Congressional Management Foundation

Budgeting

summary

Imagine the creation of a new congressional office as the creation of a new small business. All small businesses require two things:

a mission or purpose (a reason for existing); and
resources to support that mission.

In Congress, you are largely responsible for developing the first item -- your mission, your reason for coming to Washington, what you want to accomplish and contribute while here. This is communicated in your strategic plan.

The second item -- resources -- are given to you by Congress and paid for by the American taxpayer. Spent wisely, those resources can greatly boost your chances of success and achievement in Congress.

House offices averaged $1.3 million for official uses in 2005. Senate office budgets ranged from $2.7 - 4.3 million. Decisions for uses of this money include:

How many staff to hire?
What staff positions to fill?
What to pay each staffer?
How many district offices to maintain?
What type of computer, software, and telecommunications systems your office will have?
How often you and staff will travel between your district and Washington?
Whether to send any unsolicited mailings to constituents.
Whether to pay for professional training for staff; and many additional smaller items.

developing a freshman budget

Your first-year budget will be the hardest. Never again will you have to develop a budget with so little staff support, relevant information, or time. Seasoned veterans advise that it is nearly impossible to develop an accurate, detailed budget until at least six months into your first term. The most commonly stated advice of Chiefs of Staff is to err on the side of caution. With that wisdom in mind, we offer a four-step process for developing a first-year budget:

Collect expense information
Make major allocations
Compare major allocations to your strategic plan
Build a month-by-month budget.

The following are resources that Chiefs of Staff in recent freshman offices have found helpful.

Your predecessor's budget(s). This is the best possible source for information tailored to your district. Unless a no-holds-barred campaign has completely poisoned relations, your predecessor will likely share his past years’ budgets with you (It is important to review more than one year since election year and retiree budgets can differ significantly from off-year budgets or non-retirees). This will shed light on district office rents, travel expenses, constituent communication expenses, and much more. This information source can be a gold mine, provided that you have a clear understanding of how your priorities will differ from your predecessor's.
The budget(s) from an adjoining district. If you cannot obtain your predecessor's budget(s) easily, that of an adjoining district with similar demographic characteristics will provide much of the same information.
The Statement of Disbursements of the House. This massive official report, published quarterly, lists every expenditure for every House office and can provide valuable assistance in determining specific costs of running a congressional office.
Combined Airline Ticket Office (CATO). If none of the forgoing sources are helpful for estimating travel expenses, seek the assistance of CATO (703-522-2286). You will need a good idea of how often you will travel to the district.
House Information Resources (HIR). Your predecessor's computer expenses may be outdated because of the rapid pace of change in computer systems. HIR (202-225-9276) can provide timely information on various systems currently in use.
National Taxpayers Union (NTU). NTU (703-683-5700) produces annual, summarized analyses of Members’ official expenditures. These reports, which highlight the most and least "frugal" Members, also receive a good deal of attention from the press when they are released.
Congressional Management Foundation (CMF). CMF publishes biennial reports on House and Senate staff salaries. These reference books provide detailed information on salaries, work experience, and demographic characteristics of staff for virtually every position in House and Senate offices.

considerations for first-term budgeting

Salaries

Determine how many staffers will be needed to carry out your strategic plan.
Average salaries in first-term offices are lower than in veteran offices, primarily because many first-term office staffers are younger and less experienced.
Do not forget to budget for staff overtime pay if you believe that your overtime-eligible staff will work more than 40 hours during any week.

Franking

If your strategic plan calls for frequent unsolicited mailings to constituents, allocate resources to this category accordingly.
Best information will come from your predecessor's budget and whether or not you plan to mail more or less frequently than he or she did.
Because many mass mailings involve outside printers and other contract services, don't overlook your "Printing and Reproduction" expenses when budgeting for franked mailings.

Equipment

Will you keep your predecessor’s already paid for system or purchase a new one?
You also need a feel for Washington and district office work flow and communication needs.
Veteran CoSs strongly recommend that you talk to several friendly offices in addition to House Information Resources before purchasing equipment.
Review the Do's and Don'ts of purchasing equipment in Setting Course.

District Office Rent, Telecommunications, and Utilities

How many offices will you open?
How many staff and interns will be in each office?
Also consider typical office rents in your district, whether utilities are included in the rent, and the telecommunications system you choose for your office(s).

Travel (Member and Staff)

Estimate the number of expected trips to the district in accordance with your strategic plan. Erring on the side of caution in this case means estimating on the high side -- many Members travel home more than 40 times a year.
Determine how often district staff may need to be in Washington and vice versa.

Supplies and Materials

Includes costs such as office supplies, bottled water, food & beverages for meetings with constituents, newspapers, and reference books.

Printing and Reproduction

Category includes newsletters, printing, photography, and other related expenses.

Other Services

Janitors for district offices
News clipping services
Room fees for town hall meetings
Staff training.

Returning Money to the Treasury

Does your fiscal philosophy or a campaign promise require you to spend less than the entire MRA?
A National Taxpayers Union study shows that first-term Members in 1997 spent an average of 92 percent of their MRA, or approximately $75,000 less than they were allocated.

Contingencies

Veteran Chiefs of Staff advise that you keep at least $5,000 in reserve. This is especially important to remember at the end of the year -- when the only option if you overspent your MRA is for the Member to pay the difference from his or her own pocket.

avoiding problems

In some ways, your budget is a double-edged sword. Your official funds can help you meet your legislative and representational goals, but, if mismanaged, they can constrain your office’s activities and even lead to public embarrassment. There are three budget problems you may encounter:

Spending on the wrong things (non-priorities). Many offices lose sight of their goals in the rush of normal legislative business. They often make major spending decisions (e.g., hiring a new staffer, sending out a mass mailing to constituents) to solve short-term problems, without considering how the decision will affect their "big picture." Such decisions (e.g., hiring the wrong type of staffer), can be difficult to undo, and take resources away from achieving the Member’s strategic plan. The best way to avoid this problem is simply asking, "how does this decision affect my long-term goals?" whenever you consider a major expenditure.
Over-spending. There are two types of "over-spending." If your office over-spends its budget early in the year, it may need to forgo items that were in the budget for later in the year (e.g., cancel some Member travel, eliminate an important mailing to your constituents). If your office over-spends its official allocation of funds, the Member is personally liable for the excess expenditures. None of these options are attractive. Simple financial planning can prevent such over-spending.
Media scrutiny of your expenditures. The media (and the public) will have access not only to information on your total MRA but to a detailed quarterly summary of your office’s expenditures, and many a local reporter will plumb the depths of your expenses for a story on your "fiscal mismanagement" or "political corruption." The media views two types of spending patterns as inherently suspect: (1) dealings with your family, business associates, or campaign contributors, and (2) expenditures that are way out of line with the norms of other Members in your state delegation. You and your staff need to be aware of these considerations when authorizing major expenditures such as district office rent, a computer system, or a printing and mailing job.

cost-saving tips

Your staff can focus on cost-saving measures and prudent financial policies as a way of maximizing your limited resources. The following are cost-saving tips we have compiled from congressional offices. Most of these tips are applicable only to House offices, though the suggestions in the "travel" and "publications and subscriptions" sections are relevant for both the House and Senate.

Like all other actions within your office, cost-saving measures must fall within House or Senate regulations. The applicability of any given suggestion in this section will depend largely on the style, mission, goals, and systems of each office.

Equipment

Consider sharing equipment (e.g., mail-folding machines) with another office.
Weigh the expense of leasing against the possible obsolescence of purchased equipment.
Ask House Information Resources to conduct a free consultation before making commitments to purchase a computer system, or trying to upgrade the equipment you have.
Design your work spaces to minimize the number of duplicate equipment items needed, and design the work day to allow the maximum use of computers and other equipment.

Computer Service

Make sure you select the services that will best meet your needs and the backgrounds of your staff. The most capable service in the world is a waste of money if it is not being used. If you have services that are not being used because of lack of staff expertise, invest in staff training.
House offices are not required to buy maintenance contracts for their computer system or other equipment, but they should weigh the cost savings of foregoing a contract against potentially large repair costs in the future.

Constituent Communications

Smaller pages cost less to print when producing a newsletter.
The cost of a questionnaire can be higher than the cost of two newsletters when you consider data entry, tabulation, and follow-up.
Limit newsletters to two pages instead of four. Sending one four-page, legal size newsletter costs the same as sending three two-page newsletters.
A desktop publishing package has sufficient capabilities to produce a newsletter that suits your needs, provided one of your staffers knows how to use it.
One-color print jobs of fewer than 5,000 pieces can often be done more cheaply on your copier than by an outside firm.
Always obtain several bids on print jobs.
A second color in a print job can cost up to 33 percent more.
Recycled paper is more expensive than regular paper. Weigh cost against "message."
Limit responses to out-of-district mail.
Use pre-printed postcards and labels to advise constituents that the office has received their casework letter and that investigation has been initiated.
Consider not answering postcards at all, or answering them with pre-printed postcards.
Postal patron mailings cost less per recipient than other types of outreach mailings and also avoid the cost of entering and maintaining extensive mailing lists, although they sacrifice personalization.
Be persistent in asking the Post Office for accurate postal patron counts. Accurate counts could save you thousands in unnecessary printing costs.
Consider substitutes to mass mailings for outreach to your constituents. Inserts in your local Sunday newspaper or radio spots can be cheaper than large mailings, and they do not count against your franking maximum. However, the content of these outreach methods must be approved by the Franking Commission.
Review mail and technology publications from the Congressional Management Foundation.

Telecommunications

Communicate between Washington and the district/state by computer, which will reduce long-distance usage.
When receiving a collect call, ask the caller for his number and immediately call back.
Conference calling may reduce the number of trips a Member must make to the district/state.
Check for special government rates when installing new services.

District Office Rent (for House Offices)

Private space is often cheaper than federal space and is more accessible on weekends.

State Office Rent (for Senate Offices)

If you have parking, cable TV, and/or security systems at your state offices, try to get the charges for these services written into your leases. If they are part of the lease, the Senate itself will pay for these services and your office’s accounts will not be debited. However, if they are not part of the lease, your office will be responsible for paying these expenses.

Office Supplies and Equipment

Buy items with office addresses and committee assignments in small quantities. There is little cost advantage to large orders. Office relocations and committee reassignments are relatively common.
At the end of the year, consider "paying down" equipment payment plans or purchasing frequently used office supplies in bulk with unexpended office funds.

Travel

Consider longer and less frequent Member trips to the district/state.
Always check for government discount rates for air travel, car rental, and lodging; often the savings can be substantial.
Use airlines' frequent flyer programs to accumulate credits toward future official travel.
For district/state travel, a single long-term car lease may be cheaper than repeatedly renting cars every time the Member or staff need to travel.
In some cases, a daily car rental with unlimited miles may be less expensive than reimbursing staff for mileage on their own cars.
Consider reimbursing staff for auto mileage at less than the maximum rate of $.325 per mile because this rate often exceeds the true fuel and operating costs of a car.
Careful coordination of trips and errands will reduce the amount of mileage expense that must be reimbursed.
Establish a maximum per diem meal allowance for staff on official travel.

Publications and Subscriptions

Monitor subscriptions for duplication, value, etc.
Compare the relative cost of receiving several publications with using a clipping service.
Use the Internet to read publications when possible.

Personnel

Use part-time employees as appropriate.
Hire fewer employees overall. This allows you to pay top-notch staff higher salaries and still reduce overall salary expenses.

sample budgeting worksheets

House Freshman Office Worksheet (27KB)