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 Baseline / Baseline Budgeting / Scorekeeping Dan Mitchell Discussing Dishonest Budget Numbers with John Stossel Baseline: Projection of future revenues, budget authority, outlays, and other budget amounts under assumed economic conditions and participation rates without a change in current policy. The Congressional Budget … 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 Permanent Appropriations Permanent Appropriations: Budget authority that becomes available as the result of previously enacted legislation (substantive legislation or prior appropriations act) and does not require current action by Congress. Budget authority is considered to be “current” if provided in the current session of Congress … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Authorization / Authorization Act Authorization – Provision in law that establishes or continues a program or agency and authorizes appropriations for it. Basic, substantive legislation that establishes or continues the legal operation of a federal program or agency, either indefinitely or for a specific period … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Marking Up A Bill / Markup Going through the contents of a piece of legislation in committee or subcommittee to consider its provisions and proposed revisions to the language, and insert new sections and phraseology. If the bill is extensively amended, the committee’s version may … Read more
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
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 Floor / Aisle / Candy Desk / Gallery “The Floor” describes the actual physical chambers of the House and the Senate, in the Capitol Building, in Washington, DC. These are the only places where legislation can pass. The aisle is the space between the minority … Read more
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