"Biennial Budgeting: Three State's Experiences--Report to the Chairman, Committee on Rules, House of Representatives".

• Position: Brief Article

General Accounting Office, October 2000, GAO-01-132.

A number of jurisdictions are converting from annual to multiyear budgets, ranging from states to special districts. There is even a growing interest among members of Congress in converting the federal budget process from an annual to a biennial cycle because of concerns that the time spent on annual budget development activities has come at the expense of congressional oversight and authorization responsibilities. To better understand states' experiences with the biennial budget cycle, GAO studied three states for this report: Arizona, Ohio, and Connecticut. GAO found that the states' reasons for changing their budget cycles varied. For example, Arizona adopted a biennial cycle to increase legislative oversight and reduce time spent on the budget. Connecticut adopted it as part of a fiscal reform effort. To execute a biennial budget successfully, the states' experiences suggest that the legislative and executive branches must agree on how the off-year budget process will work...