The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum for all federal department heads, instructing them on how to prepare their departments’ FY19 budgets. Memorandum M-17-28 requires FY19 budgets to abide by the levels proposed in the administration’s FY18 budget request, which cut billions of dollars from non-defense discretionary programs, including affordable housing programs. OMB states that the FY19 budget will reflect the impact of reducing the federal civilian workforce and reforming the federal government as called for by Executive Order 13781, which requires OMB to devise a plan to eliminate unnecessary federal agencies, components of agencies, and agency programs, and to merge functions for greater efficiency (see Memo, 3/20).
The FY19 budget is to build on the FY18 budget, which the Memorandum trumpets as one that “tackles society’s most pressing problems” by reprioritizing spending, “filling critical gaps in our warfighting readiness” and providing resources to enforce immigration laws.
M-17-28 emphasizes “fiscal restraint necessary to achieve 3% economic growth,” but also advises departments that they may identify additional investments in programs that support a department’s mission, as long as the department’s budget would not increase by more than 5%.
Along with their FY19 budgets, departments must also submit an Agency Reform Plan and a workforce plan, as directed by Memorandum M-17-22 (see Memo, 4/17), which are to include proposals for eliminating activities, restructuring or merging activities, improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness, and maximizing employee performance. Departments’ FY19 budget requests must also include draft strategic plans covering fiscal years 2018 through 2022.
OMB Memorandum M-17-28 is at: http://bit.ly/2u8Popc.