Budget simulation game

You are presented with a draft of a preliminary budget for the new year and a projected budget for the four outyears (altogether a five-year budget plan.)  There is not only a budget deficit for the new year, but also a large accumulated deficit over the four years after that.

The very initial ground work for the budget preparation has already been done for you.  Now you are presented with a whole list of budget options, whether to increase or cut taxes and revenues, or whether to establish new, expand or cut current programs.  Some of the new spending items are required and some are optional.  It is a simplified version of a state budget, but it has enough complexity in it that you need to make some tough decisions, including what kind of underlying economic assumption you want to make.

Your goal here is to produce a balanced budget in the first year, which is required, and reach a reasonable structural balance over the four years after that, or at least as close to it as you can, meaning the budget for the out four years does not have to be balanced, as long as you are reducing its structural deficit to a more manageable level. You need to take the Governor’s concerns and initiatives into consideration and keep an eye on the legislature.

In your report to the Governor, you, as the state budget director, need to make your recommendations as to how to eliminate the deficit for the upcoming year as well as reduce the structural imbalance in later years.  In your memo, you need to pay attention to the following issues (not necessary in that order):

• you need to first address the overall problem on hand, the most immediate as well as the long term;
• you need to lay out all the program and revenue initiatives you have taken to address the problem on hand, and you need to present in such a way that will make it easy for the Governor to accept;
• you also need to tell the Governor the important initiatives, if any, you do not take in the budget and why;
• you need to address briefly any inherent risk in your recommendation;
• you need to briefly address possible legislative reaction to your recommendation;
• you need to give the governor a list of talking points about what he has achieved in this budget so that he can tell the voters.

Remember, the Governor is a very busy man. Therefore, you need to be very careful about your presentation.  Write this memo as if you are writing to a real politician, rather than to a class instructor. It should be very clearly and logically laid out, not just simply a regurgitation of a list of revenue and expenditure options. You need to be careful about the presentation format.  Do not just simply present a list of all your options for each agency.  The table also should not just be a reprint of the attached spreadsheet.  It will be way too long and tedious.  Think of a way that is both attentive to the details and easy on the eye. In terms of substance, your job is to sell your recommendation to the Governor, so you need to lay out your program and revenue initiatives in such a way that will make it difficult for him to reject. As elected officials, they typically prefer spending increase and hate raising more revenue unless absolutely necessary. When you have to raise revenue, think about the political principles in raising revenue as well discussed in class (or lecture notes.)

Eight to ten pages, single-spaced, and attached with tables on all the decisions you