Making of the budget

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The goal of this activity is to explore the budget process (the making of the budget) a little more closely, with a focus on the relation between the executive and the legislative branches, which is a critical aspect of the budget process. Step 1: Read through “Introduction to the Federal Budget Process” [published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities] http://www.cbpp.org/files/3-7-03bud.pdf Step 2: Answer the following questions; for this portion of the paper you can merely list the questions and provide the answers, BUT this portion of your paper should not merely cut-and-paste from the website, nor should it merely copy direct quotes from the website. Write the report in your own words (although you can use quotes in support of, but not in place of, your writing): 1) What three roles/purposes does the President’s budget request serve? 2) What is the first step generally taken by Congress when the president’s budget request is received? 3) What are the differences between “budget authority” and “outlays”? 4) What is “authorizing legislation” and what effect does it have on the budget? 5) Both the House and Senate each have a rule requiring that all entitlement increases and tax cuts be fully offset. In the Senate, if this requirement is not met, a senator can raise a “point of order” against the bill. What does this imply? In the House, if a member raises a “point of order,” what happens? Step 3: Select one (1) of the following states and read through the description of their budgeting process by clicking on the highlighted name of the state. Thereafter, identify and briefly explain four ways in which the budget process at the federal level is similar OR different to the budget process for the state you chose (point assessment based on the relevance of the differences/similarities you identified and the explanation provided). This portion of your paper can be written in descriptive/bulleted style, e.g. ‘Difference #1,’ ‘ Similarity #1,’ etc. Just make sure you provide adequate explanation of each of the four differences/similarities. Arizona – See “Making Sense of the State Budget”. See also http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/budgetprocess.pdf