Memorandum From the President on Multi-Year Budget Planning

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
Subject: Multi-Year Budget Planning

The demanding task of preparing the Federal Budget for fiscal year 1979 is almost complete. Your cooperation in this task has been very gratifying.

During the process of preparing the 1979 Budget, I was reminded—as I am sure you were—that it has become very difficult for either the Congress or the President to plan budgets effectively just one year in advance. Accordingly, I am asking that your Fiscal 1980 Budget requests be prepared as part of a three year budget plan. Work on these should commence immediately after the FY 1979 budget is transmitted.

The Office of Management and Budget will give you the 1979 allowances and the planning base estimates for fiscal years 1980, 1981, and 1982. These will be based on your projections for the FY 1979 budget. Then, in the spring, I will review major FY 1980 budget issues that might significantly alter the three-year planning base estimate. Afterwards the Office of Management and Budget will give you detailed guidance (and if necessary, revised planning base estimates) as you undertake the preparation of your fall budget request.

I realize that some issues will occasionally arise during the year which I will not have had a chance to consider in these comprehensive spring and fall budget reviews. When this happens I want an analysis of long-term budget costs to be included among the briefing papers I receive.

Multi-year budget planning should help make our government work better. I know you will do everything possible to see that the transition is smooth.

JIMMY CARTER