August 30, 2010 – With work on FY 2011 appropriations suspended during the August recess, federal agencies are already working on their FY 2012 budget proposals. The proposals are to be submitted to the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) by September 13. This will commence a period of review and “passbacks” between the agencies and OMB. These are important steps in the development of the President’s budget, which is presented to Congress in early February.
On June 8, OMB issued FY 2012 budget guidance requesting non-security domestic agencies to develop budget proposals that are 5% below the “discretionary total provided for that agency for FY 2012 in the FY 2011 Budget.” Agencies were further advised to not reduce spending across the board, but to “aim to restructure their operations strategically.” Examples included, eliminating low priority programs and activities; re-engineering staffing plans; and focusing management attention on high-priority performance goals.
Congress is scheduled to return to work on the FY 2011 appropriations process on September 13. This will leave two weeks before fiscal year 2011 begins on October 1 of this year. Currently, Congress has yet to enact any of the FY 2011 spending bills. A summary of where the National Endowment for the Humanities is in the FY 2011 appropriations process is available here.
