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
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
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
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
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 … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Appropriated Entitlement photo credit: rainy city Appropriated Entitlement: an entitlement whose source of funding is in an annual appropriation act. However, because the entitlement is created by operation of law, if Congress does not appropriate the money necessary to fund the payments, eligible recipients may … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Allotment photo credit: stvcr Allotment, an authorization by either the agency head or another authorized employee to his/her subordinates to incur obligations within a specified amount. Each agency makes allotments pursuant to specific procedures it establishes within the general apportionment requirements stated in OMB Circular … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Reapportionment / Redistricting / Gerrymander photo credit: faul Budget Process: A revision of a previous apportionment of budgetary resources for an appropriation or fund account. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reapportions just as it apportions. Agencies usually submit requests for reapportionment to OMB … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Budgetary Reserves photo credit: Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections Portions of budgetary resources set aside (withheld through apportionment) by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by authority of the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. § 1512) solely to provide for contingencies or to effect … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 The 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (Pub.L. 93-344, 88 Stat. 297, July 12, 1974) 2 U.S.C. Chapter 17A, Congressional Budget and Fiscal Operations) requires the House and Senate each year to adopt a concurrent resolution … Read more