Budgetary Law Research Articles

Budgetary Laws

Budgetary Laws

State Purchasing Agent

state. Acting under this power the board of control prepared and submitted to the last legislature, a budget for the fiscal year 1913 and 1914. The recommendations of the board of control were accepted in their entirety, although some additional appropriations were also made by the legislature. Attempts were made to secure legislation which would more completely place the budget in the hands of the board, but no new legislation in this direction was enacted. The board, however, with such power as it possesses, plans to develop a still more efficient method in its next report to the legislature. Oregon passed in the last legislature, probably, the most comprehensive budgetary law yet enacted by any state of the Union. This law not only provides that financial reports be filed with the secretary of state by all state officers, departments, boards, commissions and institutions, which shall give in detail the amounts appropriated for the current and next preceding biennial period; which shall give the amounts needed for all the departments of the state government for the ensuing biennial period, with reasons therefor; and which shall give an estimate of the probable revenues from all sources for the ensuing biennial period, arranged in detail by classifications and appropriate summaries; but the law also provides for the classification of the needs of the various departments under four headings: (a) Current expenditures; (b) Permanent improvements; (c) All other expenditures; (cl) Contingencies. The secretary of state is empowered, on or before December 15, of each even year, to prepare, upon the basis of the reports submitted to him, a budgetary statement of the several amounts asked for, together with the reasons therefor; the total for each department, board, commission, institution or undertaking, and the grand total. The statement must also contain the estimates of income for the fiscal period. The secretary of state is required to submit this tabulated statement to the members of the legislature and to the governor. The governor, then, is obliged to transmit the statement to the legislature with such recommendations as he may deem proper. FRANK A. UPDYKE, Dartmouth College.