Policy Analysis

The state budget is one of the most important documents prepared by the state government. It offers insights into the priorities of a state government. It addresses some of the key questions of politics; for example, who gets what, how much, and who pays for it all. The state budget is a political document. The process involves the state budget office, state legislatures, and the governor.

The mayor's office has received feedback from the city's citizens including the mayor himself. The citizens are concerned with the need to expand the city's streets and highways. It appears that the main complaint is that the citizens of Kelsey are recognizing the city's growth and how that has impacted the city streets by creating more traffic and consequently, traffic accidents. The mayor has informed the budget director that he is concerned with the increase of traffic accidents. Apparently, this past year has seen an all-time high of traffic accidents in the city.

The mayor has informed the budget director of some changes in the federal pass-through money for the state. It seems the federal government has reduced this money and thus, the budgeting group must restructure the money for the coming year. The mayor also reports a budget reform at the federal level and this puts pressure on the state's Department of Transportation to use the funds before they expire. There are also various other concerns that will in all probability affect the decision on our city's freeways and transportation modes. The state transportation committees are lobbying the state for an additional 15% gas tax. The state's Sierra Club chapter is putting pressure on the legislature to reduce funding for freeways. The club is advocating for mass transit options. Consequently when taking all this into consideration, it appears that changes need to be made within the budget.