The State Budget Office and Policy Making

The role of the state budget office in gubernatorial policymaking has been strengthened further by such contemporary events as the recession, tax relief, revenue shortfalls, and cuts in federal aid. Since little is known about the state budget office's relationship to gubernatorial decision mak...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public budgeting & finance 1987-03, Vol.7 (1), p.51-65
Main Author: Gosling, James J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Budgeting
Fiscal policy
Government agencies
State budgets
States
Statistical analysis
Studies
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Summary:The role of the state budget office in gubernatorial policymaking has been strengthened further by such contemporary events as the recession, tax relief, revenue shortfalls, and cuts in federal aid. Since little is known about the state budget office's relationship to gubernatorial decision making, a study was conducted to analyze these patterns of interaction between these 2 entities for 3 states -- Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. Interviews with budget officials for the 3 states focused on 6 areas: 1. the extent of budget office influence on gubernatorial policy, 2. the manner of that influence, 3. the perceived roles of budget officials, 4. the political involvement of officials, 5. the motivations for seeking their jobs, and 6. what they like most and dislike about their jobs. The basic orientations of the 3 offices were different. Wisconsin's emphasis on budget staff involvement in policy development differentiates it from Iowa's more traditional financial management approach. Minnesota's orientation falls somewhere between the 2 extremes.
ISSN:0275-1100
1540-5850
DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.00735