Unauthorized Appropriations and Expiring Authorizations

166 Pages·2016·0.65 MB·English

by  Congressional Budget Office

JANUARY 15, 2016
Unauthorized Appropriations and Expiring
Authorizations
(In This Version, Appendix Material Is Sorted by
Appropriations Subcommittee)
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
Notes
Numbers in the tables may not add up to totals because of rounding.
In separate versions of this report, the public laws in the appendixes are displayed in three
ways—by House authorizing committee, by Senate authorizing committee, and by
appropriations subcommittee. Each entry is listed only once, generally under the primary
committee to which the bill was referred.
Questions about the report should be directed to Janet Airis at [phone].
CBO www.cbo.gov/publication/51131
Contents
Overview 1
The Role of Authorizations 1
Listing of Unauthorized Appropriations and Expiring Authorizations 2
Programs Funded in Fiscal Year 2016 With Expired Authorizations of Appropriations 2
Authorizations of Appropriations That Expire On or Before September30, 2016 3
About This Document 10
Appendix A: List of Programs Funded in Fiscal Year 2016 With Expired
Authorizations of Appropriations
Appendix B: List of Authorizations of Appropriations ExpiringDuring Fiscal Year 2016
Tables
1. Summary of Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations with Expired Authorizations, by
House Authorizing Committee 4
2. Summary of Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations with Expired Authorizations, by
Senate Authorizing Committee 5
3. Summary of Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations with Expired Authorizations by
Appropriations Subcommittee 6
4. Summary of Authorizations of Appropriations Expiring on or Before
September 30, 2016, by HouseAuthorizing Committee 7
5. Summary of Authorizations of Appropriations Expiring on or Before
September 30, 2016, by SenateAuthorizing Committee 8
6. Summary of Authorizations of Appropriations Expiring on or Before
September 30, 2016, by AppropriationsSubcommittee 9
CBO

Unauthorized Appropriations and
Expiring Authorizations
Overview or function to continue indefinitely or only for a specific
Spending authorizations are the first component of the period. Such an authorization may provide an agency
long-standing two-part legislative practice of distinguishing with the authority to obligate and spend federal funds
between the laws that establish federal entities or programs inthe form of direct, or mandatory, spending, or it
that are to be funded through annual appropriations, and maysimply specify a purpose for which a subsequent
the laws that fund them. Once the authorizations are in appropriation may be made available.
place, funding for the agencies, programs, or activities is
then provided separately in annual appropriation laws. This report focuses on the second type of law described
by the term “authorization”: a specific provision that
Each year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) authorizes the appropriation of funds (generally provid-
reports to the Congress on the following: ing for what is known as discretionary spending) to
carryout the program or function established in the
B All programs and activities funded for the current enabling statute. Such a provision constitutes guidance
fiscal year for which authorizations of appropriations tothe Congress regarding the amount of funding that
have expired, and may be necessary to implement the enabling statute. An
authorization of appropriations may be contained in an
B All programs and activities for which authorizations of enabling statute or may be provided separately. Such an
appropriations will expire during the current fiscal authorization may set a specific dollar amount (a definite
year. authorization) or allow the appropriation of “such sums
as may be necessary” (an indefinite authorization), and it
The requirement for that report is specified in section may be annual, multiyear, or permanent.
202(e)(3) of the Congressional Budget and Impound-
ment Control Act of 1974 (Congressional Budget Act).1 House and Senate rules—dating from the 19th century—
contain restrictions on the consideration of appropria-
The Role of Authorizations tions that are unauthorized.2 Whether an appropriation is
unauthorized and whether it is a violation of a House or
The term “authorization” is used to describe two types of
Senate rule are determined by the Speaker of the House
laws. One is an “organic,” or “enabling,” statute, which
or the Presiding Officer of the Senate, respectively, on the
creates a federal agency, establishes a federal program,
basis of advice from the respective House’s Office of
prescribes a federal function, or provides for a particular
theParliamentarian. Although this report is intended to
federal obligation or expenditure within a program. That
aid the Congress by identifying those authorizations of
type of authorization may allow a federal agency, program,
appropriations that have already expired or will expire
this year, it is not and should not be considered definitive
1. See H. Rept. 99-433, p. 114 (December 10, 1985), the conference
with respect to the application of House or Senate rules.
report accompanying the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985, which amended the Congressional Budget Act
to include the requirement for this report. The stated purpose of the
requirement is “to help Congress use the early months of the year to 2. See Rule XXI of the House Rules and Manual, H. Doc. 110-162,
adopt authorizing legislation that must be in place before the pp. 836–891; and Rule XVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
regular appropriation bills can be considered.” S. Doc. 110-9, pp. 11–12.
CBO
2 UNAUTHORIZED APPROPRIATIONS AND EXPIRING AUTHORIZATIONS JANUARY 2016
Listing of Unauthorized Appropriations and legislative history provides an explicit amount of funding
Expiring Authorizations for a program, that amount is shown under “Unauthorized
This report covers all programs funded through the 2016 Appropriations” in AppendixA. If no amount is
annual appropriation process that at one time had an provided (as in the case of a program or activity that
explicit authorization of appropriations that has expired isfunded at an unspecified level in an appropriation
(see AppendixA) or that will expire this year (see account), CBO determined whether the program or
AppendixB). For the purposes of this report, an appro- activity is still being funded, and if so, how much is allo-
priation is considered unauthorized when it is made avail- cated for it. Appropriations for some programs cannot be
able for a program after that program’s authorization of easily identified, however, when they are part of a larger
appropriations has expired. This report does not address appropriation account. If that amount cannot be identi-
appropriations that have never been authorized. fied, the listing notes that the specific dollar amount of
the unauthorized 2016 appropriation is “not available.”
Each listing includes the number and name of the public Hence, the total dollar amounts of unauthorized appro-
law containing the last authorization, the last year in priations do not encompass all of the programs whose
which the authorization was in effect, and the amount authorizations of appropriations have expired. Quite a
(definite or indefinite) authorized in that year. In separate few of the unidentified amounts are probably small, and
versions of this report, the listings of public laws in the some of them may be part of appropriations that are
appendixes are displayed in three ways—by House autho- listed elsewhere in this report.
rizing committee, by Senate authorizing committee, and
by appropriations subcommittee. Each entry is listed only Lawmakers appropriated about $310 billion for fiscal
once, generally under the primary committee to which year 2016 for programs and activities whose authoriza-
the bill was referred. tions of appropriations have expired and whose appropri-
ations could be identified (see Tables 1, 2, and 3); in
In general, House and Senate rules require the appropria- 2015, CBO reported that about $294 billion was appro-
tions committees, in their reports on general appropriation priated for such programs. The increase in appropriated
bills, to identify any programs that are funded in the bills amounts in 2016 stems largely from several factors:
but lack an authorization—including programs for which
an explicit authorization of appropriations has never been B CBO’s 2015 report did not include amounts
enacted. This CBO report, as specified by law, is nar- withinthe jurisdiction of the Homeland Security
rower in scope: It covers only programs that at one time Appropriations Subcommittee because the final
had an explicit authorization that either has expired or is legislation had not been enacted by the time the report
scheduled to expire this year. Many laws establish pro- was published; the Homeland Security Appropriations
grams with an authorization of appropriations that does Act, 2016, provided about $19 billion of
not expire. The reports of the appropriations committees unauthorized appropriations.
as well as this report exclude programs with that type of
permanent authorization. B Recently expired authorizations, including those
forthe Securities and Exchange Commission (with
The information in this report is drawn from CBO’s appropriations of $1.6 billion) and the Small Business
Legislative Classification System, a database containing Administration ($0.7 billion), added to the total of
all public laws that include nonpermanent authorizations unauthorized appropriations for 2016.
of appropriations—up to and including laws enacted
during the first session of the 114th Congress. B Lawmakers enacted increases for a number of
unauthorized appropriations; the largest of those
include veterans’ medical services, housing assistance,
Programs Funded in Fiscal Year 2016 With
and the National Institutes of Health.
Expired Authorizations of Appropriations
AppendixA lists programs and activities funded by an Other factors partially offset those increases, including
appropriation for fiscal year 2016 whose authorization the following:
has expired. If the applicable 2016 appropriation law or its
CBO
JANUARY 2016 UNAUTHORIZED APPROPRIATIONS AND EXPIRING AUTHORIZATIONS 3
B The Every Student Succeeds Act reauthorized appropriated in 2016 for those programs and activities,
programs that had received about $22 billion in not the amounts actually appropriated for that year.
unauthorized appropriations in 2015.
Definite, or specified, authorizations that will expire by
B Lawmakers reauthorized appropriations for Amtrak (in the end of this fiscal year total about $611 billion (see
2015, unauthorized appropriations for Amtrak totaled Tables 4, 5, and 6). Most of that amount, about $600 bil-
about $1 billion). lion, is authorized in a single law, the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. Typically, autho-
Several large agencies or programs have expired authori- rizations for defense funding are renewed annually. Fund-
zations, including the National Institutes of Health ing for intelligence activities is also typically authorized
(with appropriations of $31 billion for 2016) and the annually; about $1 billion in definite authorizations were
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (with provided in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal
appropriations of $19 billion for 2016). Some other Year 2016 (Division M of P.L. 114-113).
large appropriations with expired authorizations are
those for programs authorized in the Violence Against Other authorizations set to expire at the end of 2016 are in
Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization the Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities
Actof 2005 ($27 billion), the Foreign Relations Authori- Act, 2015, which provided a number of authorizations
zation Act, Fiscal Year 2003 ($26 billion), and the for veterans programs ($1.0 billion was authorized in
Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 2016) and the Department of the Interior, Environment,
($26 billion). and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016,
which authorized appropriations for the Land and
Water Conservation Fund ($0.9 billion in 2016).
Authorizations of Appropriations That
Expire On or Before September 30, 2016
The Congress also provided a short-term authorization
For certain programs and activities, the authorization
for the Federal Aviation Administration ($6.3 billion is
ofappropriations will expire by the end of fiscal year
authorized through March 31, 2016).
2016. AppendixB shows the amount authorized to be
CBO
4 UNAUTHORIZED APPROPRIATIONS AND EXPIRING AUTHORIZATIONS JANUARY 2016
Table 1.
Summary of Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations with Expired Authorizations, by House Authorizing Committee
Amounts Appropriated
House Committee Number of Lawsa (Millions of dollars)b
Agriculture 1 250
Education and the Workforce 23 20,638
Energy and Commerce 53 49,271
Financial Services 20 35,629
Foreign Affairs 23 49,974
Homeland Security 5 6,420
House Administration 4 89
Judiciary 33 30,325
Natural Resources 58 2,578
Oversight and Government Reform 8 479
Science, Space, and Technology 14 38,004
Small Business 3 763
Transportation and Infrastructure 26 14,372
Veterans Affairs 11 61,394
Ways and Means 6 177
____ ________
Total 256 310,365
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
This table shows only those committees that have jurisdiction over authorizations expiring in 2016; therefore, not all House committees are included.
a. Laws with expiring authorizations of appropriations for definite or indefinite amounts. The total is less than the sum of the entries because public laws
containing authorizations that are under the jurisdiction of more than one committee are counted only once in the total.
b.Amounts specified in statute, a conference report, or other legislative history.
CBO
JANUARY 2016 UNAUTHORIZED APPROPRIATIONS AND EXPIRING AUTHORIZATIONS 5
Table 2.
Summary of Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations with Expired Authorizations, by Senate Authorizing Committee
Amounts Appropriated
Senate Committee Number of Lawsa (Millions of dollars)b
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 4 254
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 19 34,133
Commerce, Science, and Transportation 41 45,022
Energy and Natural Resources 32 13,633
Environment and Public Works 37 4,435
Finance 7 1,752
Foreign Relations 22 49,974
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 42 60,548
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 14 7,614
Human Resources 1 0
Indian Affairs 13 83
Judiciary 34 30,671
Rules and Administration 4 89
Small Business and Entrepreneurship 3 763
Veterans Affairs ___1_1 __6__1,_3_9_4_
Total 256 310,365
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
This table shows only those committees that have jurisdiction over authorizations expiring in 2016; therefore, not all Senate committees are included.
a. Laws with expiring authorizations of appropriations for definite or indefinite amounts. The total is less than the sum of the entries because public laws
containing authorizations that are under the jurisdiction of more than one committee are counted only once in the total.
b.Amounts specified in statute, a conference report, or other legislative history.
CBO
6 UNAUTHORIZED APPROPRIATIONS AND EXPIRING AUTHORIZATIONS JANUARY 2016
Table 3.
Summary of Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations with Expired Authorizations by Appropriations Subcommittee
Amounts Appropriated
Appropriations Subcommittee Number of Lawsa (Millions of dollars)b
Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies 6 250
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies 61 60,645
Defense 1 0
Energy and Water Development 19 9,192
Financial Services and General Government 25 4,176
Homeland Security 15 18,778
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies 61 5,852
Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies 52 65,979
Legislative Branch 2 1
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 11 61,394
State, Foreign Operations 25 49,963
Transportation, HUD 28 34,134
____ ________
Total 256 310,365
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
FDA = Food and Drug Administration; HHS = Health and Human Services, HUD = Housing and Urban Development.
a. Laws with expiring authorizations of appropriations for definite or indefinite amounts. The total is less than the sum of the entries because public laws
containing authorizations that are under the jurisdiction of more than one subcommittee are counted only once in the total.
b.Amounts specified in statute, a conference report, or other legislative history.
CBO