STATE AND LOCAL BUDGETS.
Provisions and Procedure in States.— As a whole American States and cities have no uniform budget system and in their practice in this particular vary considerably. Every State in the Union has a provision that the governor °from time to time* or eat every session," or "at every regular session" shall give the legislature information on the condi tion of the State and make recommendations. Colorado, Idaho, Illinois and Kansas require that he shall "recommend measures?' But no governor assumes to have any standing before the State legislature until a bill is passed. Ala bama, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, Mon tana, Nebraska, Texas and West Virginia require that on the opening of each regular session the governor shall present estimates of the amount of money to be raised by taxation, but no governor would construe this as mean ing that he should prepare and submit a °budget.° The Maryland constitution requires that the controller shall prepare and submit estimates of the revenues and expenditures, while other constitutions place this duty on one or more other State officers. In some States statutes have been passed providing that cer tain officers individually or acting as a board ex officio shall prepare and submit estimates. In 1912 Wisconsin undertook to effect a plan of developing the State budget as a joint meas ure of the legislature and the administration. In 1913 New York established a State board of estimate so as to interject in its budget pro cedure a means of central control. The board consisted of the governor, lieutenant-governor, president pro tempore of the senate, chairman of the senate finance committee, speaker of the assembly, chairman of the assembly ways and means committee, controller, attorney-general, commissioner of efficiency and economy, four members ex officio of the legislative branch and five members ex officio of the executive and administrative branches. The first year the estimates came before the board it was unable to reach any conclusion and made no report, except such as was submitted individ ually by two members.
The question has aroused much popular un rest and in recognition of the dissatisfaction several States have appointed commissions or committees to inquire into methods of securing greater efficiency and economy in conducting the State business. Such commissions were
appointed by Massachusetts and New Jersey in 1912 and by New York, Pennsylvania, Minne sota, California, Illinois and Iowa in 1913, most of them recommending methods of ridding the States of irresponsible government. In the revised constitution of New York that was rejected in the election of November 1915, the financial methods were grouped round the budget idea. In California a State board of control has taken over the general supervision of the business and financial affairs of the State, with absolute control of the expenditure of the appropriations made by the legislature, and in 1915 the legislature took further steps to perfect the budgetary machinery. In 1913 the Illinois legislature passed an act providing for the preparation of a budget by the legis lative reference bureau which was submitted to the session of 1915 and revealed the lack of cor relation in the different departments and the lack of uniformity in compensation and in matters of accountancy. On 6 May 1913 an act was approved by Governor Cox of Ohio °to establish a budget system for the State officers, departments, and institutions;' requiring that on or before 15 November, biennially in even numbered years, all State activities requiring appropriations should submit to the governor a statement of their wants for the next bi ennium, which estimates should be submitted at the beginning of each regular session of the general assembly. Only two States require that appropriation bills originate in the lower branch of the legislature, while not half of the State constitutions provide. that bills for raising revenue shall originate in the lower house. In some States no appropriation bill may contain more than one item. In some States a date is set, after which no appropriation bills may be introduced, while some provide that it may be done on unanimous consent. Wisconsin pro vides that in order to consider a revenue bill three-fifths of the members must be present to constitute a quorum. South Dakota requires a two-thirds vote to pass an appropriation bill. Other constitutions prohibit appropriations of money in excess of revenues provided; others forbid the expenditure of public money for institutions outside the control of the State or for religious purposes.