What may occur if a proposed budget is not legislatively approved?

If a proposed budget is not legislatively approved, the correct outcome is that the proposed budget cannot be implemented. This is because budget approval is a critical step in the governmental budgeting process, serving as formal authorization for revenue and spending within a specified period. Without this legislative approval, there is no legal basis for agencies to allocate funds or execute their planned expenditures.

In this scenario, the absence of approval halts the budgeting process, leading to potential disruptions in services and programs that rely on the anticipated funding. It can also trigger a reevaluation of fiscal priorities, forcing the government to either revise the budget proposal for further deliberation or operate under prior budgetary constraints until a new budget can be agreed upon.

Other choices reflect scenarios that typically do not occur without legislative approval. For instance, revising a budget without input or beginning a new budget cycle immediately would undermine the established processes meant to ensure accountability and stakeholder engagement, while the idea of only having emergency funds available would imply a contingency plan that may not be applicable in the case of total budget rejection.