Getting the Federal Budget Process Back on Track

Publication Date: September 2002

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Ronald D. Utt

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Budget

Type: Report

Abstract:

Alhough the congressional budget process is notorious for missed deadlines, this fiscal year’s effort to craft a budget for the federal government has set records for delay. At a time when both Congress and the President should be well along in developing a budget for FY 1997, they have yet to agree on spending for FY 1996. Nearly halfway through the current fiscal year, in other words, Congress and the White House must try to complete two budgets in a time frame that has proved inadequate for one.