These Proceedings are based on the Roundtable: "State Budgeting in the 13 Western States" held at the Western Political Science Association's Annual Meeting in Tucson, Arizona, March 19-21, 1998. Jerry McBeath organized and moderated the Roundtable. The presenters at the Roundtable have subsequently updated and expanded their papers for this publication. All 13 Western states' budgets are covered--even though some states have biennial budget sessions--and their legislatures may not have met in 1997 for a full budget session. We think this publication will be useful to students of contemporary public budgeting beyond pure theory. We plan similar annual roundtables in future years. Permission is granted to reproduce this document, in whole or in part, for instructional purposes. It is requested that the publishers be notified of any reproduction. -