flexibility in meeting their transportation problems. In 1978, States will be permitted, under this proposal, to assume over $1 billion of Federal motor fuel tax receipts for local needs. In order to improve the safety and efficiency of the Nation's aviation system, and to increase its responsiveness to current needs, I will propose legislation to restructure Federal airport and airway development programs. My proposal will broaden the range of aviation activities that may be financed from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, eliminate unnecessary Federal involvement in airport investment decisions, and allocate user fees more equitably among aviation system users. BUDGET REFORM As demands on the budget have grown, the need for better congressional procedures for considering the budget has become increasingly clear. In the past the Congress has acted upon the budget in a piecemeal fashion, with far too little attention to the total. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, passed last summer, mandates changes in the Federal budget and major reforms in congressional procedures for dealing with it. Under the new proce dures, the Congress will have a larger and better-defined role in developing sound budget and fiscal policies. Congressional organization and procedures will focus greater attention on the budget totals early in the legislative process. Major provisions of the act require greater attention to the futureyear costs of legislative proposals and ongoing programs, and establish a budget committee in each Chamber and a Congressional Budget Office to aid Congress in its consideration of budget recommendations. The shift of the fiscal year to an October-to-September basis will give the Congress more time to complete action on the budget before the fiscal year begins. The act also provides for a closer working relationship between the Congress and the executive branch in controlling outlays. I look forward to a new era of fruitful cooperation between the legislative and executive branches on budgetary matters, a cooperation that will enhance fiscal responsibility, make the budget a more useful instrument of national policy, and promote a more careful allocation of limited resources. During the past six years, the budget has become increasingly forward-looking, focusing attention on the future effects of budget proposals. The new act builds upon this initiative with the requirement that the budget present more extensive five-year projections of outlays and receipts. These projections indicate the large natural increase in receipts resulting from rising incomes and profits as the economy recovers. These increased receipts, coupled with prudent fiscal restraint, will make it possible to avoid deficits that would be inflationary when the economy returns to high employment. The Government strongly affects the economy in many ways not fully reflected in the budget. These influences include tax expenditures such as those that encourage homeownership and business investment; and the operations of Federal or Government-sponsored enterprises, particularly in the credit field, that are excluded from the budget. The new act recognizes the importance of these factors by requiring that they be given greater consideration in connection with the budget. CONCLUSION As we approach our national bicentennial, difficult challenges lie before us. The recommendations in this budget address the Nation's problems in a direct, constructive, and responsible fashion. They are designed to move the Nation toward economic health and stability. They meet human needs. They provide for the strong defense essential to our national security and to our continuing efforts to maintain world peace. Looking beyond the bicentennial, toward the year 2000, the practical limits to the growth of the Federal Government's role in our society become increasingly clear. The tremendous growth of our domestic assistance programs in recent years has, on the whole, been commendable. Much of the burden of aiding the elderly and the needy has been shifted from private individuals and institutions to society as a whole, as the Federal Government's income transfer programs have expanded their coverage. These programs cannot, however, continue to expand at the rates they have experienced over the past two decades. Spending by all levels of government now makes up a third of our national output. Were the growth of domestic assistance programs to continue for the next two decades at the same rates as in the past 20 years, total government spending would grow to more than half of our national output. We cannot permit this to occur. Taxation of individuals and businesses to pay for such expansion would simply become insupportably heavy. This is not a matter of conservative or liberal ideology. It is hard fact, easily demonstrated by simple extrapolation. We must begin to limit the rate of growth of our budgetary commitments in the domestic assistance area to sustainable levels. The growth of these domestic assistance programs has taken place in a largely unplanned, piecemeal fashion. This has resulted in too many overlapping programs, lack of coordination, and inequities. Some of the less needy now receive a disproportionate share of Federal benefits, while some who are more needy receive less. We must redouble the efforts of the past five years to rationalize and streamline these programs. This means working toward a stable and integrated system of programs that reflects the conscience of a compassionate society but avoids a growing preponderance of the public sector over the private. It also means decentralizing Government operations and developing a closer partnership among the Federal Government, State and local governments, and the individual private citizen. The Congress will approach this budget in a new way, with new legislative machinery and procedures. I pledge to work in a spirit of cooperation with the Congress to make this effort a success. The tasks before us provide difficult tests: to meet immediate economic problems; to relate our limited Federal resources more clearly to current national priorities; and to develop long-term strategies for meeting Federal responsibilities as we begin our third century. I am confident of success. FEBRUARY 3, 1975 GERALD R. FORD. This part of the budget discusses several subjects that relate to budget totals and explains certain terms used in the budget message. The first section explains budget authority and its relationship to budget outlays. The second discusses budget funds and Federal debt and how changes in Federal debt are related to budget fund surpluses or deficits. This is followed by a section that reconciles the estimates of uncontrollable outlays for 1974 as originally published with the figures that were actually realized. The final section, on fiscal activities outside the Federal budget, examines the scope and nature of the outlays of off-budget Federal agencies and privately owned Government-sponsored enterprises. BUDGET AUTHORITY The Congress must provide budget authority, generally in the form of appropriations, before Federal agencies can incur obligations that Available without current action by the Congress (permanent au 1 Includes proposed increases of $1.8 billion in 1975 and $2.0 billion in 1976 that are offset in the totals by interfund trans actions. 2 Includes allowances for energy tax equalization payments, civilian agency pay raises, and contingencies. 3 Includes allowances for civilian and military pay raises for Department of Defense. 22 |