Understanding Congressional Budgeting and Appropriations
Federal Budgeting in the Age of Deficits

Who has the most to gain in the budgeting process? Where are you most effective? Where does your power lie in the budget process?

This real-world overview of the congressional budget process explores basic congressional budget process concepts along with key players, their roles and relationships. Learn about discretionary and mandatory spending, the budget resolution and reconciliation process. You will also learn about the relationship of authorization and appropriations legislation. Hear real, modern-day examples that illustrate the process, and gain ample time to discuss concerns and roadblocks encountered with the budget process.

This course covers:

• The big picture of federal budgeting and spending

• The crucial difference between authorizations and appropriations

• What to expect and when in the budget process

• The relationship between appropriations and the budget resolution

• Using Internet resources to track and research congressional budget action

The online budget research sources we reference are located at TCNBudget.com

More Information
Agenda	When	Where	Related Training	Policies	Related Resources

 

The leadership competencies for this course include:

• Accountability

• External Awareness

• Strategic Thinking

• Financial Management

• Political Savvy
  

Bring this course to your site. This course and any combination of its topics are available as custom on-site training for your organization. We have tailored this course for budget and program analysts, scientists, engineers, managers, auditors, accountants, and others in agencies, the military, Fortune 500 businesses, and think tanks.  For more information about how this training can help your members and staff, please contact our client liaison.

 

This is a required course for the Certificate in Congressional Operations.

Space is limited. 

Also see

• Advanced Federal Budget Process

• The President's Budget

• The Defense Budget

Course materials include The Federal Budget Process, Government Series.   PLUS a course manual of over 75 pages.

Course Details

Agenda	Understanding Congressional Budgeting and Appropriations 8:30 am - 4:10 pm (networking lunch at noon)   Budgeting for Surpluses and Deficits How the federal deficit was ended - and returned The economy and the budget The President's budget submission Congressional Budgeting Today The framework and basic concepts of the congressional budget process The key players and their basic roles and relationships The two federal budget processes: discretionary and mandatory spending How Congress is handling the President's budget The Congressional Budget Resolution Reconciliation Authorizations Key features and different types of authorization bills The relationship of authorization and appropriations legislation Appropriations The relationship of appropriations and the budget resolution House initiation of appropriations bills The rules and structure in place to move this "must pass" legislation How the various parts of an appropriations bill relate to one another Senate action on appropriations bills; the use of unanimous consent Final actions on appropriations Internet Resources for Researching Congressional Budgeting; Case Studies How to use internet resources to track and research congressional budget action   For a printable course description, agenda with dates, and registration form, click here.  PDF This course is also available as a custom program.   Do you need a training course we don't offer or coverage of an additional topic in this course? If you have suggestions for courses or topics you would like to see us offer, please contact us or complete our online suggestion form.
Suggested Prerequisites	Basic understanding of the congressional budget process or the legislative process or Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process recommended. If you need help deciding which courses you should take based on your work experience or training, please contact us via email or phone: 703-739-3790.
Time and Dates	8:30 am to 4:10 pm Th, September 6, 2012 T, December 4, 2012
Location	September 6, 2012: Location in Washington, DC will be announced before course. Other dates:  Location in Washington, DC will be announced before course.  Our courses are held at these Washington, DC, locations.
Course Materials	Includes The Federal Budget Process, Government Series and more than 75 pages of charts and documentation of the budget process.
Certificate of Training and CEUs	A Certificate of Training is available for this course. To get a Certificate of Training, your registration fee must be paid in full, and you must attend the entire course. This is a required course for the Certificate in Congressional Operations. This course is approved for .6 CEUs from George Mason University.
Related Training	Advanced Federal Budget Process Congressional Briefing Conference - Capitol Hill Workshop The President's Budget The Defense Budget
Policies	For this course, cancellations and transfers must be submitted in writing to us.  Substitutions must be submitted in writing - include substitute's name, phone and email. Our transfer and cancellation fees are outlined below. Transfer and Cancellation Fee Time Before Course Substitutions Allowed Transfer Fee Cancellation Fee More than 4 weeks No charge None None 2 to 4 weeks No charge 10% of tuition 25% of tuition 3 days to 2 weeks No charge 20% of tuition 50% of tuition 1 to 2 days No charge 30% of tuition 75% of tuition day of program (no refunds to no-shows) No charge No refund No refund No refunds for no shows. We reserve the right to change this fee and time period. Cancellation, Substitution and Transfer Policy  Weather Policy TCN reserves the right to cancel any course in the event of insufficient registrations. All statements and discussion at all of our courses, workshops and seminars, public and custom, are off the record and not for attribution, unless specified otherwise. The resulting confidentiality ensures a frank and free exchange of views.
FAQs	FAQs about our training including suggested attire.
Register	$595 Payment methods we accept include checks, EFT/ACH, and Intuit Payment Network (IPN).     For a printable course description, agenda with dates, and registration form, click here.  PDF Fax or Mail: Print out and complete the registration form (in Adobe pdf). The completed form should include your method of payment.    Fax the completed form to us at 703-739-1195.    Mail the completed form to us at TheCapitol.Net, Inc., PO Box 25706, Alexandria, VA  22313-5706
Related Resources	Congressional Authorizations and Appropriations, Government Series Congressional Deskbook Congressional Operations Poster Federal Budget Links and Research Tools Quick DC Links - Washington Essentials The Federal Budget Process, Government Series The Federal Budget Process, by Allen Schick (Brookings 2000) Capitol Learning Audio Courses: Budget Process TM
Educational Tracks	Congressional Operations Federal Budgeting
Available as custom, on-site training?	Yes.  This program can be tailored for on-site agency, association and corporate training.  Please call 703-739-3790 for information.
Need more information?	Phone: 703-739-3790 Email: registrar -at- TheCapitol.Net Complete our online information request.
Non-Partisan	TheCapitol.Net is a non-partisan firm, and the opinions of its faculty, authors, clients and the owners and operators of its vendors are their own and do not represent those of TheCapitol.Net.

 

URLs: www.TheCapitol.Net/PublicPrograms/ucb.html
www.TheFederalBudget.com
TCNUCBA.com
CongressionalBudgeting.com

Next Course
September 6, 2012
8:30 am to 4:10 pm
Location (below)
$595 

   
Approved for .6 CEUs from George Mason University.

All of our courses and workshops include extensive interaction with our faculty, making our courses and workshops both educational and mini-consulting sessions with substantive experts.

Rave Reviews

"Good refresher into process of budget enactment including reason for and behind process changes."
-- Workshop Attendee, General Dynamics Corporation

"All presenters provided excellent, current examples that facilitated my understanding the material. Thanks to all."

"I have a much better understanding of the appropriations process and will be more efficient when dealing with Congressional staff."
-- Workshop Attendee, Federal Agency

"Easy to follow lecture and materials corresponded with presentation.... All employees working with legislation would gain keen knowledge in the budget process."
-- Unemployment Insurance Program Specialist, Employment and Training Administration, Dept. of Labor

"Instructors all knowledgeable and presented sophisticated material in an understandable manner."

"Great definitions, lots of examples to help differentiate between related and potentially confusing terms & concepts."
-- Workshop Attendee, Federal Agency

"[Faculty] enthusiastic, experienced and encouraging.  He was also very effective at bringing audience members into discussion."

See more testimonials about this course.

Don Gessaman

Philip Joyce

Kenneth Kraft

Jerry Mansfield

James Saturno

Allen Schick