CBO Operations

In 2018, CBO continued to bolster its efforts to be transparent. This report fulfills CBO’s requirement to provide plans for future transparency efforts within 90 days of the enactment of its appropriation for 2019.

This week, CBO was recognized by the Partnership for Public Service as one of the best places to work in the federal government. CBO ranked third among 29 agencies in the small-agency category.

CBO’s podcast series looks at the agency’s inner workings and its role in the legislative budget process. The final episode of this three-part series focuses on transparency efforts at CBO.

CBO’s pilot podcast series looks at the inner workings of CBO and its role in the legislative budget process. In this episode, the function and value of cost estimates are discussed.

CBO’s podcast series looks at the inner workings of the agency and its role in the legislative budget process. In this episode, the function and value of cost estimates are discussed.

On September 13, 2018, Director Keith Hall testified before the Senate Budget Committee about transparency at CBO.

Formal cost estimates are among the many products CBO provides to policymakers and analysts to help them assess the effects of differing policies on budgetary outcomes.

Transparency is a top priority for CBO. This report describes the agency’s recent efforts to ensure that its work is credible, is well understood, and helps people gauge how estimates might change if policies or circumstances differed.

I recently returned from the 10th Annual Meeting of the Network of Parliamentary Budget Officials and Independent Fiscal Institutions, which is coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

CBOLT is the main analytical tool that CBO uses to make long-term projections of the economy and federal budget. Those projections help shed light on fiscal challenges that extend beyond CBO’s standard 10-year projection window.

On February 27, 2018, CBO Director Keith Hall testified before the House Budget Committee, presenting seven important things to know about how CBO does its analysis.

On February 6, 2018, CBO staff testified before the House Budget Committee on the process and principles underlying the preparation of the agency’s baseline projections and cost estimates for legislation.

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires CBO to prepare cost estimates for legislation at certain points in the legislative process. This report provides answers to frequently asked questions about how CBO prepares those estimates.

CBO is required to provide the Congress an annual report on spending, revenues, and deficits with subsequent revisions to that report. Here, CBO provides answers to questions about how it prepares its baseline projections for the budget.

Because people who do not work with CBO regularly are sometimes unfamiliar with its role and operations, Director Hall highlighted some key points about the agency during his testimony before the House Budget Committee.

Since 1975, CBO has produced nonpartisan analyses of budgetary and economic issues in support of the Congress. In 2017, CBO completed 740 formal cost estimates, 86 analytic reports and working papers, and many other products.

CBO Director Keith Hall testified on CBO’s appropriation request for fiscal year 2018 before the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate.

When the Congress considers legislation that would authorize a nonfederal entity to carry out certain duties, CBO must decide whether to treat the associated cash flows as federal transactions when estimating the bill’s budgetary effects.

Director Keith Hall provided a written statement regarding CBO’s appropriation request for fiscal year 2018 to the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives.

On September 7, 2016, CBO Deputy Director Mark Hadley testified on CBO’s estimates of the budgetary effects of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives.