The important contributions that CBO makes to the nation’s legislative process are the result of the dedication and superb work of the terrific people who make up CBO’s staff. So I’m very proud that Teri Gullo, CBO’s Assistant Director for Budget Analysis, was honored at an awards ceremony on Friday as a finalist for the Congressional Management Foundation’s lifetime achievement award. (The winner was Judy Schneider, a 42-year veteran of the Congressional Research Service.)
Teri has made enormous contributions to CBO’s work for the Congress for more than three decades. She began as an analyst, preparing dozens of cost estimates a year for proposed legislation involving natural resources. Teri was then chosen to be the first chief of CBO’s State and Local Government Cost Estimates Unit, which was responsible for implementing a new law (the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act) that required CBO to analyze federal mandates that legislation would impose on other levels of government. She led her team in formulating and codifying the principles that would underlie CBO’s analyses and the procedures that analysts would follow in estimating mandate costs.
In 2008, Teri was appointed Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis, and she played a critical role in guiding the Budget Analysis Division—CBO’s largest, with one-third of the agency’s staff. She was responsible for carefully reviewing most of CBO’s cost estimates for legislation being considered by the Congress, and she often dealt with complex analytical issues, continually evolving legislative proposals, and very tight deadlines. After serving in that position with distinction, Teri was promoted to the position of Assistant Director for Budget Analysis and is now responsible for supervising the division’s work. Each year, she oversees the careful preparation of several hundred formal cost estimates for legislation being considered by the Congress, as well as thousands of informal estimates that are provided to help committees craft legislation. The division also makes key contributions to many of CBO’s analytic reports and other work.
I am very proud of Teri’s accomplishments and of CBO’s entire staff. They work tirelessly every day to support the Congressional budget process by producing thoughtful, independent analysis of budgetary and economic issues.
Keith Hall is CBO’s Director.