FY2005 Budget Documents: Internet Access and GPO Availability

FY2005 Budget Documents: Internet Access and GPO Availability

Order Code RS21759
Updated September 16, 2004
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
FY2005 Budget Documents: Internet Access
and GPO Availability
Justin Murray
Information Research Specialist
Information Research Division
Summary
Every year the President submits to Congress a series of volumes that provide the
text of the President’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. Neither the
Congressional Research Service (CRS) nor the Library of Congress can provide
giveaway copies of these documents. This report provides brief descriptions of these
budget volumes and related documents, together with Internet addresses, Government
Printing Office (GPO) stock numbers, and prices to obtain these publications. It also
tells how to find locations of government depository libraries, which can provide both
printed copies for reference use and Internet access to the text. This report will be
updated as events warrant.
Introduction
The President’s budget for FY2005 consists of a multivolume set of materials, issued
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It contains information on new budget
proposals, summary tables, detailed financial information on individual programs and
accounts, economic analysis, historical data, explanations of the budget processes, and
supporting documents. Every year the President submits these materials to Congress at
the start of the budget cycle for the next fiscal year.

Related documents include the annual Economic Report of the President issued in
February by the Council of Economic Advisors, and the Budget and Economic Outlook,
an annual publication issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which includes
10 years of baseline projections on government finances and economic activity. See
below for details about these publications.
The President’s Budget Documents, Fiscal Year 2005
Both OMB and GPO provide Internet access to the main and supporting budget
documents, spreadsheet files, the public budget database, and budget amendments and
supplementals proposed by the President.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2005/index.html]
To perform word searches across budget documents online:
[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/index.html]
Budget of the United States Government, FY2005
GPO stock number: 041-001-00602-8, $69, 402 pp.
Contains information and color photos, charts, and graphs on the President’s new
budget proposals, overviews of government activities by agency and topic (the war on
terrorism, homeland security, defense, health, etc.), discussions on managing for
results, ensuring fiscal responsibility, and budget function tables in each agency
chapter. Summary tables containing projections of budget baselines, receipts, and
outlays, deficits, debt, discretionary spending, economic assumptions from FY2004
to FY2009 or in some cases to FY2014 appear on pages 365-392.
Budget of the United States Government, FY2005 Appendix
GPO stock number: 041-001-00597-8, $80, 1268 pp.
Designed primarily for the use of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees,
the Appendix contains more detailed financial information on individual programs and
appropriations accounts than any of the other budget documents. For each agency it
provides:
— the proposed text of the appropriation language;
— budget schedules for each account;
— new legislative proposals;
— explanations of the work to be performed and the funds needed; and
— proposed general provisions applicable to the appropriations of entire agencies or
groups of agencies.
These elements are presented by varying the font and typeface, so that proposed
appropriations and prior year funding can be compared at a glance. An example from
the FY2005 Budget Appendix illustrates this:
“For expenses necessary for administration of laws pertaining to regulation of
navigable waters and wetlands, [$140,000,000] $150,000,000, to remain available
until expended. (Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2004.)”1
Language printed in roman type is used as a base, brackets enclose material proposed
for deletion, and italic type indicates proposed new language.
1 Excerpt from p. 914, FY2005 Budget Appendix volume, Corps Engineers-Civil Works,
Regulatory Program.

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Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, FY2005
GPO stock number: 041-001-00599-4, $68, 394 pp. (includes three chapters (chapters 26-
28) on a CD-ROM)
Includes economic and accounting and “crosscutting” analyses of government
programs and activities that are designed to highlight specific subject areas or provide
other significant presentations of budget data that place the budget in perspective.
This volume includes information on federal receipts and collections, detailed
information on borrowing and debt, homeland security funding, baseline or current
service estimates, economic assumptions, budget reform proposals, tax expenditures,
trust funds, budget systems and concepts and other technical presentations. Chapter
8, Aid to State and Local Governments, contains an appendix (pp.131-158) that
provides information on state-by state obligations for major federal formula grant
programs.
The FY2005 Analytical Perspectives volume includes a CD-ROM with certain
information that in previous years was published in other parts of the budget. The
material contained on the disc are Chapters 26-28 of the volume which includes
detailed function tables, federal programs by agency and account tables, and
individual pages of program summaries of federal agencies utilizing the Program
Assessment Rating Tool (PART). Note: PART summaries were included in a
separate volume in the FY2004 Budget. Chapters 26-28 contained in the CD-ROM
can be obtained on the Internet at [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/
fy05/spec.html].
Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, FY2005
GPO stock number: 041-001-00600-1, $43, 301 pp.
Detailed tables cover budget deficit/surplus, outlays, receipts, discretionary and
mandatory spending, federal debt, federal employment, payments for individuals, and
grants to states and local governments. Provides data by agencies and programs from
1940 (or earlier) to estimates for FY2009. Data are adjusted to provide consistency
with the 2005 budget and to provide comparability over time. Among the special
topics included are Social Security and Medicare spending.
Budget of the United States Government CD-ROM, FY2005
GPO stock number: 041-001-00598-6, $20
The FY2005 Budget CD-ROM contains all the budget documents and software to
support reading, printing, and searching all documents. The CD-ROM also presents
many of the tables in spreadsheet form. The FY2005 Budget CD-ROM also contains
the material included on the Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM.
Fiscal Year 2005 Mid-Session Review
The OMB released this update of the President’s FY2005 budget projections on July
30, 2004. It contains OMB revised estimates of the budget deficit, receipts, outlays,
and budget authority for FY2005 through FY2009, and other summary information
as required by statute. GPO currently does not offer this 52-page publication in its
catalog; it is only available online at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2005/
05msr.pdf].

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Economic Report of the President
Economic Report of the President, 2004
GPO stock number:040-000-00765-2, $33, 412 p.
This year’s annual Economic Report of the President, transmitted to Congress in
February 2004, presents the Administration’s report on its economic policies and
contains the annual report of the Council of Economic Advisors. Appendix B of the
economic report includes current and historical statistics on major aspects of U.S.
economic activity (pp. 279-412). Statistics include national income and expenditures
from 1959 to 2003, government finance, population, employment, wages,
productivity, prices, debt measures, corporate finance, and international statistics in
some cases back to 1929 or more recent decades.
The report is available from the GPO website at [http://www.access.gpo.gov/eop].
Spreadsheet files from the appendix of the report can be searched and retrieved from
the site at [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/tables04.html]. The report is available from
the White House website at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/pubs.html].
Congressional Budget Office
Budget and Economic Outlook: FY2005-FY2014
GPO stock number:052-070-07417-5, $25, 178 pp.
CBO extends budget projections for 10 years in this report. There are
separatechapters on the economic outlook, outlays, and receipts. The Outlook
provides alternative baseline paths for changes in discretionary budget authority and
for possible tax law changes. The data cover the years FY2004 through FY2014. In
addition to chapters on the budget and on economic, revenue, and spending outlooks,
this publication also includes a glossary as well as historical budget and economic
data. The report is available on the CBO website at [http://www.cbo.gov/
showdoc.cfm?index=4493&sequence=0].
Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update
GPO stock number:052-070-07431-1, $11, 77 pp.
CBO issues an update to its Budget and Economic Outlook providing updated baseline
projections, including deficit and surplus projections. CBO released the 2004 update
on September 7, 2004. The report is available on the CBO website CBO website at
[http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=5773&sequence=0 ].
GPO Ordering Information
Printed copies of these government publications are available from the Government
Printing Office, and may be purchased using Discover, MasterCard, or Visa credit cards:
! by telephone, (202) 512-1800,
! by fax, (202) 512-2250,
! online at the GPO [http://bookstore.gpo.gov/index.html], or
! by mail (check or money order), addressed to Superintendent of
Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954.

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Depository Libraries
These documents are often available for reference use at large public or university
libraries, or at a federal government depository library. Addresses of the closest
depository libraries can often be obtained through a local library or from the office of
Depository Services of the U.S. Government Printing Office, (202) 512-1119. Internet
users may prefer to obtain this information from the GPO Access website, at
[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html], which can be searched by state or area code.
Websites on Budget Legislation
Congressional Staff. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) developed two
websites (for Members of Congress and their staffs) covering the budget and
appropriations process for congressional offices:
! Appropriations Analysis and Status Table. For the most current
information, congressional staff can access the Appropriations and
Budget Web page, with active links to CRS appropriations analysis,
Status Table of Appropriations with links to votes, committee and
conference reports, and public laws. Available from the CRS website at
[http://www.crs.gov/products/appropriations].
! CRS Budget Fact Sheets. Short explanations of budget concepts,
terminology, the congressional and executive budget process,
congressional budget timetable, budget resolutions and reconciliation, the
authorization and appropriations process, entitlements and discretionary
spending, the Budget Enforcement Act, sequestration, and
surpluses/deficits are available from the CRS website at
[http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml].
Public Use. Constituents have access to THOMAS, the legislative website
produced by the Library of Congress with data from the House and Senate, which
provides a Status Table of Appropriations with links to bills, committee and conference
reports, and votes for the 13 appropriations bills at [http://thomas.loc.gov].