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Memos to the Governor: An Introduction to State Budgeting

Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2007-04-07
Summary: "The Art and Realism of State Budget-Making"

No political figure of his time was more eloquent than the author's boss, Mario Cuomo. When asked to explain his failure to run for President, Cuomo once replied "I speak in poetry, but I govern in prose." The author of this book was one of the key figures composing the prose during his years as Cuomo's budget director.

The author has written a manual targeted for graduate students seeking to get a handle on the art and science of state budgeting. It is good enough, however, for governors, gubernatorial candidates and their staff, budget directors, and key legislative leaders and legislative staff to gain some worthwhile insights from.

This is not the book to learn the ins and outs of the step by step negotiations in New York or any other state. The author is sparing in his use of anecdotes. What he does, and does well, is to take the reader through the long and tortuous process of compiling a budget from the governor's point of view, and allowing the reader to see the obstacles any governor must face in achieving his vision under the American system of checks and balances.

"(B)udget success is the key to re-orienting government," the author writes. "New programs, changed priorities, tax cuts or shifts in tax burdens, a larger or smaller role for government in the state's economy--all these objectives must be won in the budget arena....In these memos, a successful budget is one that delivers on a governor's programmatic objectives, and does so within financial constraints that help achieve or maintain structural budget balance....Budget success also requires careful consideration of long-term strategic goals, a clear understanding of the impact of the business cycle on state budgets, and effective negotiating tactics to get executive recommendations adopted...."

The author, a rather straightforward modern Machiavelli, prepares 8 memos for his protypical governor. He closes with a stern warning. "If you cannot use the budget to state your goals and move state government in the direction you advocate, you are not likely to make much progress towards these goals. As your term ends, voters and the press will find it difficult to say what you have accomplished. If you have mastered the budget and adoption process, you will have a solid list of tangible achievements. Effective use of the budget as a policy and political tool is a necessary, if not quite sufficient, condition of successful leadership in the statehouse. Do everything you can as soon as you can to grab hold of the budget process and make it work for you."

The author's memos are entitled "You and Your Budget Officer," "Budget Strategy," "Preparing the Executive Budget--the Technical Underpinnings," "Choices in the Final Phase of Budget Preparation," "Budget Tactics:Laying the Groundwork for Adoption," "Going Public With the Budget," "The Legislative Phase of the Budget Process," and "Budget Execution."

Anyone holding the office of governor would likely ensure at least moderate success by intensely studying the author's book. A cautionary note is that the author does not spend much time inquiring into, or advising on, the motives of non-gubernatorial actors in the budgetary drama. A governor who really understood the positions of the advocates, the legislators, and the media--and who was able to use that understanding to lead others to achieve common ends--would do even better than one merely following this book.

The author does understand that legislators have district needs, and that legislative leaders are responsive to individual legislators, especially those in swing districts. But the interplay of localized electoral needs with statewide public policy is minimized in the author's accounts. More detailed subsequent writings may correct this.

The author's writing style is dry but decisive, like that of many other budget makers this customer reviewer has known. Every memo is full of good advice, and subtle warnings of the dangers of uncontrolled idealistic fervor to make great changes. "Publication of agency performance measures," the author warns, "may lead to an improvement in service delivery, but public performance measures can also provide quantitative evidence of government's inevitable failures and mistakes."

The author is no Don Quixote. He is a grizzled veteran of budgetary wars.
He identifies with governors and wants them to succeed. He does not identify with legislators, interest groups, and the media. He does not want them individually or collectively defeating a governor's choice of priorities, or, even worse, causing a governor to be defeated. That makes this an excellent book for understanding the gubernatorial mindset as well as the budgeting process.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 1999-02-05
Summary: "A great book!"

Dall Forsythe, former budget director to Gov. Mario Cuomo, has written an excellent book on how big policy decisions are made. It is written in an easy to read style in memo format for the new Governor.