Federal Budget Release Likely to Be Late

Typically, the Federal budget request for the coming fiscal year is released in the first week of February.  This year, prognosticators are saying that it more likely will be early March before the Administration offers its fiscal 2014 budget proposal.  This will delay Congressional hearings and markups into the spring and summer instead of the more traditional March-April timeframe.

The problem appears to be with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  OMB typically completes its “passback” process by the end of November, through which the White House budget staff let Federal agencies and departments know which of their budget proposals have been accepted, rejected, or modified.  This year, the passback process only began earlier this week.  Federal departments and agencies will need several weeks to readjust budget proposals and move the requests to Congress for consideration.

ASDWA will continue to monitor this process and share information with state primacy agencies as soon as it becomes available.