BOP Program Statement 2100.04 § 3

best understood in terms of four phases: Budget Development, Congressional Approval, Budget

Execution, and Review.

The BOP’s budget development phase begins about 18 months before the beginning of the fiscal

year. During this time, management identifies initiatives (major projects, new programs,

estimated costs, workyears, etc.) that should be included in the BOP’s budget request. This

process includes the Director considering any input and recommendation(s) provided by the

President, Council of Prison Locals 33. Once the initiatives are consolidated, reviewed, and

approved by the Director, the Budget Development Branch adds their projected cost to a “base”

(the prior year budget plus annualization and other uncontrollable costs), resulting in the BOP’s

proposed operating budget.

The Budget Development Branch compiles this data, along with detailed descriptions and

justifications for the array of consolidated budget activities, into a document known as the Spring

Planning Submission. After approval by the Director, the Spring Planning Submission is

forwarded to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in May. Final Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) figures (allowances) are set during November or December; an appeal process is

available where DOJ can argue its case for any deleted or reduced items. After resolution of

appeals, the BOP prepares the budget for the President’s final review and it is submitted to

Congress in January.

Once the President’s budget has been submitted to Congress, BOP staff track the budget as it

makes its way through the committee process. The Director is called to provide testimony

regarding the BOP’s budget submission.

During this time, usually in May, the field (institutions, Regional Offices, Management and

Specialty Training Center [MSTC], Staff Training Academy [STA], and Central Office,

including the National Institute of Corrections) begins the process of identifying its budget

requirements. The Budget and Planning Committee and the Salary/Work Force Committee meet

to review and approve Cost Center Managers’ budget submissions for the upcoming fiscal year.

P2100.04 3/18/2014 7

Regional Offices review, approve, and consolidate institution and Regional Office submissions

and forward them to the Budget Execution Branch (BEB), Central Office. The BEB, using the

financial management system, begins to develop operating plans based on proposed spending

levels (“marks”) received from Congress during the appropriations process. Those operating

plans, distributed to the sub-budget activity level based on equity formulas and regional

submissions, are continually revised to reflect the most current anticipated spending level. By

October, either the appropriations bill or a Continuing Resolution has been passed and the fiscal

year begins.

If an appropriations bill has been passed by Congress and signed by the President, the allotment

procedure begins. Once operating plans are revised to reflect approved spending levels, the BEB

transmits operating plans via the financial management system to the regional level, which

transmits them to the institutions. As the fiscal year progresses, obligations are monitored at

each level to ensure they are within established plans.

The field, through the Budget and Planning Committee, the Salary/Work Force Committee, and

other committees, approves and recommends adjustments to established plans due to operational

requirements. The BEB may modify operating plans based on recommendations from the field

and may request reapportionment or reprogramming of the BOP’s budget authority to reflect

anticipated obligation and reimbursable trends for the rest of the fiscal year. As the fiscal year

draws to a close, the BEB scrutinizes obligations to ensure that the BOP does not exceed

spending levels authorized and, therefore, does not violate the Anti-Deficiency Act.

The BOP has its own internal review system coordinated by the Program Review Division. This

entails, in part, an operational review process and a program review process.

The operational review allows individual program areas at all organizational levels to assess their

operations using national guidelines to determine if deviations noted in previous program

reviews have been corrected and if program areas are functioning according to policy.

A program review is conducted by reviewers from the Program Review Division and staff

selected from institutions, Regional Offices, Training Centers, and Central Office as subject

matter experts. The reviewers, using national guidelines established during the management

assessment process, identify deviations from, and exemplary compliance to, the guidelines.

All BOP programs are subject to review from the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the

Government Accountability Office (GAO), and OMB at any time.