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November 13, 1998
MEETING OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION TO STUDY CAPITAL BUDGETING
Meeting of Saturday, September 19
Minutes
Transcript available. The meeting was transcribed. A copy of
the transcription is available upon request to Dick Emery, the Executive
Director of the Commission.
Introduction.--Co-chair Kathleen Brown opened the meeting at
9:05 a.m. in the Truman Room of the White House Conference Center, 726
Jackson Place, NW, Washington DC. Sitting at the table with the Commissioners
was William Dinkelacker, Designated Federal Official from the Department
of the Treasury. Dick Emery, Executive Director of the Commission; and
Robert Litan, Writer, were seated at the witness table. As required by
the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the meeting had been announced in the
Federal Register, and the meeting was open to the public. Commissioner
Kramer was not present for the meeting.
Several items were distributed to the Commission and were available
at the meeting:
-- the September 8, 1998, draft of the Commission's report, which was
prepared by Robert Litan for discussion by the Commission;
-- charts to accompany the draft;
-- written testimony prepared by Letitia Chambers, President, Chambers
Associates Incorporated;
-- a staff draft outline of website information;
-- the fact sheet about the Commission;
-- a list of written testimony and statements received by the Commission;
-- the Federal Register notice announcing the meeting;
-- the press release announcing the meeting; and
-- draft minutes of the meeting of Friday, July 24, 1998.
Purpose. The purposes of the meeting were to provide guidance
to Robert Litan for his preparation of the next draft of the Commission's
report and to take testimony from Letitia Chambers, President of Chambers
Associates Incorporated.
Discussion. At the beginning of the meeting the Commission approved
the minutes for the July 24, 1998, meeting in New York City. Mr. Penner
then reported on a meeting that he, Barbara Basser-Bigio, Bob Litan, and
Dick Emery had with staff from the Budget and Appropriations Committees
of the Congress. Mr. Penner reported that the staff was pleased at the
Commission's major recommendation not to have a traditional capital budget,
where capital would be financed by borrowing.
At 9: 30 a.m., Ms. Brown introduced Letitia Chambers, who had been invited
to testify before the Commission. Ms. Chambers testified in favor of a
unified budget that would be divided into three discrete budgets: a capital
investment budget; a pension, income replacement budget; and an operating
budget. A copy of her testimony is available from the Executive Director
of the Commission. She completed her testimony about 10:30 a.m.
After Ms. Chamber's testimony, the Commission continued discussion of
Mr. Litan's draft until the break for lunch at 12:50. The Commission reconvened
at 1:15 and continued to discuss the draft until about 2:15, at which time
the Commission completed discussion of the report and discussed briefly
the schedule for the next meeting.
The Commission agreed that the next meeting would be held in Washington
on Friday, November 13, from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the same location as
this meeting. Mr. Litan would complete a draft by October 21 that staff
would distribute to the Commission, with comments due to Mr. Litan within
7-10 days. A revised draft would be distributed shortly thereafter, for
discussion at the meeting the morning of November 13.
The meeting adjourned at 2:50 p.m.
President's Commission to Study Capital
Budgeting
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