Budget Legislation Legislative Budget Budgeting

Budget Legislation Legislative Budget Budgeting is one of the most significant processes for the proper functioning of: any local, state or federal government. It involves a number of phases starting from: planning to implementation. In this paper, we are studying the budgetary process for of the State of Texas. This is part of an effort to understand the various phases involved and factors that sometimes affect legislative action, which can result in unintended outcomes in the proposed budget.

The planning of an annual budget presented in Texas involves several different branches including: various executive groups / agencies, the Governor's office, the State Legislature and the Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPAs) Office just to name a few. The main phases involved in the budgeting process in state include: planning, presenting a proposal to Legislature, legislative action, a review of the budget, approval of Comptroller / Governor, and finally implementation. The budgeting process starts with the Governor's Office and Legislative Budget Board (LBB).

These administrative bodies give instructions to: the different departments and agencies of the state. The purpose is for developing strategic plans in line with: the extensive mission statement, core principles and long-term goals for each program. Instructions for Legislative Appropriation Request (LAR) are: issued to agencies by the LBB to make budgetary changes. Once the final draft of the general appropriation bill is prepared, it will contain: performance measures and funds recommended by the LBB.

("The Budget Process: Four Phases," 2010) The legislative action phase involves presenting the final draft of the appropriations bill and biennial revenue estimate (BRE) in both houses of the Legislature. Testimonies from different state agencies are heard by two committees to include: the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations. These committees make appropriate changes in: the budget and then present them on the floor of each chamber for approval. After this takes place, the bill is referred to conference committee, which comprises of members from both houses.

Their objectives are to try to resolve the differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill. Once the changes have been made, the bill is sent back to both Houses for final voting. ("The Budget Process: Four Phases," 2010) Like what was stated previously, during the budgetary process, the legislative actions that are taken can result in unexpected outcomes. Sometimes state politics plays a major role and it shapes the outcomes of the legislative action in completely different ways. For example, the Texas Enterprise Fund was created in 2003.

The main reason for its implementation of the fund was to attract new companies to Texas. However, the main point of debate here was that this fund was approved, when drastic budget cuts for state programs were being implemented (due to the economic recession). Where, this fund was contending for revenues that could have been allocated to: healthcare and insurance programs for the low-income families. In this case, state politics was a major factor in the creation of this fund.

("Texas Politics - Political Economy," 2010) Another element that is sometimes associated with legislative action is "Pork" spending amendments. Simply put, this kind of spending is when various politicians will allocate funds, out of the budget for special projects in their district. The problem is that these various projects are often considered to be waste of money (by using the funds to benefit a select amount of individuals). A good example of cases like this include: the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska. This costs billions of.