From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Backdoor Authority / Backdoor Spending A colloquial phrase for budget authority provided in laws other than appropriations acts, including contract authority and borrowing authority, as well as entitlement authority and the outlays that result from that budget authority. Fiscal Law #1 – Overview … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Regular Appropriations / Supplemental Appropriations / Continuing Resolutions There are three types of appropriations bills considered by the Congress. Regular appropriations bills provide funding to agencies for the next fiscal year, which runs from October 1 to September 30. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional funding … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Budget Deficit / Budget Surplus Lesson 1 National Debt & Budget Deficit Explained The relationship between spending and revenues is reflected in the surplus or deficit figure. A surplus is an excess of revenues over outlays, while a deficit is an excess of … Read more
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
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
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