Question 111

During the most recent budget approval process, did the legislature use its authority in law to amend the Executive’s Budget Proposal?
 * a. Yes, the legislature used its authority in law to amend the Executive’s Budget Proposal, and (at least some of) its amendments were adopted..
 * b. Yes, the legislature used its authority in law to propose amendments to the Executive’s Budget Proposal, but no amendments were adopted.
 * c. No, while the legislature has the authority in law to propose amendments to the Executive’s Budget Proposal, no amendments were offered.
 * d. No, the legislature does not have any such authority.
 * e. Not applicable/other (please comment).

OBS Guidelines
Question 111 assesses whether any formal authority of the legislature to amend the Executive’s Budget Proposal is used in practice. The responses to this question should be determined based on action by the legislature related to the Enacted Budget used in the OBS. Choose answer “a” if the legislature used its authority in law to amend the Executive’s Budget Proposal during the most recent budget approval process, and amendments were adopted (all, or at least some of them). Answer “a” also applies if the legislature used its authority in law to amend the Executive’s Budget Proposal, but the amendments were rejected by executive veto. Answer “b” applies if the legislature used its authority in law to propose amendments to the Executive’s Budget Proposal, but none of these amendments were adopted. Answer “c” applies if the legislature has the authority in law to amend the budget, but no amendments were proposed during its consideration. Answer “d” applies when the legislature does not have any authority to amend the budget (that is, Question 110 is answered “d”).

If the answer is “a” or “b”, please specify in the comments the number of amendments introduced by the legislature (and in the case of an “a” response, the number adopted, or if applicable, information about an executive veto) and describe their nature. For example, did the amendments result in an increase or decrease of the deficit? What were the most significant amendments to revenues and to expenditures in terms of the sums involved? How did amendments affect the composition of expenditures? If the answer is “a,” please specify which amendments were adopted, and provide evidence for it.

1) Westminster systems
In Westminster systems the legislature has no authority in law to amend the budget. However if there is a minority government, then parliament could threaten to pass a vote of no confidence until their demands are met.

No final decision recorded for this instance, if you come across it please raise it to the team.

2) If Q110 is “d,” then Q111 should be “d” as well
Rationale : Q110 and Q111 are referring to legal powers to amend the budget. We interpret the questions as being pretty narrow. So a “d” on Q110 ((i.e., do not have formal amendment powers), but still provide recommendations for the draft budget) means an “d” on Q111, by definition, because Q111 asks if the legislature uses “its authority” – which the guidelines describe as the “formal authority” “in law” (consistent with Q110). Recommendations made during a pre-budget process are much softer than an amendment to legislation. Whether or how a recommendation is accepted (or rejected) is open to some interpretation, presumably more of a political test than a legal one. In contrast, the bill as amended by the legislature either has to be accepted by the executive or vetoed, a much more definitive process. Even if the pre-budget recommendation process is enshrined in law, it still seems much different than the amendment process, which is the focus of the question.

Examples: Afghanistan in OBS 2017 and Uganda in OBS 2017.

3) Executive veto
If the legislature passes amendments to the budget, but the amendments are rejected through executive veto, then this question can still be answered “a.”

Rationale : Here the answer depends on how you interpret the word “adopt.” “Adopt” means that the legislature agrees to it. If the executive also agrees, then it would be enacted (i.e., would become law). This question is all about the actions that the legislature takes. A veto by the executive is not relevant for the answer (although might be for the comments). So, if the legislature amended the budget proposed by the executive, and the executive then vetoed the amended budget, “a” would still apply.

Example: Paraguay in OBS 2017