budget Office
Did you know that the President’s budget is an important set of guidelines, but is not the law? I learned that according to Section 9 of Article 1 in the U.S. Constitution “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” That means “the departments and agencies of the executive branch may not spend any money that Congress has not appropriated, or use federal money for any purpose that Congress has not specified” (U.S. Senate website).
If this is not a clear example of checks and balances, then what is?
I heard 10 speakers over the course of two days. If I could share all that I learned here I would, but as I stated at the start of this post, the U.S. federal budgetary process is complex.
We need to decrease our debt and increase our GDP. We need to address the entitlement system we are living under as it is not sustainable. We need an entrepreneurial mindset that is adept at the art of solving problems. The intricacies of the budget and current long-term budget plan is an issue that goes beyond the federal government and impacts citizens from all sectors. To solve the major federal fiscal issues, we will need policy innovation and we will need it from everyone.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides a clear and useful resource for those who want to understand more about the federal budget process: “Introduction to the Federal Budget Process.”
Image credit: President Barack Obama signs copies of the FY 2015 Budget as Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Director, Office of Management and Budget, and OMB staff look on in the Oval Office, March 4, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
