Memos to the Governor: An Introduction to State Budgeting, Second Edition, Updated

by Dall W. Forsythe, Mario Cuomo (Foreword by), Dall W. Forsythe (Contribution by)

Overview

With a new foreword by New York's former governor, Mario Cuomo, this revised and updated edition of Memos to the Governor is a concise guidebook that takes the reader behind governmental fiscal gobbledygook to explain in clear, understandable prose the technical, economic, and political dynamics of budget making. At all levels of government, the budget has become the battleground for policymaking and politics. This book helps current and future public administrators untangle the knotty processes of budget preparation and implementation.

Dall W. Forsythe, who served as budget director under Governor Cuomo, outlines the budgeting process through a series of memos from a budget director to a newly elected governor—a format that helps readers with little or no background to understand complicated financial issues. He covers all of the steps of budget preparation, from strategy to execution, explaining technical vocabulary, and discussing key topics including baseline budgeting, revenue forecasting, and gap-closing options.

Forsythe brings fresh insights into such issues as the importance of a multiyear strategic budget plan, the impact of the business cycle on state budgets, the tactical problems of getting budgets adopted by legislatures, and, of course, the relationship between governor and budget officer. Memos to the Governor is a painless, practical introduction to budget preparation for students of and practitioners in public administration and public-sector financial management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589010192
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2004
Series:	Texts and Teaching/Politics, Policy, Administration Series
Edition description:	Second Edition, Updated
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dall W. Forsythe served as budget director of New York State under Governor Mario Cuomo from 1988-1991. He was also chief budget officer for the New York City public schools. He has taught public management and political science at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, at Columbia University, and at the University at Albany. He has worked as a research scholar at the Rockefeller Institute of Government and as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. He is the editor of Quicker, Better, Cheaper? Managing Performance in American Government. Forsythe is currently an executive in the nonprofit sector, working for the Episcopal Church.

Read an Excerpt

I've never read a more insightful, useful, and valuable description of what is perhaps the most important single function in government—the making of a budget—than Dall Forsythe's Memos to the Governor.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Introduction and Overview

MEMO 1. You and Your Budget Officer

MEMO 2. Budget Strategy

MEMO 3. Preparing the Executive Budget—The Technical Underpinnings

MEMO 4. Choices in the Final Phase of Budget Preparation

MEMO 5. Budget Tactics: Laying the Groundwork for Adoption

MEMO 6. Going Public with the Budget

MEMO 7. The Legislative Phase of the Budget Process

MEMO 8. Budget Execution

A Final Word on Strategy and Tactics

Budget Vocabulary

Notes

Index

What People are Saying About This

David N. Dinkins

Will be immensely helpful to others involved in the budget process—state lawmakers, mayors and municipal leaders, city councils—all of whom would do well to digest this excellent guide to managing the money while serving the people. Dall Forsythe has shown that it can be done.

Paul L. Posner

This third edition yet again demystifies the seemingly inscrutable state budget making process, providing an accessible and invaluable roadmap to this most arcane, yet inherently, political arenas of state government. As state governments struggle to make the hard choices in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the prelude to the baby boom retirement, the new third edition of this primer is even more vital and important.

From the Publisher

"Memos to the Governor is a classic in the literature on state budgeting. In this third edition of the book, Dall and his new co-author, Donald J. Boyd, have done some useful updating of the material while retaining the core elements of this short but invaluable resource for all who study and participate in state budgeting."—James Conant, professor, Department of Public and International Affairs, George Mason University

"This third edition yet again demystifies the seemingly inscrutable state budget making process, providing an accessible and invaluable roadmap to this most arcane, yet inherently, political arenas of state government. As state governments struggle to make the hard choices in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the prelude to the baby boom retirement, the new third edition of this primer is even more vital and important."—Paul L. Posner, George Mason University

"Every governor should have this book at bedside. Budgeting is the spinal column of government. In eight crisp memos of interest to all citizens who care about state and local government, Forsythe and Boyd provide a rich in-depth primer on state budgeting."—Richard P. Nathan, director, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, 1989-2009

James Conant

Memos to the Governor is a classic in the literature on state budgeting. In this third edition of the book, Dall and his new co-author, Donald J. Boyd, have done some useful updating of the material while retaining the core elements of this short but invaluable resource for all who study and participate in state budgeting.

Richard P. Nathan

Dall Forsythe is the consummate expert on the state budget process. This book of memos to the governor presents invaluable insights on this, the spinal column of decision making for all state and local public services.

Editorial Reviews

Dall Forsythe is the consummate expert on the state budget process. This book of memos to the governor presents invaluable insights on this, the spinal column of decision making for all state and local public services.

Richard P. Nathan

Will be immensely helpful to others involved in the budget process—state lawmakers, mayors and municipal leaders, city councils—all of whom would do well to digest this excellent guide to managing the money while serving the people. Dall Forsythe has shown that it can be done.

David N. Dinkins