United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-10-27 monographic deposited born digital 51 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-132 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-132 P0b002ee18039c06b f:d01132 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-132 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-132 GAO-01-132 Congressional oversight Balanced budgets State budgets Budgeting Future budget projections Arizona Connecticut Ohio Letter Report Members of Congress periodically have expressed interest in converting the federal budget process from an annual to a biennial cycle. Congress feels that the time spent on these activities has come at the expense of congressional oversight and authorization responsibilities. To get an understanding of states' experiences with the biennial budget cycle, GAO studied three states: Arizona, Ohio, and Connecticut. GAO found that the states' reasons for changing their budget cycles varied. For example, Arizona adopted a biennial cycle to increase legislative oversight and reduce time spent on the budget, and Connecticut adopted it as part of a fiscal reform effort. In order to execute a bienneial budget successfully, the states' experiences suggest that the legislative and executive branches must agree on how the off-year budget process will work. Different approaches to managing the off-year budget have been developed by states, including establishing formal guidelines for off-year budget changes and relying on leadership control. Efforts to increase legislative oversight in the off-year by converting to a biennial budget process may be difficult. Ohio and Connecticut officials have said they have not increased legislative oversight in the off-year, and Arizona officials said that, while they formally included a process for increasing oversight, they have faced considerable challenges. Although state experiences can provide useful insights, the federal budget has unique issues that must be considered before implementing a biennial budget process. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-132/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-132.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-132/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-132.pdf GAO-01-132 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-132 Letter Report GAO-01-132; Biennial Budgeting: Three States' Experiences; Congressional oversight Balanced budgets State budgets Budgeting Future budget projections Arizona Connecticut Ohio