From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms
Apportionment
photo credit: Joshua Rappeneker
Budget Process: The action by which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) distributes amounts available for obligation, including budgetary reserves established pursuant to law, in an appropriation or fund account. An apportionment divides amounts available for obligation by specific time periods (usually quarters), activities, projects, objects, or a combination thereof. The amounts so apportioned limit the amount of obligations that may be incurred. An apportionment may be further subdivided by an agency into allotments, suballotments, and allocations. In apportioning any account, some funds may be reserved to provide for contingencies or to effect savings made possible pursuant to the Antideficiency Act (Pub.L. 97-258, 96 Stat. 923). Funds apportioned to establish a reserve must be proposed for deferral or rescission pursuant to the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. §§ 681-688).
The apportionment process is intended to (1) prevent the obligation of amounts available within an appropriation or fund account in a manner that would require deficiency or supplemental appropriations and (2) achieve the most effective and economical use of amounts made available for obligation.
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An apportionment is an OMB-approved plan to use budgetary resources (31 U.S.C. 1513(b); Executive Order 11541). It typically limits the obligations you may incur for specified time periods, programs, activities, projects, objects, or any combination thereof. An apportionment is legally binding, and obligations and expenditures (disbursements) that exceed an apportionment are a violation of, and are subject to reporting under, the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1517(a)(1), (b)). See section 145 for more on reporting violations of the Antideficiency Act.
From OMB Circular A-11, Section 120, 120.1 What is an apportionment? (2018) (62-page PDF)
See also from (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Administrative Division or Subdivision of Funds
- Allotment
- Antideficiency Act
- Appropriated Entitlement
- Budgetary Reserves
- Deferral of Budget Authority
- Deficiency Apportionment
- Deficiency Appropriation
- Limitation
- Reapportionment
- Rescission
- Supplemental Appropriation
Redistricting House Districts: Apportionment is the process of distributing the 435 Congressional seats among the states after each decennial census. See Reapportionment, and “A Note About Usage: ‘Congress’“.
The U.S. Census and the Amazing Apportionment Machine
More
- Reapportionment and Redistricting
- Reapportionment / Redistricting (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Antideficiency Act / Antideficiency Act Violation (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Antideficiency Act – GAO
- OMB Circular A-11, Part 4, Section 120: Apportionment Process (62-page PDF)
- Congressional Apportionment, Census Bureau
- Congressional Apportionment, 2010 Census – Census Bureau (7-page PDF )
- “The House of Representatives Apportionment Formula: An Analysis of Proposals for Change and Their Impact on States,” CRS Report R41382 (33-page PDF)
- “Apportioning Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives Using the 2013 Estimated Citizen Population,” CRS Report R41636 (39-page PDF)
- “House Apportionment 2012: States Gaining, Losing, and on the Margin,” CRS Report R41584 (14-page PDF)
- “Partisan Gerrymandering: Supreme Court Provides Guidance on Standing and Maintains Legal Status Quo,” CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10164 (7-page PDF)
- “Congressional Redistricting: Legal and Constitutional Issues,” CRS Report R44199 (20-page PDF)
- “Congressional Redistricting and the Voting Rights Act: A Legal Overview,” CRS Report R42482 (23-page PDF)
- “The Political Question Doctrine: Justiciability and the Separation of Powers,” CRS Report R43834 (33-page PDF)
- “Constitutionality of Excluding Aliens from the Census for Apportionment and Redistricting Purposes,” CRS Report R41048 (21-page PDF)
- “Puerto Rican Statehood: Effects on House Apportionment,” CRS Report R41113 (17-page PDF)
- “Census 2000: Legal Issues re: Data for Reapportionment and Redistricting,” CRS Report RL30870 (19-page PDF)
- Apportionment and Redistricting Following the 2020 Census,” CRS Insight IN11360 (6-page PDF)
- District of Columbia Statehood and Voting Representation,” CRS In Focus IF11443 (5-page PDF)
- “Statehood Process and Political Status of U.S. Territories: Brief Policy Background,” CRS In Focus IF11792 (5-page PDF)
- “Apportionment and Redistricting Process for the U.S. House of Representatives,” CRS Report R45951 (36-page PDF)
- “The Antideficiency Act: A Primer,” by Gordon Gray, American Action Forum, August 3, 2016
- “Congressional Redistricting Criteria and Considerations,” CRS Insight IN11618 (5-page PDF)
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