From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms
Offsetting Collections
photo credit: Seth TisueCollections authorized by law to be credited to appropriation or fund expenditure accounts. They result from (1) businesslike transactions or market-oriented activities with the public, (2) intragovernmental transfers, and (3) collections from the public that are governmental in nature but required by law to be classified as offsetting. Collections resulting from businesslike transactions with the public and other government accounts are also known as reimbursements.
Laws authorizing offsetting collections make them available for obligation to meet the account’s purpose without further legislative action. However, it is not uncommon for annual appropriation acts to include limitations on the obligations to be financed by these collections. The authority to obligate and spend offsetting collections is a form of budget authority. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended by the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) of 1990, defines offsetting collections as negative budget authority and the reductions to it as positive budget authority.
Offsetting collections include reimbursements, transfers between federal and trust fund accounts, offsetting governmental collections, and refunds. (Also see Crediting payments from purchases between executive agencies, 31 U.S.C. 1536.)
“Offsetting Governmental Collections” is a term used by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to designate offsetting collections from nonfederal sources that are governmental in nature but are required by law to be credited to expenditure accounts.
Expenditures Versus Expenses | Governmental Accounting | CPA exam FAR
More
- “Power Marketing Administrations: Offsetting Collections in the President’s FY2006 Budget Proposal,” CRS Report RS22080 (6-page PDF
) - “National Flood Insurance Program: Selected Issues and Legislation in the 115th Congress,” CRS Report R45099 (66-page PDF)
- “Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs: FY2019 Budget and Appropriations,” CRS Report R45168 (37-page PDF)
- “Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: Fiscal Year 2018,” CRS Report R44927 (xx-page PDF)
- “Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal,” CRS Report RL33461 (52-page PDF)
- “Introduction to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP),” CRS Report R44593 (33-page PDF)
- “The Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF): State Insolvency and Federal Loans to States,” CRS Report RS22954 (16-page PDF)
Courses
- Congressional Operations Briefing – Capitol Hill Workshop
- Drafting Federal Legislation and Amendments
- Writing for Government and Business: Critical Thinking and Writing
- Custom, On-Site Training
- Congressional Operations Poster, with Federal Budget Process Flowchart
- Federal Budgeting, a Five-Course series on CD
- Congress, the Legislative Process, and the Fundamentals of Lawmaking Series, a Nine-Course series on CD
Publications
The Federal Budget Process 2E
Pocket Constitution
Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials: A Guide for Citizen Lobbyists and Grassroots Advocates
Congressional Procedure
CongressionalGlossary.com, from TheCapitol.Net
For more than 40 years, TheCapitol.Net and its predecessor, Congressional Quarterly Executive Conferences, have been teaching professionals from government, military, business, and NGOs about the dynamics and operations of the legislative and executive branches and how to work with them.
Our custom on-site and online training, publications, and audio courses include congressional operations, legislative and budget process, communication and advocacy, media and public relations, testifying before Congress, research skills, legislative drafting, critical thinking and writing, and more.
TheCapitol.Net is on the GSA Schedule, MAS, for custom on-site and online training. GSA Contract GS02F0192X
TheCapitol.Net is a non-partisan small business.
Teaching how Washington and Congress work ™
