Main Responsibilities of a Budget Analyst at the State of California
Justin's responsibilities as a Budget Analyst at the Public Budgeting Agency for the State of California revolve around managing and presenting the state budget, particularly for community colleges, and analyzing policies that impact it, which involves a cyclical process of resource assessment, public communication, budget defense in hearings, and incorporating feedback to finalize the budget act, also including "bill analysis" and presenting recommendations on legislative actions, such as in community colleges. With insight in the public sector, Justin's responsibilities require a versatile skillset, transitioning between meticulous budget creation and public relations to defend the decisions made.
Public Budgeting, Budget Analysis, Government Finance, Policy Analysis, Stakeholder Communication
Advizer Information
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Justin Hurst
Budget Analyst
Public Budgeting Agency for the State of California
UC Davis
Sac State - Master's of Public Policy and Administration (MPPA)
Biology & Related Sciences, International Relations & Affairs
Education, Government & Public Sector
Finance
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. Managing and presenting the state budget, including a detailed process with specific deadlines like the Governor's budget presentation by January 10th.
2. Communicating the budget to the public and stakeholders, defending budget decisions in legislative hearings, and incorporating feedback into revised budget proposals (May revise).
3. Analyzing the impact of policies and legislation on the budget, particularly concerning community colleges, and providing recommendations to the Department of Finance.
Transcript
What are your main responsibilities within your role?
That's hard to distill into a few things. If I had to give it three categories, I would say it is to manage the state budget, present that state budget, and do analysis on policies that affect that budget.
There is a detailed and specific process that the state goes through for public budgeting. I am responsible for the state's community college budget, so I do a lot with regards to that.
By January 10th, constitutionally, the governor needs to present the first pass of the budget, known as the governor's budget. The process leading up to that in the fall and winter is about figuring out where we are with our resources and how we want to prioritize spending for the next year.
A lot of this is guided by statute, so there's only so much wiggle room. However, there are other situations where you might have more money than needed, or on the opposite side, not enough money and have to pull something back. A lot of decision-making happens here.
Once the governor's budget is presented in January, you switch roles. Now you are more on the public relations side. It's fun because after spending time putting the budget together, you have to communicate it to the public and stakeholders and receive feedback.
At the same time, as a budget analyst, you are defending this budget. We currently have budget hearings where we testify in front of the legislature about the budget and the decisions made. This continues for a while.
Then we move to stage two of the budget process, called the May Revise. This is usually in April and May. There will be a part two of the budget released, which can look completely different from the first part. It incorporates feedback, new revenue projections, and policy updates.
This is a much shortened version of the first part of the process but gets closer to the end goal: the actual budget act passed by the end of June, constitutionally.
Ultimately, the budget process leads to the budget's final passing. As you get closer to that, you switch to the bill analysis portion. This involves the legislature. For example, if something regarding community colleges passes, the Department of Finance gets to review it and present its recommendations.