Library of Virginia
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Processed by: Laura E. Drake
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Secretary of the Budget, General Administrative Papers, 1918-1922. Accession 24960, State Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Accession 24960 was received by the library from the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. However, the accession contained materials from three offices: the Commission on Economy and Efficiency; the Secretary of the Budget; and the Secretary of the Commonwealth. This collection is one part of this accession.
The first state budget was prepared by the staff of Governor Westmoreland Davis in 1920. A member of the Governor's staff served in the capacity of the secretary of the budget, until and act passed by the General Assembly on March 20, 1922, designated the governor as the chief budget officer of the state and authorized him to appoint a deputy to be called the director of the budget. The state government reorganization act passed on April 18, 1927, established the Division of the Budget within the Department of Finance (which existed only on paper). The division remained a part of the governor's office until and act passed on March 19, 1975, transferred it to the secretary of administration and finance. An act passed on April 12, 1976, changed the name of the division to the Department of Planning and Budget. The same act assigned the department the responsibility for creating state planning districts, formerly a duty of the Division of State Planning and Community Affairs.
The primary function of the department is to plan, prepare, and assess the budget for state expenditures. The department also assembles and disseminates date on the social, economic, physical, and governmental characteristics of the state, especially as they relate to future governmental planning.
This collection is comprised of the administrative papers of Colonel LeRoy Hodges, the governor's secretary of the budget from 1918 until 1922, when the position of director of budget was established. Included in the collection are correspondence and reports from state agencies and institutions, as well as some maps, charts, and organizational diagrams. The collection is arranged into four (4) series: Correspondence, 1921; Budget files, 1918-1922; Special reports, 1918-1922; and Monthly reports, 1922. A description of the individual series is found with the folder listing. The original organization of the collection was maintained as much as possible, resulting in the overlapping of dates of folders.
Of particular interest are the reports of state agencies and institutions that were written by the Governor's Board of Mechanical Survey and institutions outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia, including the Institute for Public Service of New York and the Detroit Bureau of Governmental Research (Series III). Additionally, there are maps of the state highway system, architectural drawings of what is now Virginia State University, and maps indicating the residences of the student body of the College of William and Mary (Series III, Oversize).
It is important to note that there is an extensive amount of material concerning the Virginia penal system. During this time, Colonel Hodges was also president of the Penitentiary Board. The materials found in folders relating to the Penitentiary or other agencies within the penal system may be correspondence created as president of the Penitentiary Board, and not as secretary of the budget.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title. Contains routine correspondence from the office of the Secretary of the Budget. While folders throughout the collection contain correspondence with the office of the Secretary of the Budget, this series contains folders that were maintained separately by the office. The majority of the correspondence in this series is that of the statistician, J. H. Bradford, with various state agencies.
alphabetical
Arranged alphabetically by folder title. Contains correspondence and reports from state agencies regarding the budget. Often there are multiple folders for individual agencies, with overlapping dates. The original order of the collection was maintained as closely as possible resulting in overlapping of the dates of contents for various agencies and institutions. Generally, agencies with multiple folders break with the beginning of correspondence regarding the next budget year, but there are exceptions.
Alphabetical
Arranged alphabetically by folder title. Contains reports written by the Governor's Board of Mechanical Survey and institutions outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia, including the Institute for Public Service of New York and the Detroit Bureau of Governmental Research. Authorship of the reports is noted when known. This series also contains maps of the state highway system, architectural drawings of what is now Virginia State University (Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute), and maps indicating the residences of the student body of the College of William and Mary, which are found in box 7, oversize materials. Please note that this series is, in all likelihood, not complete as some reports were lent out from the office of the secretary of the budget and not returned. Notes to this effect were found during the processing of the collection.
Alphabetical
Arranged alphabetically by folder title. Contains reports submitted to the secretary of the budget itemizing income and expenditures. Generally, these reports cover February and March 1922, although there are some other reports included.
Alphabetical
Arranged alphabetically by folder title. Contains various materials from the administrative papers of the secretary of the budget. Included are instructions for the preparation of the budget, information on the budget classifications, position descriptions for the state library and general office staff, and various forms collected by the office.
Alphabetical