aug. HBPI .AG CONTENTS Finan, William F., Assistant Director of the Bureau of the Budget for Administrative Management ---- Karsten, Hon. Frank M., a Representative in Congress from the State Lawton, Frederick J., Director of the Bureau of the Budget_ Warren, Hon. Lindsay C., Comptroller General of the United States; Frank L. Yates, Assistant Comptroller General of the United States; and Frank H. Weitzel, Assistant to the Comptroller General of the Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by- American Federation of Government Employees, statement. Finan, William F., Assistant Director of the Bureau of the Budget for Snyder, Hon. John W., Secretary of the Treasury, progress under the joint program to improve accounting in the Federal Government - - Tabor, John, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Page 47 35 59 57 54 58 59 BUDGETING AND ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES ACT OF 1950 TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1950 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON EXPENDITURES, IN THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS, Washington, D. C. The committee, pursuant to call, at 10 a. m., in room 1501, New House Office Building, Hon. William L. Dawson, chairman, presiding. The CHAIRMAN. Will the committee come to order? We are meeting this morning for consideration of H. R. 9038. It is a bill that will authorize the President to determine the form of the national budget and of departmental estimates, to modernize and simplify Government accounting and auditing methods and procedures, and for other purposes. (H. R. 9038 follows:) [H. R. 9038, 81st Cong., 2d sess.] A BILL To authorize the President to determine the form of the national budget and of departmental estimates, to modernize and simplify governmental accounting and auditing methods and procedures, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950." TITLE I-BUDGETING AND ACCOUNTING PART I-BUDGETING DEFINITION SEC. 101. Section 2 of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 (42 Stat. 20), is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "The term 'appropriations' includes, in appropriate context, funds and authorizations to create obligations by contract in advance of appropriations." PERFORMANCE BUDGET AND REGULATIONS SEC. 102. (a) Section 201 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 201. The President shall transmit to Congress during the first fifteen days of each regular session, the Budget, which shall set forth his Budget message, summary data and text, and supporting detail. The Budget shall set forth in such form and detail as the President may determine— “(a) functions and activities of the Government, constituting a performance budget; "(b) a segregation of operating, and of capital and investment programs; "(c) any other desirable classifications of data; “(d) a reconciliation of the summary data on expenditures with proposed appropriations; "(e) estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations necessary in his judgment for the support of the Government for the ensuing fiscal year, except 1 that estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations for such year for the legislative branch of the Government and the Supreme Court of the United States shall be transmitted to the President on or before October 15 of each year, and shall be included by him in the Budget without revision; "(f) estimated receipts of the Government during the ensuing fiscal year, under (1) laws existing at the time the Budget is transmitted and also (2) under the revenue proposals, if any, contained in the Budget; "(g) actual appropriations, expenditures, and receipts of the Government during the last completed fiscal year; "(h) estimated expenditures and receipts, and actual or proposed appropriations of the Government during the fiscal year in progress; "(i) balanced statements of (1) the condition of the Treasury at the end of the last completed fiscal year, (2) the estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the fiscal year in progress, and (3) the estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the ensuing fiscal year if the financial proposals contained in the Budget are adopted; "(j) all essential facts regarding the bonded and other indebtedness of the Government; and "(k) such other financial statements and data as in his opinion are necessary or desirable in order to make known in all practicable detail the financial condition of the Government." (b) Section 203 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 203. (a) The President from time to time may transmit to Congress such proposed supplemental or deficiency appropriations as in his judgment (1) are necessary on account of laws enacted after the transmission of the Budget, or (2) are otherwise in the public interest. He shall accompany such proposals with a statement of the reasons therefor, including the reasons for their omission from the Budget. "(b) Whenever such proposed supplemental or deficiency appropriations reach an aggregate which, if they had been contained in the Budget, would have required the President to make a recommendation under subsection (a) of section 202, he shall thereupon make such recommendation." "SEC. 204. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the contents, order, and arrangement of the proposed appropriations and the statements of expenditures and estimated expenditures contained in the Budget or transmitted under section 203, and the notes and other data submitted therewith, shall conform to requirements prescribed by the President." (d) Section 205 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 205. Whenever any basic change is made in the form of the Budget, the President, in addition to the Budget, shall transmit to Congress such explanatory notes and tables as may be necessary to show where the various items embraced in the Budget of the prior year are contained in the new Budget." (e) The last sentence of section 207 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "The Bureau, under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe, shall prepare the Budget, and any proposed supplemental or deficiency appropriations, and to this end shall have authority to assemble, correlate, revise, reduce, or increase the requests for appropriations of the several departments or establishments." (f) Section 214 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 214. The head of each department and establishment shall prepare or cause to be prepared in each year his requests for regular, supplemental, or deficiency appropriations." (g) Section 215 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 215. The head of each department and establishment shall submit his requests for appropriations to the Bureau on or before a date which the President shall determine. In case of his failure to do so, the President shall cause such requests to be prepared as are necessary to enable him to include such requests with the Budget in respect to the work of such department or establishment." (h) Section 216 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 216. Requests for regular, supplemental, or deficiency appropriations which are submitted to the Bureau by the head of any department or establishment shall be prepared and submitted as the President may determine in accordance with the provisions of section 201." TRANSITORY PROVISIONS SEC. 103. In order to expedite the conversion from present budgeting and accounting methods to the performance type of Budget contemplated in the amendments made by this part, the head of each department and establishment in the executive branch of the Government, with the approval of the President, is authorized and directed, until the end of the second full fiscal year following the date of the enactment of this Act, to make such transfers and adjustments within his department or establishment between appropriations available for obligation by such department or establishment in such manner as he deems necessary to cause the obligation and administration of funds and the reports of expenditures to reflect the financial requirements of the functions and activities of the department or establishment. Reports of transfers and adjustments made pursuant to the authority of this section shall be made currently to the President and the Congress. GOVERNMENT STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES SEC. 104. The President, through the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, is authorized and directed to develop programs and to issue regulations and orders for the improved gathering, compiling, analyzing, publishing, and disseminating of statistical information for any purpose by the various agencies in the executive branch of the Government. Such regulations and orders shall be adhered to by such agencies. IMPROVED ADMINISTRATION OF EXECUTIVE AGENCIES SEC. 105. The President, through the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, is authorized and directed to evaluate and develop improved plans for the organization, coordination, and management of the executive branch of the Government with a view to efficient and economical service. BUSINESS-TYPE BUDGETS SEC. 106. The first two sentences of section 102 of the Government Corporation Control Act of 1945 (59 Stat. 597), are amended to read as follows: "Each wholly owned Government corporation shall cause to be prepared annually a business-type budget which shall be submitted to the Bureau of the Budget, under such rules and regulations as the President may establish as to the date of submission, the form and content, the classifications of data, and the manner in which such budget program shall be prepared and presented." PART II-ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING SHORT TITLE SEC. 110. This part may be cited as the "Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950." DECLARATION OF POLICY SEC. 111. It is the policy of the Congress in enacting this part that— (a) The accounting of the Government provide full disclosure of the results of financial operations, adequate financial information needed in the management of operations and the formulation and execution of the Budget, and effective control over income, expenditures, funds, property, and other assets. (b) Full consideration be given to the needs and responsibilities of both the legislative and executive branches in the establishment of accounting and reporting systems and requirements. (c) The maintenance of accounting systems and the producing of financial reports with respect to the operations of executive agencies, including central facilities for bringing together and disclosing information on the results of the financial operations of the Government as a whole, be the responsibility of the executive branch. |