RETHINKING THE STRUCTURES OF DECISION-MAKING IN THE FEDERAL-BUDGET PROCESS

In this Article, Professor Garrett argues that it; is time to reconsid er and, perhaps, restructure the federal budget process. After reviewi ng the current system and another option, functional budgeting, the au thor concludes that a functional approach might make the budget proces s more transparent to voters and produce better outcomes. Professor Ga rrett thew considers the Budget Process Reform Act and finds that it d oes not propose reform that would make a real impact on budget decisio nmaking. Specifically, the author notes that the Act does not require Congress to consider tax subsidies in its allocations and does not alt er the current jurisdictional divisions of the relevant congressional committees.