Budget Analysis Division

"Where the action is" in federal budgeting

What are the budgetary consequences of imposing limits on carbon emissions? How much will it cost to create programs aimed at preventing housing foreclosures and attempting to calm financial markets? Will spending now on preventive health care lower total health care costs in the long run? How is illegal immigration affecting the budgets of state and local governments?

The Congress considers hundreds of legislative proposals every year, encompassing major issues such as those highlighted above. Each proposal must receive a price tag before being voted on, and CBO's Budget Analysis Division provides that price tag. The Congress relies on the division's cost estimates and budget projections to prepare its annual budget plan, evaluate the President's budget, weigh legislative proposals, and keep track of more than $3 trillion in yearly federal spending. As a result, the estimates produced by the Budget Analysis Division play a critical role in Congressional actions that affect the nation and the world.

The Budget Analysis Division is CBO's largest, with approximately 80 staff members. Because the division has a high ratio of analysts to managers, those analysts enjoy a considerable degree of individual responsibility, challenge, and visibility. They work closely with Congressional and Administration staff, acting as key links in the legislative and budget processes.

The division contains six units that estimate the cost of legislation in a wide range of subject areas. Five of those units focus on costs to the federal government, and one estimates costs to state, local, and tribal governments. Other units in the division coordinate and report on budget projections, compile estimates for annual appropriation bills, track other key budget figures, and support its computer systems.

Work in the Budget Analysis Division is sometimes hectic, with a pace that is closely tied to the ebb and flow of legislative activity on Capitol Hill. Priorities are generally driven by committee actions, but analysts frequently provide budget information to individual Members' offices as well. In keeping with CBO's nonpartisan role, analysts in the Budget Analysis Division are responsive and accessible to both the majority and minority parties.

The division seeks people who can unearth hard-to-find information, use data to explore and analyze complex issues, and explain their findings to Members of Congress and their staff. Division analysts must have strong communications skills—both oral and written—and be able to juggle a variety of tasks. Most analysts in the division have a master's degree in public policy, public administration, public health, or economics. Some have a Ph.D. in economics or a related field. Such analysts come to the Budget Analysis Division with varying levels of experience—from the nation's top-ranked graduate schools (often with analytical experience prior to graduate school), from other federal agencies and state governments, and from private-sector firms.