CBO scorekeeping estimates are derived from its analysis of the President's budget, baseline budget projections, and bill cost estimates, as well as from the economic assumptions used for the concurrent budget resolution. CBO reviews its scorekeeping estimates on a comprehensive basis at least twice a year to incorporate new information provided by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other federal agencies, revised economic assumptions that may be adopted by the Budget Committees, and other relevant data. Any reestimates resulting from these reviews are reviewed by the staffs of the Budget and Appropriations Committees before they are adopted as official scorekeeping estimates.

Specially designed computer scorekeeping reports are provided weekly to the Budget and Appropriations Committees. Frequent letters are also sent by the CBO Director to the Chairmen of the two Budget Committees to advise them on current budgetary levels. Advisory letters also have been sent upon request to the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on the budgetary impact of individual appropriation actions, such as a supplemental appropriation bill or a continuing resolution.

The CBO automated scorekeeping data base is used to provide special computer reports to the Appropriations Committees for use in preparing their March 15 reports and in dividing budget resolution allocations among subcommittees. The data base is also used by the Budget Committees in formulating budget résolutions, particularly a second resolution.

CBO also prepares a weekly automated report on the legislative status of selected entitlement and other bills that would directly affect budgetary requirements. Similar reports provide information on the legislative status of bills affecting credit activities, bills providing required authorizations for requested appropriations, and proposed revisions of the Budget Act. Copies of these reports are provided to the staffs of the Appropriations and Budget Committees of both Houses. These automated reports originate from a request by the House Appropriations Committee.

In addition, CBO has developed a scorekeeping capability for tracking Congressional action on the federal credit budget. This separate, automated data system is used primarily by the two Budget Committees.

Analyses of the President's Budget

CBO carefully reviews the budget estimates submitted to the Congress periodically by the Administration. The purpose of these reviews is to evaluate the accuracy of the Administration's budget estimates and, where necessary and appropriate, to reestimate the Administration's budget estimates using different economic assumptions and CBO's estimating techniques and methods.

The economic assumptions used by the Budget Committees to formulate the annual budget resolutions typically are different from the assumptions used by the Administration in preparing the President's budget. A different set of economic assumptions may significantly alter the budgetary impact of the President's proposals. Both Budget Committees periodically ask CBO to reestimate the President's budget using different economic assumptions.

Over the past several years, CBO has developed an independent capability for estimating the impact on budget outlays of various budget proposals. To keep these techniques and methods as accurate as possible, CBO staff carefully monitor actual spending trends as reported monthly by the Treasury, and various program data series that show trends in the utilization of federal benefits and services, the growth in beneficiary populations, and other factors affecting federal spending. CBO uses these independent methods to reestimate the effect of the President's budget proposals. In recent years, these so-called "technical reestimates" have been significant.

In addition to reviewing carefully the Administration's budget estimates, CBO prepares each year an overview analysis of the President's budgetary proposals. In 1982, this published report was requested by the Senate Committee on Appropriations to assist Members and staff in

preparing for overview hearings on the Administration's annual budget. The report discusses the economic outlook for the next several years and the possible economic impact of the President's proposals, examines the major features of the President's revenue and spending proposals, and presents CBO's preliminary reestimates of the budget impact of these proposals based on alternative economic assumptions and on CBO's estimating techniques and methods. Since 1980, at the request of the two Budget Committees CBO has also prepared a separate report providing an overview analysis of the President's proposed budget for federal credit activities.

Baseline Budget Projections

Each year, CBO prepares a new set of baseline budget projections. The projections take as their starting point the budgetary decisions made by the Congress through its most recently completed session and show what would happen to the budget if no new policy decisions were made during the next five fiscal years. These projections do not represent a forecast of future budgets, because the Congress undoubtedly will make numerous new policy decisions in response to changing national needs and economic circumstances. They do provide, however, a useful baseline or benchmark against which proposed changes in taxes or spending policies may be measured and assessed. A longer-term framework is helpful in making annual budget choices because these decisions frequently have little impact

on the budget in the short run but can significantly influence relative budget priorities over a period of several years.

Because the annual budget

resolutions now include a credit budget component, the Budget Committees

have asked CBO to develop baseline projections in 1983 for federal credit activities.

CBO's budget projections capability has enabled the Congress to move more and more in the direction of multiyear budgeting. For example, the Senate Budget Committee for several years has used the CBO baseline budget projections as a starting point for formulating its recommendations for the first budget resolution. The CBO baseline spending projections are distributed to the Senate Appropriations Committee and the authorizing committees as background information for preparing their March 15 reports to the Budget Committee. The Senate Budget Committee then uses the CBO baseline projections in its budget resolution markup materials to assess how spending and revenues should be altered in the future to meet fiscal policy goals and national needs. The House Budget Committee also uses the CBO budget projections to provide background information to House committees for the preparation of March 15 reports and to show the outyear effects of Budget Committee recommendations for the first budget resolution. In 1982, the House Budget Committee used the baseline projections as a basis for formulating the first budget resolution for fiscal year 1983. Both Budget Committees are now including three-year targets in their recommended budget resolutions.