Budgeting at the State Level

To accumulate information from materials made available by state agencies to the Indiana State Budget Committee, which hears testimony form state agency directors during the budget process. Indiana operates a biennial budget, which means this process was in progress last year.

Each agency makes available the following resources that explain and justify their budget requests:

Transmittal letter, which includes discussion and details that describe the activities of the agency, upcoming challenges, and goals the agency wishes to pursue
Division 001A Report, which includes tables that show recent appropriations made to the state agency and what it requests in the upcoming budget
Biennial budget presentation, which is a PDF PowerPoint shown to the committee to “sell” the Committee on its recent accomplishments and articulate goals of the agency

Source:

https://www.urban.org/research/publication/balanced-budget-requirements

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2011/06/23/budget-gimmicks-explained-five-ways-states-hide-deficits

https://www.in.gov/sba/budget-committee/the-budget-process/

https://www.in.gov/sba/budget-committee/2021-2023-budget-committee-hearings/

Assigned agency:        Department of Child Services

Q1. Using the materials above, what are the goals of the agency? State this in your own words by reading the materials presented. Do not copy and paste from the outside sources.

Q2. What unique challenges does the agency expect to face in the upcoming fiscal year, and how do they address them in their budget request?

Q3. What size of appropriation from the state are they asking for? This is most easily found in the Division 001A report.

Q4. Suppose you are a member of the Indiana State Budget Committee. What is your reaction to the materials/arguments the agency put before you for review? Do they make a clear and convincing argument to spend taxpayer dollars on the functions they propose? Be specific and reference items from the budget request.