Budgetary Process President Obama's Budget for the

Budgetary Process President Obama's budget for the country has enjoyed significant attention through the years of Mr. Obama's presidency, as has those before him. All future presidents will be under the same scrutiny when working with taxpayer money. When creating the nationwide budget, however, the role of Governors also play a significant part in the entire budgetary process. Indeed, the balance of the nationwide budget relies to a great degree upon the ability of governors to created balanced budgets for their individual territories.

It should also be kept in mind, however, that while Governors play a significant role in the budget process, a large amount of these responsibilities involve management duties and decision-making relating to the reaction of others to the initial budget proposal. The first step in the budget process is then also the first responsibility of the Governor, which is to submit a bill to the House of Representatives that outlines the proposal for the state's budget.

This can occur in January, as is the case in Massachusetts (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2011), in December, as is the case in Washington (Office of Financial Management, 2011), or may vary according to the requirements of each specific state. The House Ways and Means Committee then reviews the Governor's budget and provides a recommendation. Once passed, debated, and approved by the Senate, the bill is passed back to the Governor. The Governor then has ten days for review and approval or to make further vetoes or reductions.

At this state, the Governor has the right to approve or veto anything or everything in the budget, but is not allowed to add anything. The house and Senate may then override the Governor's vetoes, but need a two-thirds majority in each chamber to do so. In Washington, the Governor should propose a biennial budget in December (Office of Financial Management, 2011). The Legislature will then review the budget within a year of its approval and make amendments as is deemed necessary. These are known as supplemental budgets.

In his or her management capacity, the Governor acts are the recipient of budget estimates and proposals submitted by state agencies. The Governor is also obliged to remain familiar with executive policy priorities as these relate to the budget and to create a budget proposal that adheres to such priorities. After the budget is revised and enacted, the Governor's duties entail monitoring the expenditures of the agency and overseeing the achievement of legislative policy directives.

Another management duty entails the appointment of professionals to agencies such as the Caseload Forecast Council, which is responsible for applying the budget to public programs such as schools, long-term care, medical assistance, foster care, and so on. The Governor is also responsible for appointing a representative to serve on the State Expenditure Limit Committee, which, in addition to said representative, also includes a representative of the Attorney General and legislators. In addition, many of the 118 agencies, boards, and commissions that use the budget to.