List of official budget publications_ Instructions on budgeting (Bureau of the Budget circulars and bulletins): Preparation and submission of annual budget estimates (Circular No. A-11)............ Reporting accrued revenues and expenditures to Treasury and the Bureau of the Laws on budgeting: The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, as amended___ The Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, as amended.. (III) INTRODUCTION The Committee on Government Operations of the House of Representatives has legislative jurisdiction over budget and accounting measures (other than appropriations) which govern the preparation and execution of the budget of the United States. The particular responsibility for this subject has been placed on the Subcommittee on Executive and Legislative Reorganization. It requires continuing study and review of the laws that have been passed and the procedures devised to implement these laws. In addition, the subcommittee receives and responds to numerous inquiries from Members of Congress, scholars, and interested citizens on Federal budgeting problems. To help provide the necessary understanding, for ourselves and others, we prepared in 1957 a compilation entitled The Budget Process in the Federal Government. We have decided to reissue this print and, accordingly, with the assistance of the staff of the Bureau of the Budget, have brought the older material up to date and included additional pertinent information. The document contains narrative material and charts describing and explaining the budget and appropriations process and defining budget concepts. Several circulars and bulletins issued by the Bureau of the Budget providing instructions for the executive departments and agencies in preparing budget requests are reproduced. (1) One of these relating to the planning-programing-budgeting (PPB) system and another relating to implementation of the plan for using the accrual basis of stating the budget are of exceptional current interest. There are a number of statutes relating to the Federal budget process and the budget documents. Most of these have been compiled within title 31 of the United States Code. This pamphlet reproduces the three budget laws which are probably the most significant. The Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 was the original statute creating the national budget system. Significant amendments were made by the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, which also contained added material. Both of these acts included in their coverage the accounting and auditing system, but the excerpts in this pamphlet have been limited to the matters related to the budget process. The Anti-Deficiency Act as revised in 1950 is the principal instrument for control over the execution of the budget. The subcommittee appreciates the cooperation of the Bureau of the Budget in this project. JOHN A. BLATNIK, Chairman, Subcommittee on Executive and Legislative Reorganization. |