1800.2 REV-2

1\. PURPOSE. This Handbook sets forth the responsibilities of

officials and personnel of the Department of Housing and Urban

Development for protecting the confidential nature of all budget

estimates and supporting data submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget and to the Congress, Congressional

Committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the General

Accounting Office.

2\. SCOPE. This Handbook is applicable to those budget documents

transmitted annually by the Department to the Office of

Management and Budget, and subsequently by the President to

Congress, and to the communications concerning the formulation

of the budget and related documents, as well as to budget

amendments, supplemental estimates, and other proposals for the

granting of new obligational authority that are transmitted

after the transmission of the original budget.

3\. BACKGROUND

a\. The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, as amended, and the

Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974,

as amended, provide the President with responsibility for

presenting an Executive Budget to Congress. The laws

require that the budget represents the judgment of the

President with respect to financial requirements for all

parts of the Government except the Legislative and Judicial

Branches. With the advice and assistance of the Office of

Management and Budget, the President reviews, revises and

approves the estimates of all departments and agencies and

consolidates them into a complete government-wide budget for

the following fiscal year. He/she assumes official

responsibility for the integrity and validity of the

estimates contained in the Executive Budget. No official of

an executive department or agency may take any action or

volunteer any opinion that is contrary to official budget

policies as expressed by the President, except through the

proper official channels.

b\. Nothing in this Handbook prohibits the disclosure of records

that are specifically required to be disclosed by statute.

For example, this Handbook does not prohibit the release of

records otherwise required to be released under the Freedom

of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552). At the same time,

this Handbook does not require the disclosure of information

permitted by law to be withheld. For example, it is not

intended to require the release of information that the

Department is authorized to withhold under the FOIA.

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1800.2 REV-2

4\. PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS.

a\. Assuring the Confidentiality of Budget Data. From the time

the preparation of estimates is begun until the Presidents

recommendations have been officially released, all data

(except actual data applicable to past fiscal years)

pertaining directly to the budget are for official use only.

Such information may be disclosed only to officials or

personnel having need of the data for the performance of

their duties. All budget estimates and supporting materials

submitted to the Office of Management and Budget are

privileged communications. Their confidential character

must be protected and unauthorized disclosure is prohibited

since these data and worksheets constitute a link in the

executive process by which the President resolves budget

problems and arrives at decisions and policies with respect

to his/her recommendations to the Congress. The Secretary

is responsible for preventing the premature disclosure of

information contained in such estimates and material

including the decisions of the President.

b\. Limitations on Information on Appropriations and Budgetary

Matters. Budget data may be provided to the Budget and

Appropriations Committees, and the Congressional Budget

Office (CBO) only on request in formal appropriation

hearings or when requested by Members of the Congress in

connection with their consideration of the budget after its

transmittal. The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 provides

that:

\"\...an officer or employee of an agency\... may submit to

Congress or a committee of Congress an appropriations

estimate or request, \...or a recommendation on meeting the

financial needs of the Government only when requested by

either House of Congress.\" (31 U.S.C. 1108(e))

c\. Information Available to the Public. Disclosure of

budgetary records, if otherwise appropriate, is permissible

upon a request for such records pursuant to the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) following the end of the fiscal year

to which such information pertains. Although it is not

possible to determine merely by generic category of records

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1800.2 REV-2

whether the Department would be authorized to withhold

records requested under the FOIA in every instance, most

budgetary documents of the Department would be exempt from

the mandatory release requirement of the FOIA until after

the fiscal year to which such records pertain or until made

public. Depending upon the nature of the records, the

propriety of releasing records after the end of the fiscal

year to which the records pertain shall be determined. The

Assistant Secretary for Administration, in consultation with

the General Counsel, is responsible for determining the

propriety of releases of records under the FOIA pertaining

to budgetary matters.

d\. Prohibition in Lobbying Activities. The law provides a

further restriction on individual lobbying activities as

follows including penalties for violation or attempted

violation.

\"No part of the money appropriated by an enactment of

Congress shall, in the absence of express authorization by

Congress, be used directly or indirectly to pay for any

personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone,

letter, printed or written matter, or other device,

intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member

of Congress, to favor or oppose, by vote or otherwise, any

legislation or appropriation by Congress, whether before

or after the introduction of any bill or resolution

proposing such legislation or appropriation; but this

shall not prevent officers or employees of the United

States or of its departments or agencies from

communicating to Members of Congress on the request of any

Member or to Congress, through the proper official

channels, requests for legislation or appropriations which

they deem necessary for the efficient conduct of the

public business.\" (18 U.S.C. 1913)

e\. Prohibition Against Premature Release of Data Prepared for

Congress. Budget material prepared specifically for the

Congressional Committees may not be given to individuals or

groups outside the Department prematurely. In accordance

with precedent and informal direction of the House

Appropriations Committee, such data are considered to be

privileged communications until the Committee releases the

Hearing Record at the time it reports its bill to the

House.

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1800.2 REV-2

5\. DISCLOSURES OF BUDGET INFORMATION TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

a\. Policy. Departmental employees may need to provide and/or

disclose certain data and other information to state and

local (non-Federal) officials in their discussion at

meetings with them on matters concerning the development of

Departmental programs related to state and local needs. It

is the Departments policy that all discussions with non-Federal

officials should be straightforward and in a climate

of openness and joint participation. This must be pursued,

however, within the bounds of good judgment and discretion

as well as Office of Management and Budget regulations. The

confidential nature of agency submissions, requests,

communications, supporting materials and similar

communications should be maintained..

b\. Scope. In no case should data or papers prepared as

preliminary to, or as part of, the Budget estimates

submission be provided to any individuals outside the

Department without the express approval of the Secretary or

Under Secretary. This does not preclude candid and early

discussions (with appropriate prior approvals for such

actions) between Federal policy-makers and non-Federal

representatives at which Federal estimates and policy drafts

(even written material) are presented and discussed. The

restrictions apply only to the final recommendations from

the Department to the President. Those data which may be

discussed with non-Federal officials include the longer

range kinds of planning papers, trends, and the reasonable

expectation of what state and local governments would like

to see reflected in the final Budget.

6\. GUIDANCE FOR, TESTIFYING OR COMMUNICATING WITH MEMBERS OF

CONGRESS.

When acting in an official capacity on behalf of the Department,

officials and personnel will be guided by the following policies

as prescribed by the Office of Management and Budget then

testifying before any Congressional Committee or communicating

with Members of Congress about budgetary matters.

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1800.2 REV-2

a\. Frank and complete answers will be given to all questions.

b\. Personal opinions will not be volunteered which reflect

positions inconsistent with the program or appropriation

request the President has transmitted to the Congress.

c\. In responding to specific questions on program and

appropriations requests, witnesses will refrain from

providing plans for the use of appropriations that exceed

the President\'s request. (Witnesses typically bear

responsibility for the conduct of one or a few programs,

whereas the President must weigh all of the needs of the

Federal Government against the revenues available to meet

such needs. Where appropriate, witnesses should call

attention to this difference in scope of responsibility.)

d\. Witnesses will arrange for a reply to be provided through

the Secretary whenever a written submission is requested

which will involve a statement of opinion relating to

program and/or appropriation requests.

e\. Witnesses are expected to support the President\'s budgetary

decisions and seek adjustments to those decisions through

established procedures for budget amendments or supplemental

appropriations requests if the Secretary determines such

action to be necessary.

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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE:1998- 201-923:60317