Soviet Union Table of Contents
The legislative process has worked in a very formalized manner. For example, the Ministry of Finance, Gosplan, and other institutions submitted economic planning documents to the Soviet of the Union's Planning, Budgeting, and Finance Commission and to other Supreme Soviet commissions and committees and to republic representatives. Deputies of the various commissions and committees of both chambers and other individuals met to review the documents, hear expert testimony, make amendments, and submit the economic plan to the Supreme Soviet. The minister of finance and the chairman of the Council of Ministers submitted their own reports as well.
The Supreme Soviet, after debate, traditionally disposed of the plan with a resolution and a law. The resolution noted reports on the plan delivered by the chairman of Gosplan and the minister of finance. It evaluated the work of the Council of Ministers in fulfilling the previous year's plan and instructed the Council of Ministers to examine proposals prepared by the commissions and committees and those comments made by deputies in the debate and then to take appropriate action. The Law of the Plan formally ratified the plan, taking into account the work of the commissions and committees and setting out in detail budget and plan targets for the following year.
Data as of May 1989