Memos to the Governor

by Forsythe, Dall W.

• ISBN13: 9781589010192
• ISBN10: 1589010191
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-30
• Publisher: Georgetown Univ Pr

Summary

With a new foreword by New York's former governor, Mario Cuomo, this revised and updated edition of Memos to the Governor is a concise guide book that takes the reader behind governmental fiscal gobbledygook to explain in clear, understandable prose the technical, economic, and political dynamics of budget making. At all levels of government, the budget has become the battleground for policymaking and politics. This book helps current and future public administrators untangle the knotty processes of budget preparation and implementation. Dall W. Forsythe, who served as budget director under Governor Cuomo, outlines the budgeting process through a series of memos from a budget director to a newly elected governor--a format that helps readers with little or no background to understand complicated financial issues. He covers all of the steps of budget preparation, from strategy to execution, explaining technical vocabulary, and discussing key topics including baseline budgeting, revenue forecasting,and gap-closing options. Forsythe brings fresh insights into such issues as the importance of a multiyear strategic budget plan, the impact of the business cycle on state budgets, the tactical problems of getting budgets adopted by, legislatures, and, of course, the relationship between governor and budget officer. Memos to the Governor is a painless, practical introduction to budget preparation for students of and practitioners in public administration and public-sector financial management.

Author Biography

Dall W. Forsythe has taught public management and political science at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Columbia, and the University at Albany.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Introduction and Overview	p. 1
You and Your Budget Officer	p. 4
Budget Strategy	p. 9
Preparing the Executive Budget--The Technical Underpinnings	p. 19
Choices in the Final Phase of Budget Preparation	p. 34
Budget Tactics: Laying the Groundwork for Adoption	p. 46
Going Public with the Budget	p. 56
The Legislative Phase of the Budget Process	p. 65
Budget Execution	p. 75
A Final Word on Strategy and Tactics	p. 79
Budget Vocabulary	p. 81
Notes	p. 87
Index	p. 93
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

"I've never read a more insightful, useful, and valuable description of what is perhaps the most important single function in government -- the making of a budget -- than Dall Forsythe's Memos to the Governor." -- From the Foreword by Governor Mario M. Cuomo