Question 107

Does the full legislature and/or a legislative committee debate budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal?
 * a. Yes, the full legislature debates budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal, and approves recommendations for the upcoming budget.
 * b. Yes, a legislative committee debates budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal, and approves recommendations for the upcoming budget.
 * c. Yes, the full legislature and/or a legislative committee debates budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal, but it does not approve recommendations for the upcoming budget.
 * d. No, neither the full legislature nor any legislative committee debate budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal.
 * e. Not applicable/other (please comment).

OBS Guidelines
Question 107 asks whether the legislature debates budget policies prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal. In general, prior to discussing the Executive’s Budget Proposal for the coming year, the legislature should have an opportunity to review the government’s broad budget priorities and fiscal parameters. Often times this information is laid out in a Pre-Budget Statement, which the executive presents to the legislature for debate. (See Questions 54-58.)

A number of countries conduct a pre-budget debate in the legislature around six months before the start of the budget year. In some cases, they adopt laws that guide the upcoming budget, for example the Budget Guidelines Law in Brazil and the Spring Fiscal Policy Bill in Sweden. A pre-budget debate can serve two main purposes: 1) to allow the executive to inform the legislature of its fiscal policy intentions by presenting updated reports on its annual and medium-term budget strategy and policy priorities; and 2) to establish “hard” multi-year fiscal targets or spending ceilings, which the government must adhere to when preparing its detailed spending estimates for the upcoming budget year.

To answer “a,” the full legislature must debate budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal and approve recommendations for the upcoming budget.

Answer “b” applies if a legislative committee (but not the full legislature) debates budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal, and approves recommendations for the budget. Option “b” also applies if, in addition to the action by the committee, the full legislature also debates budget policy in advance of the budget, but does not approve recommendations.

Answer “c” applies if the full legislature and/or a legislative committee debates budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal, but does not approve recommendations for the budget. Answer “d” applies if neither the full legislature nor any legislative committee debate budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive’s Budget Proposal.

In your comment, please indicate the dates of the budget debate, and if both the full legislature and a legislative committee held a debate. Note that a debate does not need to be open to the public, but a public record of the meeting or a public notice that the meeting occurred is required. In addition, please indicate whether the budget debate was focused on a Pre-Budget Statement published by the Executive. If the Executive did not publish a Pre-Budget Statement, then please indicate what served as the focus of the legislature’s debate (for instance, a report released by an IFI or some other institution).