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Budget Issues: USDA's Commodity Certificates Should Be Recognized in Budget Totals

AFMD-88-27 Published: Aug 16, 1988. Publicly Released: Aug 16, 1988.
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Highlights

In response to a congressional request, GAO examined the current budget treatment of the Commodity Credit Corporation's (CCC) commodity certificates to: (1) determine if CCC should treat the certificates as cash for budget purposes; and (2) develop alternative budget reporting methods.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Office of Management and Budget The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should include the use of commodity certificates in budget totals reviewed by Congress by developing a new set of noncash-based terms and totals, or by treating the issuance of commodity certificates as if they were cash. The Director should also consider these approaches for applicability to the other programs with authority to use noncash asset financing and should consult on the matter with congressional budget and appropriations committees.
Closed – Not Implemented
OMB concluded that this recommendation was unworkable. Beginning with the fiscal year 1989 budget, OMB listed the value of commodity certificates by program in budget documents.

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Government Operations
Agency reportsAgricultural programsBudget administrationBudget outlaysCongressional oversightFarm subsidiesProgram managementAgricultural commoditiesBudget authorityExpenditure of funds