Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 1.djvu/1257

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PUBLIC LAW 98-000—MMMM. DD, 1984

PUBLIC LAW 9 8 - 3 6 9 - J U L Y 18, 1984

98 STAT. 1209

taken, and the amount of cost savings expected to result therefrom in fiscal years 1985, 1986, and 1987. COST SAVINGS BY COMMITTEE

SEC. 2904. Each authorizing committee of the Senate and House of Representatives shall review the report required under section 2903 Ante, p. 1208. and make recommendations from that report to the Budget Committees including any necessary changes in laws to allow for or facilitate the achievement of savings as identified in that report. The resulting recommendations shall be transmitted to the Budget Committee as part of each committee's report submitted pursuant to section 301(c) of Public Law 93-344, on March 15, 1985. 2 USC 632. ANALYSES OF BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS

SEC. 2905. (a) The director of the Congressional Budget Office shall Study. conduct a study of the nature and reliability of the assumptions Report. upon which budget estimates are based for concurrent resolutions on the budget adopted by the Congress and make a report to the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives and the Committee on the Budget of the Senate by June 1, 1985. Such study shall identify— (1) the reasons for the differences between actual revenues and outlays and the revenue and outlay estimates used for concurrent resolutions on the budget; (2) the extent to which any systematic biases exist in the assumptions or methods used for making revenue and outlay estimates for the concurrent resolutions on the budget; and (3) the extent to which the use of alternative assumptions or estimating methods would improve the accuracy of budget estimates used by the Congress. This would include time-series analyses of historical budget patterns and economic trends. (b) On a trial basis, the Congressional Budget Office shall conduct in consultation with the General Accounting Office a review of the budget estimates prepared by the Department of Defense and one civilian agency to determine whether: (1) there is a systematic underestimation of the costs required to carry out the policies, programs and projects proposed; and (2) what effects any systematic costing errors may have upon the long-run costs of programs, the mix of programs implemented and the effectiveness of programs in meeting agency missions and goals. The General Accounting Office component of this review shall look at all phases of budget preparation and program evaluation in the agencies selected, and shall examine historical patterns of funding to determine the effect of cost estimation biases. FORMULA A P P R O A C H TO FEDERAL BUDGETING

SEC. 2906. The Director of the Congressional Budget Office and the Study. Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall each, in consultation with the Chairman and ranking member of the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives and the Committee on the Budget of the Senate, conduct a study of the administrative feasibility and potential impact in terms of effectiveness and equitability of applying alternative formula approaches to

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