Mini-Course

Around the World of the Federal Budget in 90 minutes

November 7, 2007
12:00-1:30 p.m.
1155 E. 60th Street, Room 140C

View the PowerPoint Slides (PDF).

Stephen M. Goldberg
Special Assistant to the Director, Argonne National Laboratory

Steve Goldberg is Special Assistant to the Director at Argonne National Laboratory. One of his key assignments is facilitating critical contacts on sensitive laboratory issues with senior industry and Government officials.

Previously, Steve worked at the Office of Management and Budget as a career official, serving as OMB’s representative on nuclear security issues to the President’s National Security Council and reporting to Associate Director for Natural Resource Programs and to the Associate Director for National Security Programs. At OMB, he received the Executive Office of the President’s highest award for efforts to complete several major international nuclear nonproliferation agreements, including the multibillion dollar U.S. purchase of highly enriched uranium extracted from nuclear weapons of the former Soviet Union.

Course Overview

The lecture will provide up-to-date information on the Federal budget process and present three informative case studies regarding the intersection of budget decisions with important National policy decisions. In conclusion, the lecture will provide a preview of topics that may be interest for future study.

Budget Cycle, Roles and Responsibilities
The budget process is a complex set of activities that includes formulation of the President’s budget, interaction with the Congress, and budget execution. The lecture will identify a number of both the formal and informal processes. In a nutshell, this process is definitive – the Federal Government decides how much to spend, what to spend it on, and how to raise the money it has decided to spend. The lecture will clarify the roles and responsibilities of the:

Executive Branch

The Departments and Agencies
The Office of Management and Budget
The Department of Treasury, Financial Management Services

Legislative Branch

The Authorization Committees
The Appropriation Committees
Budget Committees
The Two Houses
The Congressional Budget Office
The General Accounting Office

Nuts and Bolts of Budgeting
The budget provides actual and estimated data for

• The amount by account that each agency may obligate
• The amount of receipts each agency collects from various sources
• Budget authority, outlays, and receipts by major budgetary function
• Total budget authority, outlays, and receipts – the resulting overall surplus or deficit

The lecture will highlight the centrality of the so-called “unified budget” as well as present a series of budget concepts, actions, as well as policy implications that occupy the day-to-day activities of both the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch including: earmarks, scorekeeping, the formulation of baseline vs. policy budgets, off-budget or emergency spending, the role of Statements of Administration policy letters, including veto threats, as well as briefly discussing budgetary rescissions and amendments, continuing resolutions, and omnibus legislation.

Case Studies
The lecture will conclude with three case studies where “a seat of the table” becomes a critical piece to the budget/policy nexus. These case studies will present the players, the issues, the policy drivers, and the implications to the global, National, State, and local communities. These case studies will be:

• The Highly Enriched Uranium Agreement -- Signed in February 18, 1993, the HEU Purchase Agreement between the U.S. and the Russian Federation (R.F.) commits the United States to purchase 500 metric tons of HEU (90% 235U) extracted from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons over 20 years.
• Agreed Framework between the United States of America and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- Delegations of the governments of the United States of America (U.S.) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held talks in Geneva from September 23 to October 21, 1994, to negotiate an overall resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
• The Decision - The Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) Cancellation -- The SSC was to be a ring particle accelerator which was planned as a multi-billion dollar facility at Waxahachie Texas. It was to advance the state of knowledge in high-energy physics.

Readings:

• "The Executive Budget Process Timetable," Bill Heniff Jr., Analyst in American National Government, Government and Finance Division, July 28, 2003
• "Overview of the Executive Budget Process," Bill Heniff Jr., Analyst in American National Government, Government and Finance Division, July 28, 2003
• "The President's 2008 Budget"
• "Overview of the Budget Process," Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, July 2007
• "Functional Categories of the Federal Budget," Bill Heniff Jr., Analyst in American National Government, Government and Finance Division, June 13, 2003
• "Debt-Limit Legislation in the Congressional Budget Process," Bill Heniff Jr., Analyst in American National Government, Government and Finance Division, February 22, 2005
• "FY2005 Budget: Chronology and Web Guide," Justin Murray, Information Research Specialist, Information Research Division, October 21, 2004
• "America's Fiscal Future," David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, October 4, 2007