CBO, OMB Project Deficits for FYs 2002 and 2003
January 25, 2002 - In testimony
Jan. 23 before both the House and Senate Budget Committees, Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) Director Dan L. Crippen presented a bleak forecast
for the next several years. In place of the record surpluses predicted
last year, CBO now projects total federal budget deficits of $21 billion
for FY 2002 and $14 billion for FY 2003.
The current FY 2002 deficit projection of $21 billion represents
a change of more than $300 billion from CBO's January 2001
projection of a $313 billion surplus. Mr. Crippen told the
committees that more than 70 percent of this reduction results
from the weak economy and related technical factors, which
have considerably lowered the revenues expected for this year
and the next. He also noted that discretionary spending in
FY 2002 - including $20 billion in supplemental spending enacted
in December as part of the response to the September 11 attacks
- was $711 billion, $45 billion more than CBO assumed last
January.
Meanwhile, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director
Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., released the Administration's latest
budget estimates during a Jan. 23 briefing for reporters.
OMB estimates the FY 2002 deficit will be $106 billion and
the FY 2003 deficit will be $80 billion. The OMB deficit numbers
are higher than CBO's because they reflect proposed policy
changes, including additional supplemental spending promised
this year for farmers, homeland security, and defense and
the White House's FY 2003 plans to increase the defense budget
by 14 percent and double homeland security spending.
Information: Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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