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Budget - FY1978
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1683338
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Budget - FY1978
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Robert T. Hartmann Files
Robert Hartmann's General Subject Files
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Office of Management and Budget. (07/01/1970 - )
Federal budget
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1976-12-31
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1976-10-01
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The original documents are located in Box 9, folder "Budget - FY1978" of the Robert T.
Hartmann Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
have DJS a copy
lot Floor, W.W.
OFFICE PTR PRESIDENT UNITED
RTH saw
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
STATES
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
OCT 11 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR:
William Baroody
Philip Buchen
James Cannon
Richard Cheney
James Connor
William Gorog
Alan Greenspan
Robert Hartmann
John Marsh
Ronald Nessen
Brent Scowcroft
William Seidman
John Veneman
FROM:
James Lynn
SUBJECT:
1978 Budget Process
Preparation of the FY 1978 Budget is well underway. The budget
submissions for most agencies have already arrived at OMB.
As your participation in the budget process is important, and
in fact essential, I have attached for your information a broad
outline of the 1978 budget process. This will give you an idea
of the timetable that is necessary if we are to transmit the
Budget to the Congress on January 17, 1977, as now expected.
You and your staff may desire to advance ideas of your own
concerning the 1978 Budget. We also recognize you may wish
to consult with OMB on our views or those of the agencies.
We welcome your contributions and suggestions. Please note
that they are most timely and useful in October and early
November, after which it becomes increasingly difficult to
make changes.
Should you desire additional information, please contact us.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Attachment
FORD & GREATO LIBRARY
Digitized from Box 9 of the Robert T. Hartmann Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
PLAN FOR THE 1978 BUDGET PROCESS
Examiner review of agency proposals (September and October).
Agency budget submissions are required to be submitted by
September 15. Upon receipt, the submissions are analyzed in
detail by OMB examining staff. During this period, hearings
are scheduled with agency representatives to obtain a better
understanding of the proposals. No commitments are made
during these hearings.
Preparing recommendations to the President on agency budget
requests (October and November). OMB associate directors
(Don Ogilvie, Daniel Kearney, Jim Mitchell and Dan McGurk)
and their deputies will put together tentative budget recommenda-
tions after an intensive review of the agency budget submissions
and the recommendations of the OMB examiners. Major issues will
be discussed at oral review sessions conducted by Jim Lynn and
Paul O'Neill between October 13 and November 17 (see attached
schedule). As in the past, we hope that representatives of
the White House and other Executive Offices can join us in
the appropriate sessions. Materials for each of the sessions
are available in advance from the Secretary of the Director's
Review, Rand Baker (ext. 4672), who can also inform those
planning to attend specific sessions of any changes in the
schedule. Review of recommendations on minor issues in the
larger agencies and recommendations for smaller agencies will
be handled by the circulation of decision papers within OMB.
White House and Executive Office representatives will also be
consulted.
Presentation of budget issues and requests to the President
(November 10 to November 30) The objective of the first round
of reviews with the President is to determine what response
should be made to agencies' budget requests. The responses
will be made as soon as possible after each meeting with the
President. During this first round, we will give the President
progress reports on the emerging budget totals. We will also
be reporting on those totals at senior staff meetings.
Presidential Appeals (December 2 to December 10). If a major
agency feels compelled to disagree with the response to its
request, the agency and OMB will prepare joint appeal papers
for the President's review. Agency heads will attend some of
these sessions with the President.
Drafting the Budget Message and related policy statements
(beginning in mid-November) OMB staff will prepare initial
drafts on the President's Budget Message and more detailed
justification of the President's proposals for use in other
parts of the budget documents. These will not only explain
2
the budget proposals, but will also reflect the Administration's
policy viewpoints that support them. Subsequent drafts of the
Message will be circulated to you when they have gone through
internal review and begin to develop into something like a
final product. Relevant sections of other parts of the Budget
will be circulated to your staffs shortly after Christmas.
Preparation and printing of the budget documents (mid-November
to mid-January). Initial printing of the budget documents will
begin the week of November 15. Final adjustments to agency
requests, to economic assumptions, and to new Presidential
initiatives must be worked into the budget detail and the
numbers "locked up" before (1) the large volume of numbers can
be summarized and categorized in a variety of ways, and (2)
justification and explanation of the budget can be drafted.
The lock-up must occur around Christmas. Final production of
documents must be released to the Government Printing Office
for final production on a phased schedule 10 to 6 days before
transmittal.
Press briefings (Saturday, January 15). The budget documents
will be released to the press on January 14. Not only the main
press briefing, but also many agency briefings will be held on
January 15.
Transmittal to the Congress (Monday, January 17).
1978 BUDGET REVIEW SESSIONS
OCTOBER
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
11
12
13
14
15
16
Economic and
Fiscal Overview
COLUMBUS
DAY
I
18
19
20
Interior,
21
22
23
NR, EF & SET
EPA, Corps of
VA
small agencies
Engineers
Tax Policy *
NASA
25
26
27
28
29
30
Statistics
Treasury,
Crosscut
GSA
VETERANS
DAY
NS & IA small
agencies
*OMB/CEA/Treasury
Director's
Review
1978 BUDGET REVIEW SESSIONS
NOVEMBER
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
3
4
5
6
Labor
HR & HVL small
Agriculture
EG small agencies
HEW
agencies
Commerce, SBA
8
9
10
11
12
13
Foreign economic
Justice, CSC
HUD, Housing
Defense
Defense (cont.)
and military aid
Crosscut
HEW (cont.)
NASA, SET small
Interior, EPA, **
Treasury, GSA
agencies
Corps of Engineers
15
16
17
18
19
20
Energy R&D and ***
Energy Policy
DOT
ERDA
and FEA
1
Agriculture, EF
Justice, Commerce,
HUD, VA,
**
HEW
**
small agencies
SBA, EG small non-
Labor
regulatory agencies
22
23
24
25
26
27
THANKSGIVING
DAY
Defense
**
Foreign economic **
Energy R&D and
and military aid
ERDA
29
30
Director's
Review
Transportation, EG
Energy Policy and
** Includes related small agencies.
Proposed
small regulatory
FEA
*** Entire day allotted for review.
Presidential
agencies
Sessions
2
STATE OFFICE REV AMOUNT THIS 9 UNITED
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
DATE: 12/27/76
TO: Bob Hartmann
FROM:
Jim Lynn
This was sent to the
President in Vail last week.
Attachment
OMB FORM 38
REV AUG 73
Bob Hartenann
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
THE
JAMES
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
DEC 23 1976
ACTION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
James T. Lynn
(Signed)
SUBJECT:
Unveiling the Fiscal Year '78 Budget
I.
ISSUE
Given the need for planning and arranging the necessary
details, it would be helpful if a decision could be reached
on the level of visibility which you would like to give to the
unveiling of the Fiscal Year '78 Budget.
II.
OPTIONS
1. A Presidential press briefing
Pro:
-- Given the time and effort which you have
personally devoted to its preparation, a Presidential
briefing would demonstrate the importance which you
attach to your final budget.
-- A briefing on the budget could also serve as
the occasion for your last Presidential press conference.
-- If the briefing were to take place in the
evening, it could well be covered by live TV.
This would enable you to speak directly to the Nation
on a variety of matters -- budgetary and otherwise.
-- Since the Ford budget will serve as a bench-
mark for many Congressional Republicans, a Presidential
budget briefing to the Nation could prove to be invaluable
to those Members of Congress who will try to use the
Ford budget as their target during the course of the
year.
2.
Con:
-- Since some members of the press will persist in
viewing this budget as vestigial, it is difficult to
anticipate the nature of the questioning.
-- Depending on the final budget figures, it is
possible that the press will focus on any differences
which may materialize between the budget and statements
made during the course of the campaign (e.g. balancing
the budget in FY '79).
-- The press could choose to play down the substance
of the occasion and seek instead to emphasize stylistic
elements, with inevitable comparisons between this year's
briefing and last year's briefing.
-- If the budget briefing is also your last press
conference, the budget may be only a minor facet of the
questioning. (This is not necessarily a "Con").
-- If the final budget numbers are higher than we
would have liked them to be, certain Members of Congress
may prefer that the budget unveiling be handled in low
key fashion with little public attention.
-- If the briefing is to be "live" (not embargoed
like last year) and the press is given the budget on the
prior Saturday on an embargoed basis (which should be done),
they will have had a lot of time to think up more questions,
particularly on details. This could take away time from
broader issues you may want to emphasize.
Sub-Options - Time.
la. Evening.
-- A weekday evening press conference, if covered by
TV, would get broadest audience.
lb. Morning, Monday or Tuesday (depending again on your
schedule preferences).
-- A morning briefing would be deemed budget-oriented
but might be easier vis-a-vis getting three network
coverage. (Consult Nessen).
3.
Sub-Options - Distribution of the Budget
la. Short lead time for advance embargoed distribution
to the press, e.g., distribution the morning pre-
ceding an evening Presidential briefing or late
afternoon distribution preceding a Presidential
briefing the next morning.
Pro:
-- This would minimize the risks of a broken
embargo.
-- Since advance press distribution triggers
other advance distributions, there will be less
time for copies of the budget to be in circulation.
-- Less time for "experts" to develop
"nitty gritty" questions which can take time from
broader issues.
Con:
-- Traditionally the press has been given more
time to study the budget in preparation for the
briefing. They will be angered by a short time fuse.
(It should be noted that the record of the press in
not breaking the embargo -- even with 36 to 48 hour
advance distribution -- has been excellent).
lb. Traditional 36 to 48 hour lead time for advance,
embargoed distribution to the press.
Pro:
-- The press will have adequate time to
prepare their copy for release time.
Con:
-- With other distributions triggered by the
press distribution, there will be copies of the
budget around town well before the Presidential
briefing, providing more time potentially for the
embargo to be broken.
-- With lead time, the press will be well-
prepared and the questioning could involve minutiae.
Whichever sub-option is chosen, other distributions will be
triggered by the decision.
a. Simultaneous to press distribution on an embargoed basis,
advance copies would be sent on an embargoed basis to the
Congressional Leadership and Committee Chairmen, with
the Budget, Appropriations, and Joint Economic Committees
receiving extra copies beyond the Chairmen's copy.
4.
b. Bulk distribution to the Congress would be made
shortly before official transmission, e.g., the
morning of your press conference (assuming live,
not embargoed) if held in morning or late afternoon
if evening press conference.
C. Transition Team: In the spirit of continuing
cooperation, it is proposed that the OMB Director-
designate be given a limited number of embargoed
copies to distribute to the transition team as he
deems appropriate. I would be inclined to do this
quite early, say a week before.
2. An OMB Director's press briefing
This would be a traditional (excluding last year)
press briefing on the budget. It would probably be
held Saturday morning, January 15, on an embargoed
basis (for release Monday), with official transmittal
of the budget scheduled for noon on Monday.
3. No press briefing
Copies of the budget could merely be distributed to
the press, with no briefing. This option has not
been developed, since too much time and effort has
been expended to allow the budget to be unveiled
without "interpretation."
Beyond the press briefing, given the constraints of time,
it would be my recommendation to minimize the wide-scale briefings
which were held last year, unless specific requests are received
and decisions are made to comply with them. Nonetheless, some
briefings will be in order:
-- The traditional OMB "regulars" breakfast on Saturday
or Monday hosted by the Director on an embargoed basis. (The
"regulars" are a small group of newspersons whose chief beat is
OMB/the budget/and the economy).
-- The Congressional Leadership. It is hoped that this
could be hosted by you at a convenient time preceding the press
briefing.
-- The transition team. In the spirit of cooperation, it
would be my intention to brief the OMB Director-designate, either
by himself or with a small group of associates, on both policy and
5.
technical matters at a convenient time preceding the press
briefing.
-- Other Congressional briefings. These will be handled
on a case by case basis if requests are received. Should the
House Republican Conference or the Senate Republican Policy
Committee request a briefing, we would endeavor to comply on
either January 18 or 19.
-- Assuming you do the briefing, I would suggest that we
don't have the full array of Cabinet and agency heads at the
briefing this year (just Scowcroft, Cannon, Zarb, OMB people
in chairs near to you) but that each agency head be available
for full briefing on his or her budget at the agency immediately
after your briefing.
III. DECISIONS
A. Press Briefing/who and when:
a Presidential press briefing will be held:
1.
Monday evening.
2.
Monday morning.
3.
Other
OMB Director should brief the press.
1.
Saturday morning.
2.
Monday morning.
3.
Other
No press briefing at all.
B. Distribution of the Budget
1. Press
press should receive their advance, embargoed
copies on shortest possible time fuse
preceding press conference (8 to 12 hours).
6.
follow traditional course allowing 36 to 48
hours for distribution of advance, embargoed
copies.
2. Others
Proceed traditionally:
Advance press distribution will trigger embargoed
distribution to Congressional Leadership and
specific Congressional Committees; bulk distri-
bution to Congress can be made the day the
budget is officially transmitted. Proceed with
OMB Director-designate and transition team as
you deem appropriate.
Do not proceed traditionally - additional
instructions will be forthcoming.
C. Other Briefings:
I agree with your plans to minimize other
briefings. Proceed accordingly.
1.
I will host the Congressional
Leadership briefing.
2.
The OMB Director should brief the
Congressional Leadership.
3.
There is no need for a Congressional
Leadership briefing this year.
Duplicate last year's wide scale briefings -
work with appropriate personnel to arrange
details.
See me.