Case Study On Public Budgeting

Public budgeting systems are systems for making choices of ends and means. The purpose of budgeting is to allocate scarce resources among competing public demands so as to attain societal goals and objectives (Lee, 49). Depending upon conditions at a given time in history, budgets have tended to emphasize financial control, managerial improvements, or planning. The government should adopt a biennial budget. Proponents of biennial budgeting believe that the federal government would benefit from a biennial budget process because it would allow Congress more time to pursue true oversight and investigations without having to constantly be involved in the budget process (Lee, 59). Any time savings in the biennial budget would depend on a willingness of the Congress to make few changes in the off year, and the ability of the Congress and the President to reach agreement on how to design and enforce the off-year process (Lee, 288). Regardless of what procedure is used, Congress will always have to make the tough decisions and maintain a true commitment to fiscal responsibility to make the appropriations process more efficient.

The budget is not just about dollars and cents. It's about quality of life and life in the community. Budget decisions have a direct impact on an average citizen. There should be a constitutional, revenue and/or spending limit. The federal government has made several attempts to balance the budget, although all have been, Statutory limits (Peters, 139). While statutory attempts to control spending by the federal government have, thus far, been failures, the states provide evidence that constitutional rules have fewer loopholes and are more binding (Lee, 91). Constitutional limits are more effective because they are more permanent and more difficult to change. The federal government needs a constitutional balanced budget amendment. Restrictions on power to tax and limitation on spending will control some of the government's power over our lives.

The budget is a preeminent document in public policy. The budget is a plan for putting policy into action and a statement of revenues and expenses (Lee, 103). Revenues of the federal government derive from a number of sources. Individual and corporate income taxes account for about half of the receipts of the federal government (Lee, 43). Additional amounts accrue to the government from various excise taxes, customs fees, gifts, and miscellaneous receipts. Expenditures are concentrated in defense, international relations, and social insurance for federal government (Lee, 47). There are two types of federal spending. Policies involving discretionary spending are implemented in the context of annual appropriations acts, whereas policies affecting direct or mandatory spending (which, for the most part, involves entitlement programs) are carried out in substantive legislation (Lee, 42). The federal budget is a plan for government spending and revenues for a specified period, usually a year. An annually balanced budget which increases spending during expansions and decreases spending during recessions would be ideal. Thus, the revenue and expenses in the budget should be balanced, which is rarely the case.

A consensus can always be formed in support of reforms that increase efficiency and productivity. According to Lee, the "reinventing government" movement and the National Performance Review (NPR) of the Clinton Administration were just two examples of this trend (14). For example, one of the recommendations in the NPR was the adoption of a biennial budget as a means of eliminating "an enormous amount of busy work" (Lee, 59). According to Peters, one of the ways in which government has attempted to keep regulatory activity in check is through regulatory analysis (85).

Public sector performance has often been measured in terms of what the government has done. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) define and drive the internal processes of federal government agencies (Peters, 129). Public sector programs are instruments for achieving social goals; they are means to an end. According to Lee, "although not susceptible to bottom-line or profit-and-loss measurement, many government programs are able to measure their results in terms of output (efficiency) and outcome (effectiveness). The GPRA specifies a bottom-up implementation process to emphasis on performance measurement and evaluation within the context of budgetary allocation of resources and reinforces