Appropriation: Provides funds for an agency, department, or program for a given amount of time and for purposes specifically designated by Congress. Funds will not necessarily be spent as outlays in the year in which they are initially provided.
Appropriation Act: 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 of Treasury for specified purposes. Appropriation acts can be regular, supplemental, and continuing. Currently, 13 regular appropriations acts are considered annually.
Authorizing legislation: Legislation that sets up or continues the operation of a federal program or agency either indefinitely or for a specific period of time or that sanctions a particular type of obligation or expenditure within a program. Normally a prerequisite for appropriations and may set specific limits on the amount that may be appropriated. Defines scope of program or agency, but does not make money available. For national defense programs and agencies, the authorizing committees are the House National Security and Senate Armed Services Committees.
Budget authority: Amount of money Congress makes available to an agency through authorizations and appropriations in a fiscal year. Legal authority for an agency to enter into obligations for the provision of goods and services.
Constant dollars: Dollar value adjusted to a specific base year to eliminate changes in prices due to inflation. Often referred to as "today's" or "inflation-adjusted" dollars. Growth rates in program costs expressed in constant dollars are referred to as "real growth" rates.
Continuing appropriation: When action of regular appropriations bills is not completed before the beginning of the fiscal year, a continuing resolution or bill may be enacted to provide funding for the affected agencies for the full year, up to a specified date, or until their regular appropriations are enacted.
Current dollars: Dollar value in terms of prices current at the time of purchase. Often referred to as "then-year" or "nominal" dollars.
Deficit: Amount by which the government's budget outlays exceed its budget receipts for a fiscal year.
Deflator: Index used to adjust a current dollar amount to its constant dollar counterpart; that is, to remove the effects of inflation.
Discretionary spending: The money the President and Congress must decide to spend each year; a.k.a., outlays controllable through the congressional appropriation process. Includes money for such programs as the FBI and the Coast Guard, housing and education, space exploration and highway construction, and defense and foreign aid. Discretionary spending in the President's proposed fiscal 1997 budget accounts for 33 percent of all federal spending. National defense spending accounts for about 50 percent of total discretionary spending.
Earmarking: Dedicating appropriations for a particular purpose.
Federal debt: Gross federal debt is the sum of "national public debt," or debt held by the public ($3.6 Trillion at the end of 1995), and debt owed to federal government accounts ($1.3 Trillion at the end of 1995).
Fiscal Year (FY): A fiscal year in the federal government begins on October 1 and ends on September 30 and is designated by the calendar year in which it ends. For example, FY 1997 will begin on October 1, 1996 and will end on September 30, 1997.
Mandatory spending: The money the federal government spends automatically unless the President and Congress change the laws that govern it. Includes "entitlements," money or benefits such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Food Stamps provided directly to individuals because they meet some criteria of eligibility. Also includes interest on the national debt, which the government pays to individuals and institutions that buy savings bonds and other U.S. securities. Mandatory spending in the President's proposed fiscal 1997 budget accounts for 67 percent of all federal spending.
"National Defense" ("Function 050"): Federal budget category that consists of the Department of Defense budget ("Function 051"); Department of Energy programs devoted to national defense, such as naval ship reactors and nuclear weapons ("Function 053"); and other defense-related activities including the Selective Service System and civil defense programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency ("Function 054").
Outlays: Amount of money actually spent by a federal agency from funds provided by Congress in a given year, including unspent sums that were approved in prior fiscal years.
Outyear: Any year (or years) beyond the budget year for which projections of spending are made.
Reconciliation: Process Congress uses to reconcile amounts determined by tax, spending, credit, and debt legislation for a given fiscal year.
Reprogramming: Shifting funds within an appropriation or fund account to use them for different purposes than those contemplated at the time of appropriation.
Rescission: Legislation enacted by Congress that cancels, in whole or in part, budget authority previously granted by law.
Supplemental appropriation: Act appropriating funds in addition to those in an annual appropriation act.
Transfer of funds: Shifting all or part of the budget authority in one appropriation or fund account to another.
Prepared by Martin Calhoun, Senior Research Analyst, April 2, 1996.
Sources: GAO, CRS, CDI.