Federal Budgeting

Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, aka Gramm-Rudman-Hollings (GRH) (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, aka Gramm-Rudman-Hollings (GRH)   President Reagan’s Remarks to Congressional Supporters for a Balanced Budget on December 18, 1985   Also known as the Deficit Control Act, originally known as Gramm-Rudman-Hollings. Among other changes to the budget … Read more

Budget Authority (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Budget Authority photo credit: Carly & Art The key terms of federal spending are budget authority, obligations, outlays, and spendout rate. Congress and the president enact budget authority in law. Budget authority allows federal agencies to incur obligations, such as entering into contracts, employing personnel, … Read more

Entitlement Authority / Entitlement Program (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Entitlement Authority photo credit: anarchosyn A provision of law that requires payments to any person, business, or unit of government that meets the eligibility requirements established by such law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the federal government, and eligible recipients have … Read more

Statutory Limit on the Public Debt / Budget Control Act of 2011 (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Statutory Limit on the Public Debt / Budget Control Act of 2011 The maximum amount, established in law, of public debt that can be outstanding. The debt limit covers virtually all debt incurred by the Federal Government (primarily the Treasury Department), including borrowing from trust … Read more

Date Shifting / Fiscal Transparency / Fiscal Illusion (Congressional Glossary)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Date Shifting / Fiscal Transparency / Fiscal Illusion One of the budgetary maneuvers used by Congress. Congress can shift scheduled payments for contracts, or even for federal employee salaries, by a few days in order to move expenditures from one fiscal year to another. For … Read more

Union Calendar (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Union Calendar Bills that directly or indirectly appropriate money or raise revenue are placed on this House calendar according to the date they are reported from committee. The Constitution specifies that all bills for raising revenue originate in the House (Article I, Section 7). House … Read more

Fiscal Year / Prior Year (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Fiscal Year photo credit: MBoy68 Fiscal Year: Any yearly accounting period, regardless of its relationship to a calendar year. The federal government’s annual accounting period. Financial operations of the government are carried out in a 12-month accounting year, beginning on October 1 and ending on … Read more

“Emergency” Spending / Emergency (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms “Emergency” Spending / Emergency photo credit: vonderauvisuals Spending with the “emergency” designation does not count against budget caps. While often used for one-time, unforeseen events, this designation has also been used to circumvent budget limits. For example, spending for the census has been designated as … Read more

Appropriation Act / Appropriation Bill / Continuing Resolution / Continuing Appropriations (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Appropriation Act / Appropriation Bill / Continuing Resolution / Continuing Appropriations photo credit: BarelyFitz Appropriation Act: A statute, under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, that generally provides legal authority for federal agencies to incur obligations and to make payments out … Read more

Appropriation / Cardinals of Congress (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Appropriation / Cardinals of Congress   David Hawkings’ Whiteboard: How Appropriations is Supposed to Work   Appropriation: Provision of law that provides authority for federal agencies to obligate funds and to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. Appropriations for the federal government … Read more