Budget Issues
Restructuring the Federal Budget--The Capital Component Gao ID: AFMD-89-52 August 24, 1989GAO proposed a conceptual framework for the capital budget component of its restructured unified budget proposal that would improve federal decisionmaking and control processes.
GAO found that the current budget: (1) makes no distinction between operating expenses and capital investments, which could lead to unsound deficit reduction strategies and create a bias against capital investments; (2) does not highlight the use of trust fund surpluses totalling about $100 billion annually to finance deficits in other government activities; and (3) does not identify the totals for activities established as primarily self-financing enterprises. GAO proposed to restructure the current unified budget to include a capital and operating budget.