About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1 The Congressional Budget Office's Work in 2018: A Report to the Congress 1 (March 2019)

handle is hein.congrec/cbowrep0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 








                                                                                          MARCH   2019







The Congressional Budget Office's Work in 2018:

                        A   Report to the Congress


The Congressional Budget Office was established under
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide infor-
mation that would support the Congressional budget
process and help the Congress make effective budget and
economic policy. CBO's work follows processes specified
in that law and subsequent laws or developed by the
agency in concert with the budget committees and the
Congressional leadership. The agency's chief responsibil-
ity under the Budget Act is to help the budget commit-
tees with the matters under their jurisdiction. CBO also
supports other Congressional committees-particularly
the Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Finance
Committees, as the Budget Act requires-and the leader-
ship of the House and Senate.

The agency is committed to providing information that is:

*  Objective and insightful-representing the consensus
   and diversity of views of experts from around the
   country and applying the best new evidence as well as
   the lessons of experience;

*  Clearly presented and explained-so that
   policymakers and analysts understand the basis for
   the agency's findings and have the opportunity to
   question the analysis and methods used; and

*  Timely-responding  as quickly as possible to the
   needs of the Congress.

In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide analysis that
is objective and impartial, the agency makes no policy
recommendations. Instead, it strives to present fully and
fairly the likely consequences of alternative proposals


being considered by the Congress so that lawmakers can
make informed policy choices.

To fulfill its mission, CBO analyzes trends and recent
developments related to the economy and the budget. It
also develops baseline projections, which incorporate the
assumption that current law generally does not change,
for the next 10 years and the longer term. Those baseline
projections serve as neutral benchmarks for gauging
the effects of spending and revenue proposals relative
to what would occur if current laws generally remained
unchanged. Using those benchmarks in most of its
analyses, the agency does the following:

*  Issues formal cost estimates for almost all bills
   reported by committees of the House and Senate,
   including estimates of the cost of intergovernmental
   and private-sector mandates;

*  Provides background information and technical
   assistance while legislation is being developed and
   while amendments are being considered by the House
   and Senate;

*  Estimates the cost of all appropriation bills;

*  Prepares analytic reports and working papers-
   including testimony about the outlook for the
   economy  and the budget, analysis of the President's
   budget, and studies on a broad range of budgetary
   and economic issues;

*  Posts files of data on its website documenting its
   baseline projections and providing other information
   underlying the analytic reports; and

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most