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Representative James L. Oberstar (MN) (appearance on January
30, 1998)
Testimony: Representative Oberstar, with Representative Wise,
proposed a capital budget pilot program. The Congressmen requested that
the Commission include three recommendations in its report: 1) the FY 2001
budget should include a capital budget pilot program; 2) the pilot program
should display infrastructure and Federal buildings in the form of a capital
budget; and 3) there should be an analysis of the effect of the pilot program
on the current budgetary process, macroeconomic stability and growth, and
budgetary choices. The Congressmen advised the Commission to develop a
model for the pilot program in support of these recommendations.
In his oral testimony, Representative Oberstar discussed the following
issues:
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borrowing to finance physical infrastructure investments, because both
present and future generations pay for them and benefit from them;
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the need for a capital budget to make rational investment decisions before
lagging further behind Japan, Germany, and France; and
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the need for increased investments in the nation's aging infrastructure,
because dedicated revenue sources, such as the highway trust fund, are
not dedicated to infrastructure investments, but rather held to cover the
unified budget deficit.
Questions from the Commissioners:
Q. Would it be appropriate to have target levels for
investments extending into the future?
A. Once you establish a capital budget, you can have
an investment portfolio and prioritize investments.
Q. If we undertake an extensive capital program, we
lock in expenditures for a period of time. Do we increase the goals of
the budget under this circumstance?
A. No, you don't lock in an uncontrollable part of
the budget. Decisions today may result in illuminating a long-term spend
out program. It's not a matter of locking in, but setting up a process
where a "short-term" group of people take a longer-term look at investment.
Q. Under your pilot program, would authorizing committees
decide which projects to undertake or would the projects have to be appropriated
as well?
A. In most cases you still have to appropriate.
Q. How would the size of the capital budget be determined?
In relation to what?
A. That is the fundamental issue of establishing
a forum for the debate.
Q. Would Congress allow some kind of a commission
to make capital budgeting decisions?
A. It should be part of a public policy debate.
President's Commission to Study
Capital Budgeting
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