The Coolidge examiner., 1933-06-16
Our Government
How 1t Operates
BUREAU OF THE BUDGET
BY William Bruckars

a N EFFORT has been made
throughout these discussions of
the functions of government to show
where each agency has a point of
contact with Mr. and Mrs. Public,
that is, you and me. But there is
one bureau which almost never
touches any of us; it does not deal
with any of US, and does not con-
Germ itself about individual citi-
zens, except that it considers the
welfare of all collectively as tax
payers. | refer to the bureau of
the budget.
This httle-known agency is the
focal point, however, of all plans
and programs for expenditures of
public funds. Every government de-
partment, bureau or commission is
a spending agency, and every one
of them has to have the approval
of the bureau of the budget before
they can even go before a commit
tee of congress to defend the plans
they have made.
Along about the first of August
each year, the director of the bud
get notifies the heads of all gov
ernmental establishments that he
will receive estimates" of expendi-
lures for the fiscal year that is to
begin in July of the following year.
The government budget, you will re-
member, goes to congress when it
convenes each December, and upon
it all of the appropriation for the
succeeding fiscal year are based. So
the budget director begins work
about August /.
Although all of the spending
agencies have had general plans
mapped out, they do not translate
| them into dollars and cents until
they get the advices from the bud
get director to submit estimates.
The first step, therefore, in any
establishment is to fill out the skill
fully arranged forms with the fig
ures necessary to show how much
money is needed or desired.
Once these figures are in the
hands of the budget director and his
assistants, they invite a committee
from each establishment for hear.
ings," which are designed to supply
the budget bureau with all informa'
tion about every item and whether
for example, it is desirable or neces-
sary to increase the sum available
for airplanes for the army OF
| whether conditions warrant the en-
| ploying of one additional stenogra-
| pher in the office of the third as.
sistant to the chief of section X''
or somewhere equally well down the
|. line of Importance. 1t need not be
| stated that when these hearings are
| completed, the budget officials have
about all of the data available con-
corning the next years plans.
While the budget bureau is max
ing up its lists, however, it has to
keep in mind that the President pre-
| viously has made an announcement
| that the total of government ex'
penses shall not exceed a specific
amount. The budget bureau starts
work pairing down the individual
items in order that the Presidents
command shall be obeyed. And what
a job it is Every establishment
wants to spend as much money as il
can get, obviously. 1t is natural
that the individual wants to make
his agency as important and as valu'
able as he can. All of which causes
the heads of the spending agencies
to defend their estimates vigorously
to bring all pressure to bear that
they can legitimately accomplish.
The director of the budget con.
fers each week with the President
as the process of pairing the esti'
mate goes along.
By and by, the director an
nounces that the budget is complete
and one look at it is quite convinc'
ing as to the truth of his statement
for it is usually a volume of about
1,2OO pages of closely set type. On
the one column is a list of the pur'
poses for which it is proposed to
spend money on the opposite col
umn of the page is the amount, and
every item has it's corresponding
figure, so you can see whether there
is a provision to buy greater OF
less number of airplanes for the
army in the succeeding year than
was purchased in the last year, OF
whether one department is going
to use more paper clips or less.
1t is at this point, therefore, that
the bureau of budget attracts pub
lie attention for the one time OF
each year, for the budget is ready
to be transmitted to congress by
the President. And when that hap.
pens, the great appropriations com
mittee of the house of representa-
tives gets into action. 1t holds an
other set of hearings to which the
representative of the spending
agencies are invited that they car
speak for themselves. That is, they
can speak for themselves up to the
limit which the budget bureau fixed
| Tbora 10 q law making IL a criminal