Cost Estimates in the United States

Cost Estimates in the Federal Budget Process

Meaning of Cost Estimates in the congressional and executive budget processes (GAO source): Under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, estimates of the impact legislation under consideration by Congress would have on the federal budget if the legislation became law. Cost estimates are provided by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on all legislation of a public character reported by a congressional committee and are, typically, published in the report accompanying that legislation.

Resources

See Also

• Federal Appropriations
• Entries about the United States Budget Process in the Encyclopedia (including Cost Estimates)
• Public Debt

Further Reading

• Legislatures and the budget process: the myth of fiscal control

  (J Wehner, 2010)

• Reconcilable Differences?: Congress, the Budget Process, and the Deficit (JB Gilmour, 1990)
• Fiscal institutions and fiscal performance

  (JM Poterba, J von Hagen, 2008)