The Budget Bureau was created in 1929 to replace the State Board of Public Affairs. The
Bureau was headed by the Director of the Budget, who reported to the governor and acted as
secretary of the Joint Committee on Finance and Emergency Board. The Director of the Budget
advised the governor and legislature on financial matters, compiled the executive budget,
prepared the executive budget bill each biennium, and approved the release of appropriations
to state agencies based on quarterly estimates of expenditures. The Budget Bureau made
detailed annual audits of the accounts of the State Treasurer, University of Wisconsin,
State Teachers Colleges, and institutions under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public
Welfare, Board of Health, and the Department of Public Instruction.
The Budget Bureau was reorganized into the Department of Budget and Accounts in 1947.
The Department compiled the governor's budget, and was responsible for the state's
centralized accounting, pre-auditing, check-writing, and financial statements and
statistics. The director of the department was the financial advisor of the governor and was
in effect the secretary of the Joint Committee on Finance and of the Emergency Board.
In 1959, responsibility for preparation of the executive budget was transferred to the
Bureau of Management in the newly created Department of Administration. The bureau was
renamed the Bureau of Budget and Management in 1967 and the Bureau of Planning and Budget in
1971. In 1975, the State Budget Office was created within the Executive Services Division of
and assumed responsibility for preparation of the governor's biennial and annual
budgets.
Finally, in 1979 the State Budget Office became part of the State Executive Budget and
Planning Division. The Division provided statewide budget and policy analysis, advised the
governor in the development of executive budget proposals, and assisted agencies in the
technical preparation of budget requests. The division's planning responsibilities included
economic development, human resources, and environmental protection. Other duties included
state debt management, federal grant review and coordination, demographic research,
management and program evaluation, and maintenance of the position management information
system and the governor's appointment register.
See each Agency's History in the catalog:
