The politics of public budgeting : getting and spending, borrowing and balancing / Irene S. Rubin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rubin, Irene, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Local budgets--Political aspects--United States.

Local budgets.

Budget--Political aspects--United States.

Budget.

Budget--Political aspects.

Local budgets--Political aspects.

United States.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 358 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

Eighth edition.

Place of Publication:

Thousand Oaks, California : CQ Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, Inc., [2017]

Summary:

The Politics of Public Budgeting shines a light on how various political actors, each with different budgetary goats, work to get their agendas passed. Author Irene S. Rubin explains budgeting changes over time and sets issues in a political and comparative context. In this Eighth Edition, she uses examples from all levels of government, emphasizing the relationships among them. In her analysis of each strand of the decision-making process, Rubin demonstrates the extraordinary coordination involved in passing a budget and achieving accountability. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Politics of Public Budgets 1

What Is Budgeting? 2

Governmental Budgeting 5

Minicase: City Manager Replies to Scathing Budget Critique 8

Minicase: Missouri Constitutional Amendment Reduces Governors Powers 11

Minicase: The Courts and New Jersey Pension Reform 17

Minicase: Doctoring Audit Reports 21

Minicase: The Federal Debt Limit as a Constraint 23

Minicase: Highly Constrained Budgeting-Colorado's TABOR Amendment 25

The Meaning of Politics in Public Budgeting 27

Budgetary Decision-Making 29

Microbudgeting and Macrobudgeting 32

Summary and Conclusions 35

Useful Websites 35

2 Revenue Politics 37

Raising Taxes 38

Minicase: Louisiana-Getting Around the No Tax Increase Pledge 39

Minicase: A Recent Tax Increase in Philadelphia 42

The Politics of Protection 44

Minicase: Wisconsin and Unexamined Tax Breaks 50

Minicase: Illinois and the Role of the Press 51

Minicase: Tax Breaks for Hedge Fund Managers 53

Minicase: California and Enterprise Zone Tax Breaks 55

Minicase: North Carolina and Business Tax Breaks 58

Minicase: Michigan-Terminating Its Film Subsidy 60

Minicase: New Mexico and Tax Expenditure Reporting 62

Tax Reform 63

Minicase: Georgia Tax Reform Left Hanging 69

Minicase: Michigan Tax Reform or Class Warfare? 70

Summary and Conclusions 72

Useful Websites 73

3 The Politics of Process 74

Budget Process and the Characteristics of Public Budgeting 75

Minicase: Harrisburg-Whose Priorities Dominate? 76

Macro- and Micropolitics 78

Minicase: Republican Macrolevel Reform Proposals 79

Designing Process to Achieve Policy and Political Goals 80

Minicase: Micropolitics-Bending the Rules to Win Individual Decisions 82

Minicase: How the Governor's Veto Is Used 87

Variation Between and Among Federal, State, and Local Governments 88

Minicase: Maine-The Governor Versus the Legislature 89

Minicase: Limits of Governors Vetoes in New Mexico 90

Minicase: San Diego-Fiscal Problems, Strong Mayor, and Veto Powers 95

Summary and Conclusions 100

Useful Websites 101

4 The Dynamics of Changing Budget Processes 102

Overview 103

Minicase: New York State-Powerful Governor, Weak Legislature, Informal Budgeting 105

Minicase: The Governor Versus the Courts 106

Federal Budget Process Changes 108

Minicase: Deeming Resolutions and Ad Hoc Budgeting 118

Minicase: Ad Hoc Scoring Rules 120

Minicase: Overseas Contingency Operations 124

Changes in Budget Process at the State Level 126

Minicase: Maryland's Legislative Budget Power 128

Minicase: South Carolina's Legislatively Dominated Budget Process Begins to Budge 130

Minicase: The Executive and the Legislature in Florida's Budgeting 133

Changes in Budget Process at the Local Level 136

Minicase: Florida and Unfunded Mandates 142

Summary and Conclusions 145

Useful Websites 146

5 Expenditures: Strategies, Structures, and the Environment 148

Strategies 148

Minicase: A $17,000 Drip Pan 149

Minicase: Homeland Security-A Program Tied to a Goal of Unlimited Worth 152

Minicase: Amtrak Train Wreck 153

Minicase: Congressional Budget Office and Scoring

Structure 157

Minicase: Budgetary Implications of Direct College Loans Versus Loan Guarantees 157

Minicase: An Open-Ended Discretionary Program-Immigration Enforcement 160

Minicase: California and Mandatory Spending on Redevelopment Agencies 165

Minicase: Fannie and Freddie 167

Minicase: New Jersey's Fund Diversion From the Unemployment Insurance Fund 170

The Environment 174

Strategy, Structure, and Environment Combined: The Medicare Example 175

Summary and Conclusions 181

Useful Websites 182

6 The Politics of Balancing the Budget 184

Balance as a Constraint 187

Minicase: Is the Wisconsin Budget Balanced? 188

Minicase: Balance in the Federal Highway Trust Fund 189

Multiple Actors, Ideologies, and Deficits 191

The Environment, Unpredictability, and Deficits 194

Increasing Stress Between Payer and Decider 196

Minicase: Chicago's Parking Meters 197

Minicase: Iowa's Privatization of Medicaid 198

The Politics of Deficits: The Federal Level 200

The Politics of Deficits: States 206

Minicase: Detroit Bankruptcy 219

Minicase: Why Did Jefferson County, Alabama, Declare Bankruptcy? 223

The Politics of Balance in Cities 225

Minicase: The Politics of Deficits-An Urban Example 226

Summary and Conclusions 228

Useful Websites 229

7 Budget Execution: The Politics of Adaptation 231

Minicase: Missouri-An Executive Abuses Discretion? 232

Tools for Changing the Budget 234

Minicase: Using Holdbacks to Change Legislative Priorities-Maryland 239

Minicase: Herbert Hoover and Legislative Vetoes 242

Minicase: The National Weather Service Reprogramming 249

Summary and Conclusions 251

Useful Websites 253

8 Controlling Waste, Fraud, and Abuse 254

The Politics of Finding Waste, Fraud, and Abuse 256

Minicase: President Obama Fires an IG 264

Minicase: Who Guards the Guards? Not the Guards Themselves 268

Minicase: Acting IG for Homeland Security-Too Close to the Department 270

Minicase: New York State and Medicaid 285

Minicase: The Massachusetts Inspector General Versus the Governor 287

Minicase: Baltimore's Departing IG 289

Summary and Conclusions 295

Useful Websites 296

9 Budgetary Decision-Making and Politics 297

Real-Time Budgeting 297

A Comparison of the Decision-Making Streams 299

Common Themes 301

Reconceptualizing Reform 313

Avenues for Research 317

Summary and Conclusions 319

Useful Websites 320.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9781506354804

1506354807

OCLC:

962895399