[A Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget]
[Glossary]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
Glossary

  Appropriation

     An appropriation is an act of Congress that enables Federal 
     agencies to spend money for specific purposes.

  Authorization

     An authorization is an act of Congress that establishes or 
     continues a Federal program or agency, and sets forth the 
     guidelines to which it must adhere.

  Balanced Budget

     A balanced budget occurs when total revenues equal total 
     outlays for a fiscal year.

  Budget Authority (BA)

     Budget authority is what the law authorizes, or allows, the 
     Federal Government to spend for programs, projects, or activities.

  Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) of 1990

     The BEA is the law that was designed to limit discretionary 
     spending while ensuring that any new entitlement program or 
     tax cuts did not make the deficit worse. It set annual limits 
     on total discretionary spending and created ``pay-as-you-go'' 
     rules for any changes in entitlements and taxes. (See 
     ``pay-as-you-go.'')

  Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985
  (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, or GRH)

     The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
     was designed to end deficit spending. It set annual deficit 
     targets for five years, declining to a balanced budget in 1991. 
     If necessary, it required across-the-board cuts in programs to 
     comply with the deficit targets. It was never fully implemented.

  Budget Resolution

     The budget resolution is the annual framework within which 
     Congress makes its decisions about spending and taxes. This 
     framework includes targets for total spending, total revenues, 
     and the deficit, as well as



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 allocations, within the spending target, for discretionary and 
 mandatory spending.

``Cap''

 A ``cap'' is a legal limit on annual discretionary spending.

Deficit

 The deficit is the difference produced when spending exceeds 
 revenues in a fiscal year.

Discretionary Spending

 Discretionary spending is what the President and Congress must 
decide to spend for the next fiscal year through 13 annual 
appropriations bills. Examples include money for such activities 
as the FBI and the Coast Guard, housing and education, space 
exploration and highway construction, and defense and foreign aid.

Entitlement

 An entitlement is a program that legally obligates the Federal
 Government to make payments to any person who meets the legal
 criteria for eligibility. Examples include Social Security, 
 Medicare, and Medicaid.

Excise Taxes

 Excise taxes apply to various products, including alcohol, tobacco, 
 transportation fuels, and telephone service.

Federal Debt


 The gross Federal debt is divided into two categories: debt held by 
the public, and debt the Government owes itself. Another category is 
debt subject to legal limit.

 Debt Held by the Public

  Debt held by the public is the total of all Federal deficits, minus 
  surpluses, over the years. This is the cumulative amount of money 
  the Federal Government has borrowed from the public, through the 
  sale of notes and bonds of varying sizes and time periods.

 Debt the Government Owes Itself

  Debt the Government owes itself is the total of all trust fund 
  surpluses over the years, like the Social Security surpluses, that 
  the law says must be invested in Federal securities.



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 Debt Subject to Legal Limit

  Debt subject to legal limit, which is roughly the same as gross 
  Federal debt, is the maximum amount of Federal securities that 
  may be legally outstanding at any time. When the limit is reached, 
  the President and Congress must enact a law to increase it.

Fiscal Year

 The fiscal year is the Government's accounting period. It begins 
 October 1 and ends on September 30. For example, fiscal 1999 ends 
 September 30, 1999.

Gramm-Rudman-Hollings

 See Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

 GDP is the standard measurement of the size of the economy. It is 
 the total production of goods and services within the United States.

Mandatory Spending

 Mandatory spending is authorized by permanent law. An example is 
 Social Security. The President and Congress can change the law to 
 change the level of spending on mandatory programs--but they don't 
 have to.

``Off-Budget''

 By law, the Government must distinguish ``off-budget'' programs 
 separate from the budget totals. Social Security and the Postal 
 Service are ``off-budget.''

Outlays 

 Outlays are the amount of money the Government actually spends in 
 a given fiscal year.

``Pay-As-You-Go''

 Set forth by the BEA, ``pay-as-you-go'' refers to requirements that 
 new spending proposals on entitlements or tax cuts must be offset by 
 cuts in other entitlements or by other tax increases, to ensure that 
 the deficit does not rise. (See BEA.)

Revenue

Revenue is money collected by the Government.



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Social Insurance Payroll Taxes

 This tax category includes Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, 
 unemployment insurance taxes, and Federal employee retirement 
 payments.

Surplus

 A surplus is the amount by which revenues exceed outlays.

Trust Funds

 Trust funds are Government accounts, set forth by law as trust 
 funds, for revenues and spending designated for specific purposes.

Unified Federal Budget

 The unified budget, the most useful display of the Government's 
 finances, is the presentation of the Federal budget in which 
 revenues from all sources and outlays to all activities are consolidated.