Budget Issues:
State Balanced Budget Practices
AFMD-86-22BR: Published: Dec 10, 1985. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 1985.
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In response to a congressional request, GAO analyzed state government balanced budget requirements and practices in order to document their practices and assess the relevance of the states' experiences to the federal government.
GAO pointed out several significant issues involved in considering proposals to require a balanced budget, including: (1) the federal government assumes several major responsibilities not assumed by state governments; (2) if the federal government used state balanced budget processes, significant changes in the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches would result; (3) state governments have a cooperative relationship between their executive and legislative branches that does not exist in the federal government; (4) a balanced budget requirement would make a complex federal budget process even more complex; and (5) states have used a variety of methods to balance their budgets. As a result of a survey of all 50 states, GAO found that: (1) 49 states have balanced budget requirements, but not all are required to balance their budgets during the entire budget cycle; (2) not all state funds are subject to balanced budget requirements; (3) the greatest emphasis is on balancing state operating budgets; (4) state governors can use techniques to keep the budgets in balance that are not available to the President, such as impoundment, using budget reserves, and shifting payments from one fiscal year to another; (5) despite balanced budget requirements, state governments sometimes incur deficits; and (6) effective compliance with a balanced budget requirement will require financial management systems not currently available throughout the federal government.
Sep 23, 2020
The Nation's Fiscal Health:
Effective Use of Fiscal Rules and TargetsGAO-20-561: Published: Sep 23, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 23, 2020.
Jan 23, 2020
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Federal Trust Funds and Other Dedicated Funds:
Fiscal Sustainability Is a Growing Concern for Some Key FundsGAO-20-156: Published: Jan 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 23, 2020.
Dec 19, 2019
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State and Local Governments' Fiscal Outlook:
2019 UpdateGAO-20-269SP: Published: Dec 19, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 19, 2019.
Nov 14, 2019
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Certificated Expenditures:
Executive Office of the President FY 2018 Certificated Expenditures Were Spent for Authorized PurposesGAO-20-139R: Published: Nov 14, 2019. Publicly Released: Nov 14, 2019.
Oct 16, 2019
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Civilian Personnel:
Additional Guidance and Consistent Data Reporting Could Help Improve the Marine Corps' Budget ManagementGAO-20-148: Published: Oct 16, 2019. Publicly Released: Oct 16, 2019.
Jun 26, 2019
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The Nation's Fiscal Health:
Actions Needed to Achieve Long-Term Fiscal SustainabilityGAO-19-611T: Published: Jun 26, 2019. Publicly Released: Jun 26, 2019.
Apr 10, 2019
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The Nation's Fiscal Health:
Action Is Needed to Address the Federal Government's Fiscal FutureGAO-19-314SP: Published: Apr 10, 2019. Publicly Released: Apr 10, 2019.
Mar 27, 2019
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Fiscal Exposures:
Federal Insurance and Other Activities That Transfer Risk or Losses to the GovernmentGAO-19-353: Published: Mar 27, 2019. Publicly Released: Mar 27, 2019.
Mar 22, 2019
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Data Act:
OMB Needs to Formalize Data Governance for Reporting Federal SpendingGAO-19-284: Published: Mar 22, 2019. Publicly Released: Mar 22, 2019.
Feb 27, 2019
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Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request:
U.S. Government Accountability OfficeGAO-19-403T: Published: Feb 27, 2019. Publicly Released: Feb 27, 2019.
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