FY2009 Budget Documents: Internet Access and GPO Availability
FY2009 Budget Documents:
Internet Access and GPO Availability
Jennifer Teefy
Information Research Specialist
Knowledge Services Group
Summary
Every year, the President submits to Congress a series of volumes containing the
President’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. By law, the proposal is due by
the first Monday in February. Neither the Congressional Research Service (CRS) nor
the Library of Congress can provide giveaway copies of the budget documents. This
report provides brief descriptions of the budget volumes and related documents, together
with Internet addresses, Government Printing Office (GPO) stock numbers, and prices
to obtain these publications. It also tells how to find locations of government depository
libraries, which can provide both printed copies for reference use and Internet access to
the text. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Introduction
The President’s budget for FY2009 consists of a multivolume set of materials issued
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The materials contain information on
new budget proposals, summary tables, detailed financial information on individual
programs and accounts, economic analysis, historical data, explanations of the budget
processes, and supporting documents. Every year, the President submits these materials
to Congress at the start of the budget cycle for the next fiscal year. The President’s
submission is required on or after the first Monday in January, but not later than the first
Monday in February (31 U.S.C. Sec. 1105a).
Other budget-related documents released early in the year include the annual
Economic Report of the President, issued in February by the Council of Economic
Advisors, and the Budget and Economic Outlook, an annual publication issued by the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO). See below for details about these publications.
The President’s Budget Documents, Fiscal Year 2009
Both the OMB and the Government Printing Office (GPO) provide Internet access
to the main and supporting budget documents, spreadsheet files, the public budget
database, and budget amendments and supplementals proposed by the President. See
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/] and [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
usbudget/fy09/browse.html], respectively.
To perform word searches across budget documents online, go to
[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/index.html] and scroll down to the search box.
Budget of the United States Government, FY2009; GPO stock number
041-001-00645-1, $39, 170 pages. This document contains information and color
photos, charts, and graphs pertaining to the President’s new budget proposals and
overviews of government activities by agency and topic (e.g., “A Record of Economic
Success — But Challenges Ahead,” the “Nation’s Fiscal Outlook,” and “Managing for
Results”). Summary tables (pp. 139-166) contain projections of budget baselines,
receipts, and outlays; deficits; debt; discretionary spending; and economic projections
from FY2008 to FY2013 and, in some cases, to FY2018.
Budget of the United States Government CD-ROM, FY2009; GPO stock
number 041-001-00648-6, $24.95. The FY2009 Budget CD-ROM contains the full
content of the budget documents, the Economic Report of the President, and most
supporting documents for the budget, in PDF format. Software to search, display and
print is provided. Many tables are provided in spreadsheet format.
Budget of the United States Government, FY2009 Appendix; GPO stock
number 041-001-00646-0, $73, 1,307 pages. Designed primarily for the use of the
House and Senate appropriations committees, the FY2009 Appendix contains more
detailed financial information on individual programs and appropriations accounts than
any of the other budget documents submitted by the President. For each agency, it
provides the following:
!the proposed text of the appropriation language,
!budget schedules for each account,
!new legislative proposals,
!explanations of the work to be performed and the funds needed, and
!proposed general provisions applicable to the appropriations of entire
agencies or groups of agencies.
These elements are distinguished by varying the font and typeface, so that proposed
appropriations and prior year funding can be compared at a glance. The box that follows
provides an example from the FY2009 Appendix.
Language printed in roman type is used as a base, [brackets] enclose material proposed
for deletion, and italic type indicates proposed new language.
For necessary expenses of the Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety to
administer the laws enacted by the Congress for the Food Safety and Inspection1
Service, [$600,000] $659,000.
Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government,
FY2009; GPO stock number 041-001-00649-4, $52, 410 pages (includes
Chapters 27 and 28 on CD-ROM). This volume includes economic and accounting
and “crosscutting” analyses of government programs and activities designed to highlight
specific subject areas and provide other significant presentations of budget data to place
the budget in perspective. It includes information on federal receipts and collections,
detailed information on borrowing and debt, homeland security funding, baseline or
current service estimates, economic assumptions, budget reform proposals, tax
expenditures, trust funds, budget systems and concepts, and other technical presentations.
Chapter 8, “Aid to State and Local Governments,” contains a series of tables (pp.107-
156) that provide information on state-by-state obligations for major federal formula grant
programs.
The FY2009 Analytical Perspectives volume includes a CD-ROM with information
that in previous years was published in this volume or in other parts of the budget. The
CD-ROM contains Chapters 27 and 28 of the volume, which include detailed function
tables, federal programs by agency and account tables, and individual pages of program
summaries of federal agencies using the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART).
Chapters 27 and 28 are also available at [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/
spec.html] and [http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/spec.html].
Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, FY2009;
GPO stock number 041-001-00647-8, $49, 335 pages. Detailed tables cover
budget deficit/surplus, outlays, receipts, discretionary and mandatory spending, federal
debt, federal employment, payments for individuals, spending by function and agency,
and grants to states and local governments. This volume provides some data from 1940
(or earlier) through estimates for FY2013. Historical data are adjusted by OMB to be
consistent with the FY2009 budget and to provide comparability over time.
Economic Report of the President
Economic Report of the President, 2008; GPO stock number
040-000-00778-4, $34, 358 pages. This year’s annual Economic Report of the
President, transmitted to Congress on February 12, 2008, presents the Administration’s
report on its economic policies and contains the annual report of the Council of Economic
Advisors. Appendix B of the Economic Report includes current and historical statistics
on major aspects of economic activity (pp. 219-354). Statistics include national income
and expenditures from 1959 to 2007, government finance, population, employment,
1 Excerpt from page 69, FY2009 Budget Appendix, Department of Agriculture, Office of the
Secretary.
wages, productivity, prices, debt measures, corporate finance, and international statistics,
in some cases back to 1929.
The report is available from the GPO website at [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/
index.html]. A searchable database of the Economic Report of the President for each
year from 1996 to the present is also available at this site. Spreadsheet files from
Appendix B of the report can be accessed at [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/
tables08.html]. The entire report is available from the White House website at
[ http://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/pubs.html] .
Agency Budget Justifications
Each year in July, OMB issues instructions to all federal executive departments and
agencies for submitting budget data and materials for inclusion in the President’s budget
documents. These instructions are in a document entitled, Circular No. A — 11:
Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the Budget. After the President’s budget
documents are released in February, Congress begins to hold hearings on agency budget
requests, and agencies must submit their budget justifications to the appropriations
subcommittees holding the hearings. Budget justifications generally contain more
detailed descriptions of an agency’s proposals and programs than is provided in the
President’s budget documents.2 As mandated by Section 22.6 of the 2006 edition of
Circular A-11, beginning with the FY2008 budget cycle, agencies are required to post
their congressional budget justification materials on the Internet within two weeks of
transmittal to Congress. Circular A-11 is available on the White House website at
[ h ttp://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a11/current_year/a_11_2006.pdf] .
Access budget justification documents for each executive agency through the
following links:
Department of Agriculture at [http://www.obpa.usda.gov/explan_notes.html].
Department of Commerce at [http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/FY09CBJ.html].
Department of Defense at
[ http://www.defenselink.mil/comptro ller/defbudget/fy2009/index .html] .
Department of Education at
[ http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget09/justifications/index .html] .
Department of Energy at [http://www.energy.gov/about/budget.htm].
Department of Health and Human Services at
[ http://www.hhs.gov/budget/docbudget.htm] .
Department of Homeland Security at [http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/budget/].
Department of Housing and Urban Development at
[ http://www.hud.gov/offices/cfo /reports/2009/main_toc.cfm] .
Department of the Interior at [http://www.doi.gov/budget/2009/index_for_2009.html].
Department of Justice at [http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/2009justification/].
Department of Labor at [http://www.dol.gov/dol/budget/index-2009.htm].
Department of State at [http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/statecbj/2009/].
2 See CRS Report RS20268, Agency Justification of the President’s Budget, by Bill Heniff Jr.,
for more information.
Department of Transportation at [http://www.dot.gov/bib2009/2009budgetrequest.htm].
Department of Treasury at
[ http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/management/budget/budget-documents/cj/] .
Department of Veterans Affairs at [http://www.va.gov/budget/summary/2009/index.htm].
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Budget and Economic Outlook: FY2008-FY2018. CBO’s baseline budget
projections run for 10 years in its budget reports. The Budget and Economic Outlook
includes separate chapters on the economic outlook, outlays, and receipts. The data and
projections cover FY2007 through FY2018. In addition to chapters on the budget and
economic outlook, this publication includes a glossary and historical budget data. The
report is available on the CBO website at [http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/89xx/doc8917/
An Analysis of the President’s Budgetary Proposals for Fiscal Year
2009. This report provides an analysis of the President’s budgetary proposals and CBO’s
updated baseline budget projections. The report is available on the CBO website at
[ http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/89x x / doc8990/03-19-AnalPresBudget.pdf] .
GPO Ordering Information
Printed copies of these government publications are available from GPO and may
be purchased using Discover, MasterCard, Visa, or American Express cards:
!online at the GPO Website at [http://bookstore.gpo.gov/]
!by telephone, (866) 512-1800
!by fax, (202) 512-2104
!by mail (check or money order), addressed to:
Superintendent of Documents
U.S. Government Printing Office
P.O. Box 979050
St. Louis, MO 63197-9000
Depository Libraries
These documents are often available for reference use at large public or university
libraries, or at a federal government depository library. Addresses of the closest
depository libraries can be obtained through a local library or from GPO’s Customer
Services department, (866) 512-1800. Internet users may obtain this information from the
GPO Access Website at [http://catalog.gpo.gov/fdlpdir/FDLPdir.jsp], which can be
searched by state or area code.
Websites on Budget Legislation
Congressional Staff. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has developed
(for Members of Congress and their staffs) two websites covering the budget and
appropriations process for congressional offices:
!Appropriations Analysis and Status Table. For CRS reports, current
appropriations bills, a listing of CRS appropriations experts, and other
appropriations-related resources, congressional staff can access the CRS
Website at [http://apps.crs.gov/cli/cli.aspx?PRDS_CLI_ITEM_ID=615
&from=3&fromId=73]. For tracking current appropriations legislation,
see the CRS Appropriations Status Table with links to votes, committee
and conference reports, and public laws at
[ http://www.crs.gov/products/appropriations/appover.shtml] .
!CRS Budget Fact Sheets. Short explanations of budget concepts,
terminology, the congressional and executive budget process,
congressional budget timetable, budget resolutions and reconciliation, the
authorization and appropriations process, entitlements and discretionary
spending, the Budget Enforcement Act, sequestration, and
surpluses/deficits are available from the CRS Website at
[ h ttp://www.crs.gov/products/gu i d e s / b udget/factsheets/MenuBudgetFa
ct Sheet s.shtml].
Public Use. Constituents have access to THOMAS at [http://thomas.loc.gov], the
legislative website produced by the Library of Congress with data from the House and
Senate, which provides a Status Table of Appropriations with links to bills, committee
and conference reports, and votes for the 12 regular and any supplemental appropriations
bills.