I. Authorization
vs Appropriation
II.
Where
Does The Money Go?
III.
What
Is Rule XVI?
I.
Authorizations and Appropriations: What's the
Difference?
Authorization laws have two basic purposes.
They establish, continue, or modify federal
programs, and they are a prerequisite under
House and Senate rules (and sometimes under
statute) for the Congress to appropriate budget
authority for programs.
Some authorization laws provide spending directly.
In fact, well over half of federal spending
now goes to programs for which the authorizing
legislation itself creates budget authority.
Such spending is referred to as direct, or mandatory,
spending. It includes funding for most major
entitlement programs. (Some entitlements are
funded in annual appropriation acts, but the
amounts provided are controlled by the authorization
law that established the entitlement.) The authorization
laws that provide direct spending are typically
permanent, but some major direct spending programs,
such as the Food Stamp program, require periodic
renewal.
Discretionary spending, which is provided in
the 13 appropriation acts, now makes up only
about one-third of all federal expenditures.
For discretionary spending, the role of the
authorizing committees is to enact legislation
that serves as the basis for operating a program
and that provides guidance to the Appropriations
Committees as to an appropriate level of funding
for the program. That guidance typically is
expressed in terms of an authorization of appropriations.
Such authorizations are provided either as specific
dollar amounts (definite authorizations) or
"such sums as are necessary" (indefinite authorizations).
In addition, authorizations may be permanent
and remain in effect until changed by the Congress,
or they may cover only specific fiscal years.
Authorizations that are limited in duration
may be annual (pertaining to one fiscal year)
or multiyear (pertaining to two, five, or any
number of specific fiscal years). When such
an authorization expires, the Congress may choose
to extend the life of a program by passing legislation
commonly referred to as a reauthorization. Unless
the underlying law expressly prohibits it, the
Congress may also extend a program simply by
providing new appropriations. Appropriations
made available for a program after its authorization
has expired are called "unauthorized appropriations."
Longstanding rules of the House allow a point
of order to be raised against an appropriation
that is unauthorized. During initial consideration
of a bill in the House (which by precedent originates
appropriation bills), unauthorized appropriations
are sometimes dropped from the bill. However,
the House Committee on Rules typically grants
waivers for unauthorized appropriations that
are contained in a conference agreement. In
the Senate, there is a more limited prohibition
against considering unauthorized appropriations.
Both House and Senate rules require that when
the Committees on Appropriations report a bill,
they list in their respective committee reports
any programs funded in the bill that lack an
authorization. The information in the committee
reports, however, differs somewhat from the
information shown in this report. This report
covers programs that at one time had
an explicit authorization that either has expired
or will expire. Unlike the lists shown in the
Appropriations Committee reports, this report
does not include programs for which the Congress
has never provided authorizations of appropriations.
For example, some Treasury Department programs
have never received explicit authorizations
of appropriations. They receive appropriations
nonetheless because the authority to obligate
and spend funds is considered "organic"--inherent
in the underlying legislation or executive action
that originally empowered the Treasury to perform
particular functions.
As mentioned above, many laws establish programs
with authorizations of discretionary appropriations
that do not expire. Both the Appropriations
Committee reports and this CBO report exclude
programs with that type of authorization because
its effect is permanent."
(Excerpted from a Congressional
Budget Office report.)
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II.
Where Does the Money Go?
While the size of the annual federal budget
has increased in dollar terms (reflecting inflation,
increased population and economy) over the years,
the proportion available for common government
services has shrunk dramatically. Competition
among federal agencies for funding is heating
up. Over the last three decades, discretionary
spending has been cut significantly to accomodate
rapid growths in other expenses. Discretionary
spending covers everything from road building
to police protection to medical research to
our national defense -- most of the government
services with which Americans are familiar.
All other spending is mandatory -- required
by law regardless of what is left over for discretionary
spending. Mandatory spending includes entitlements
such as Social Security and Medicare, and the
enormous interest the U.S. must pay every year
to finance the national debt.
Three decades ago, nearly
two-thirds of the federal
budget was available for discretionary programs:
In the 1970's, entitlement
spending jumped,
placing a crimp on discretionary spending:
By the mid-1980's,
interest payments on
the national debt began to rise:
By 1996, entitlement
spending took half of the budget pie.
In just 30 years, the amount left over for
roads, police,
defense, and most other government services
shrunk
to a third of the budget:
Current budget projections
show the same trend. By 2006,
entitlement spending will demand the majority
of the federal budget.
Interest payments will continue to be a major
drain on the Treasury,
and the remaining amount will be divided among
discretionary programs:
Compare
the forty-year difference side-by- side:
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III.
RULE XVI– Appropriations and Amemdments
to General Appropriations Bills
1.On
a point of order made by any Senator, no amendments
shall be received to any general appropriation
bill the effect of which will be to increase
an appropriation already contained in the bill,
or to add a new item of appropriation, unless
it be made to carry out the provisions of some
existing law, or treaty stipulation, or act
or resolution previously passed by the Senate
during that session; or unless the same be moved
by direction of the Committee on Appropriations
or of a committee of the Senate having legislative
jurisdiction of the subject matter, or proposed
in pursuance of an estimate submitted in accordance
with law.
2.
The Committee on Appropriations shall not report
an appropriation bill containing amendments
to such bill proposing new or general legislation
or any restriction on the expenditure of the
funds appropriated which proposes a limitation
not authorized by law if such restriction is
to take effect or cease to be effective upon
the happening of a contingency, and if an appropriation
bill is reported to the Senate containing amendments
to such bill proposing new or general legislation
or any such restriction, a point of order may
be made against the bill, and if the point is
sustained, the bill shall be recommitted to
the Committee on Appropriations.
3.
All amendments to general appropriation bills
moved by direction of a committee having legislative
jurisdiction of the subject matter proposing
to increase an appropriation already contained
in the bill, or to add new items of appropriation,
shall, at least one day before they are considered,
be referred to the Committee on Appropriations,
and when actually proposed to the bill no amendment
proposing to increase the amount stated in such
amendment shall be received on a point of order
made by any Senator.
4.
On a point of order made by any Senator, no
amendment offered by any other Senator which
proposes general legislation shall be received
to any general appropriation bill, nor shall
any amendment not germane or relevant to the
subject matter contained in the bill be received;
nor shall any amendment to any item or clause
of such bill be received which does not directly
relate thereto; nor shall any restriction on
the expenditure of the funds appropriated which
proposes a limitation not authorized by law
be received if such restriction is to take effect
or cease to be effective upon the happening
of a contingency; and all questions of relevancy
of amendments under this rule, when raised,
shall be submitted to the Senate and be decided
without debate; and any such amendment or restriction
to a general appropriation bill may be laid
on the table without prejudice to the bill.
5.
On a point of order made by any Senator, no
amendment, the object of which is to provide
for a private claim, shall be received to any
general appropriation bill,unless it be to carry
out the provisions of an existing law or a treaty
stipulation, which shall be cited on the face
of the amendment.
6.
When a point of order is made against any restriction
on the expenditure of funds appropriated in
general appropriation bill on the ground that
the restriction violates this rule, the rule
shall be construed strictly and, in case of
doubt, in favor of the point of order.
7.
Every report on general appropriation bills
filed by the Committee on Appropriations shall
identify with particularity each recommended
amendment which proposes an item of appropriation
which is not made to carry out the provisions
of an existing law, a treaty stipulation, or
an act or resolution previously passed by the
Senate during that session.
8.
On a point of order made by any Senator, no
general appropriation bill or amendment thereto
shall be received or considered if it contains
a provision reappropriating unexpended balances
of appropriations; except that this provision
shall not apply to appropriations in continuation
of appropriations for public works on which
work has commenced.
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