United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Accounting and Information Management Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-04-28 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:T-AIMD-94-112 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-94-112 P0b002ee18037674b f:tai94112 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-94-112 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-94-112 T-AIMD-94-112 Oversight by Congress Fiscal policies Future budget projections Proposed legislation Multiple-year budget authority State budgets Appropriations One-year budget authority Budget administration Congressional budgets National Performance Review Testimony AIMD GAO supports the provisions of S. 1824 that deal with multiyear authorizations and biennial budget resolutions. GAO believes that multiyear fiscal policy agreements and multiyear authorizations make a great deal of sense, but they do not require changing the appropriations decision cycle for annual to biennial. Although biennial appropriations could save time for federal agencies, they also could shift control and oversight over federal programs away from Congress. Moreover, although budgeting always involves forecasting, the longer the period of the forecast, the greater the uncertainty. Increased difficulty in forecasting is one of the main reasons that states have switched from biennial to annual cycles. Dramatic changes in program design or agency structure, such as those that Congress is considering in many areas, will make budget forecasting even more difficult. Moving from an annual to a biennial appropriations cycle at the same time may be unwise, given the potential for program changes that could require major budgeting changes in the second year of a biennium. If this were to happen, biennial budgeting would exist only in theory. In GAO's view, biennial appropriations would hardly be a cure-all for the nation's budget problems. Congress will have to ask itself how it wants to exercise its constitutional authority over appropriations and in what forum it will conduct its oversight responsibilities. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-94-112/html/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-94-112.htm GAO/T-AIMD-94-112 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-94-112 Testimony GAO/T-AIMD-94-112; Budget Process: Biennial Budgeting for the Federal Government; Oversight by Congress Fiscal policies Future budget projections Proposed legislation Multiple-year budget authority State budgets Appropriations One-year budget authority Budget administration Congressional budgets National Performance Review