The Role of the Office of Homeland Security in the Federal Budget Process

📖 The Scoop

This RAND-sponsored study is intended to inform the discussion of the Office of Homeland Security's (OHS's) engagement in the federal budget process. Our recommendations for interagency strategy and funding coordination are based on an analysis of expert opinion, institutional analogy, and congressional interest and involvement, as reflected in funding streams, committee hearings, and referrals of legislative proposals. The research for this study was initiated in December 2001 and completed in February 2002. Our analysis suggests that OHS can engage effectively in the budget process in its current institutional form, but it must build on the strength of its relationship with the President over the longer term. Defining efficacy as the ability of OHS to secure department and agency funding for agreed programs and activities in support of the President's policy agenda, we identify key points of leverage inside and outside government and also recommend specific mechanisms for participating in the executive branch and congressional phases of the budget process. It is our view that OHS will be most effective if it treats interagency strategy and funding coordination in tandem, through an integrated framework that focuses on core cross-cutting policy issues and that is tied to the budget cycle. We develop a framework that starts with policy priorities and objectives and then flows to strategy formulation and funding requests, clearly mapping budget proposals to specific programs and activities. This report should be of interest to those involved in the debate on the coordination of homeland security strategy and funding, including policymakers in the executive branch, members of Congress, and their staff.

Genre: Business & Economics / Public Finance (fancy, right?)