Mid-year appropriations in georgia: allocating the “surplus”

Utilizing appropriations data, this article analyzes the mid-year budget amendment process in Georgia. Economic factors are found to account for a sustained pattern of budget expansion from one year to the next between 1977 and 1986. Revenue estimating practices are found to contribute to mid-year increases in state agency appropriations. Patterns of agency success in the mid-year budget amendment are found to be associated with success in the previous mid-year amendment. The article concludes that legislators, the executive, and executive branch agencies have come to regard the mid-year budget amendment as a regular part of the state's budgetary process.