Budgets are a form of public policy – choice of action. Leaders (in budgeting) must address many wants and needs of their residents with very limited resources, meaning that leaders have to make a tradeoff between various choices. In this simulation, you are assuming the role of a leader and construct a budget that will help you achieve a policy goal of your choice.
Go to https://www.budgetchallenge.org/pages/home and complete the California Budget Challenge. As you complete the simulation, read all the pros and cons of each choice and make notes about why you were persuaded to make the choices that you did in relation to your policy goal(s). After completing the simulation, write 3-4-page describing your policy goal(s), your decisions or actions, and why you made them as well as a reflection on the challenges you faced in completing the simulation.
To complete this assignment, present a 3-4 page analysis with the following information:
1) Provide an introduction with the overall policy goal you intend to achieve with your budget.
2) Describe your budget action (e.g. spending categories you will change or maintain and revenue categories you need to change to achieve that action) and provide a compelling argument about why you believe that action will help you achieve your policy goal.
3) Describe challenges you faced in trying to achieve your intended policy goal with the budget (e.g. the difficult decisions and tradeoffs you had to make when making your choices).
