This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974—which established a new Congressional budget process, including creating the House and Senate Budget Committees and CBO. This is certainly an appropriate time to reflect on CBO’s work and how the agency might improve its service to the Congress.

CBO was established to provide objective, nonpartisan information to support the budget process and to help the Congress make effective budget and economic policy. In carrying out that mission, the agency offers an alternative to the information provided by agencies in the executive branch, particularly the Office of Management and Budget. CBO aims for its analysis to be timely, rigorous, insightful, and clearly explained.

Each year, the agency’s economists, budget analysts, and other experts (such as demographers and engineers) fulfill thousands of Congressional requests for technical assistance in the development of legislation, produce hundreds of cost estimates for proposed legislation, and prepare dozens of reports and other materials on a variety of topics. CBO’s employees are hired without regard to political affiliation, and the agency does not make policy recommendations.