    [Analytical Perspectives]
    [The Budget System and Concepts]
    [26. The Budget System and Concepts]
    [From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 391]]

                       26.  THE BUDGET SYSTEM AND CONCEPTS

      The budget system of the United States Government provides the means
    for the President and Congress to decide how much money to spend, what
    to spend it on, and how to raise the money they have decided to spend.
    Through the budget system, they determine the allocation of resources
    among the agencies of the Federal Government and between the Federal
    Government and the private sector. The budget system focuses primarily
    on dollars, but it also allocates other resources, such as Federal
    employment. The decisions made in the budget process affect the nation
    as a whole, State and local governments, and individual Americans. Many
    budget decisions have worldwide significance. The Congress and the
    President enact budget decisions into law. The budget system ensures
    that these laws are carried out.
      This chapter provides an overview of the budget system and explains
    some of the more important budget concepts. It includes summary dollar
    amounts to illustrate major concepts. Other chapters of the budget
    documents discuss these amounts and more detailed amounts in greater
    depth.
      The following section discusses the budget process, covering
    formulation of the President's budget, Congressional action, and budget
    execution. The next section provides information on budget coverage,
    including a discussion of on-budget and off-budget amounts, functional
    classification, how budget data is arrayed, types of funds, and full
    cost budgeting. Subsequent sections discuss the concepts of receipts and
    collections, budget authority, and outlays. These sections are followed
    by discussions of Federal credit; surpluses, deficits, and means of
    financing; Federal employment; and the basis for the budget figures. A
    glossary of budget terms appears at the end of the chapter.
      Various laws, enacted to carry out requirements of the Constitution,
    govern the budget system. The chapter refers to the principal ones by
    title throughout the text and gives complete citations in the section
    just preceding the glossary.

                               THE BUDGET PROCESS

      The budget process has three main phases, each of which is
    interrelated with the others:
      (1) Formulation of the President's proposed budget;
      (2) Congressional action on the budget; and
      (3) Budget execution.

                      Formulation of the President's Budget

      The Budget of the United States Government consists of several volumes
    that set forth the President's financial proposal with recommended
    priorities for the allocation of resources by the Government. The
    primary focus of the budget is on the budget year--the next fiscal year
    for which Congress needs to make appropriations, in this case 2008.
    (Fiscal year 2008 will begin on October 1, 2007 and end on September 30,
    2008.) The budget also covers at least the four years following the
    budget year in order to reflect the effect of budget decisions over the
    longer term. It includes the funding levels provided for the current
    year, in this case 2007, so that the reader can compare the President's
    budget proposals to the most recently enacted levels, and it includes
    data on the most recently completed fiscal year, in this case 2006, so
    that the reader can compare budget estimates to actual accounting data.
      The President begins the process of formulating the budget by
    establishing general budget and fiscal policy guidelines, usually by the
    Spring of each year, at least nine months before the President transmits
    the budget to Congress and at least 18 months before the fiscal year
    begins. (See the ``Budget Calendar'' below.) Based on these guidelines,
    the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) works with the Federal
    agencies to establish specific policy directions and planning levels for
    the agencies, both for the budget year and for at least the following
    four years, to guide the preparation of their budget requests.
      During the formulation of the budget, the President, the Director of
    OMB, and other officials in the Executive Office of the President
    continually exchange information, proposals, and evaluations bearing on
    policy decisions with the Secretaries of the departments and the heads
    of the other Government agencies. Decisions reflected in previously
    enacted budgets, including the one for the fiscal year in progress,
    reactions to the last proposed budget (which Congress is considering
    when the process of preparing the upcoming budget begins), and program
    performance influence decisions concerning the upcoming budget. So do
    projections of the economic outlook, prepared jointly by the Council of
    Economic Advisers, OMB, and the Treasury Department.
      In early Fall, agencies submit their budget requests to OMB, where
    analysts review them and identify issues that OMB officials need to
    discuss with the agencies. OMB and the agencies resolve many issues
    themselves. Others require the involvement of the President and White
    House policy officials. This decision-making process is usually
    completed by late December. At that time, the final stage of developing
    detailed budget data and the preparation of the budget documents begins.

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      The decision-makers must consider the effects of economic and
    technical assumptions on the budget estimates. Interest rates, economic
    growth, the rate of inflation, the unemployment rate, and the number of
    people eligible for various benefit programs, among other things, affect
    Government spending and receipts. Small changes in these assumptions can
    affect budget estimates by billions of dollars. (Chapter 12, ``Economic
    Assumptions,'' provides more information on this subject.)
      Statutory limitations on changes in receipts and outlays also
    influence budget decisions (see ``Budget Enforcement'' below).
      Thus, the budget formulation process involves the simultaneous
    consideration of the resource needs of individual programs, the
    allocation of resources among the agencies and functions of the Federal
    Government, the total outlays and receipts that are appropriate in
    relation to current and prospective economic conditions, and statutory
    constraints.
      The law governing the President's budget specifies that the President
    is to transmit the budget to Congress on or after the first Monday in
    January but not later than the first Monday in February of each year for
    the following fiscal year, which begins on October 1. The budget is
    routinely sent to Congress on the first Monday in February, giving
    Congress eight months to act on the budget before the fiscal year
    begins.

                            Congressional Action \1\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

      \1\ For a fuller discussion of the congressional budget process, see
    Robert Keith and Allen Schick, Manual on the Federal Budget Process
    (Congressional Research Service Report 98-720 GOV) and Introduction to
    the Federal Budget Process (Congressional Research Service Report 98-721
    GOV).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Congress considers the President's budget proposals and approves,
    modifies, or disapproves them. It can change funding levels, eliminate
    programs, or add programs not requested by the President. It can add or
    eliminate taxes and other sources of receipts, or make other changes
    that affect the amount of receipts collected.
      Congress does not enact a budget as such. Through the process of
    adopting a budget resolution (described below), it agrees on levels for
    total spending and receipts, the size of the deficit or surplus, and the
    debt limit. The budget resolution then provides the framework within
    which congressional committees prepare appropriations bills and other
    spending and receipts legislation. Congress provides spending authority
    for specified purposes in appropriations acts each year. It also enacts
    changes each year in other laws that affect spending and receipts. Both
    appropriations acts and these other laws are discussed in the following
    paragraphs.
      In making appropriations, Congress does not vote on the level of
    outlays (spending) directly, but rather on budget authority, which is
    the authority provided by law to incur financial obligations that will
    result in outlays. In a separate process, prior to making
    appropriations, Congress usually enacts legislation that authorizes an
    agency to carry out particular programs and, in some cases, limits the
    amount that can be appropriated for the programs. Some authorizing
    legislation expires after one year, some expires after a specified
    number of years, and some is permanent. Congress may enact
    appropriations for a program even though there is no specific
    authorization for it.
      Congress begins its work on the budget shortly after it receives the
    President's budget. Under the procedures established by the
    Congressional Budget Act of 1974, Congress decides on budget totals
    before completing action on individual appropriations. The Act requires
    each standing committee of the House and Senate to recommend budget
    levels and report legislative plans concerning matters within the
    committee's jurisdiction to the Budget Committee in each body. The
    Budget Committees then initiate the concurrent resolution on the budget.
    The budget resolution sets levels for total receipts and for budget
    authority and outlays, both in total and by functional category (see
    ``Functional Classification'' below). It also sets levels for the budget
    deficit or surplus and for Federal debt.
      In the report on the budget resolution, the Budget Committees allocate
    the total on-budget budget authority and outlays provided in the
    resolution to the Appropriations Committees and the other committees
    that have jurisdiction over spending. (See COVERAGE OF THE BUDGET, later
    in this chapter, for more information on on-budget and off-budget
    amounts.) The Appropriations Committees are required, in turn, to divide
    their allocations of budget authority and outlays among their respective
    subcommittees. The subcommittees may not exceed their allocations in
    drafting spending bills. The other committees with jurisdiction over
    spending and receipts may make allocations among their subcommittees but
    are not required to do so. The Budget Committees' reports may discuss
    assumptions about the level of funding for major programs. While these
    assumptions do not bind the other committees and subcommittees, they may
    influence their decisions. The budget resolution may contain
    ``reconciliation directives'' (discussed below) to the committees
    responsible for tax laws and for spending not controlled by annual
    appropriation acts, in order to conform the level of receipts and this
    type of spending to the levels specified in the budget resolution.
      The congressional timetable calls for the whole Congress to adopt the
    budget resolution by April 15 of each year, but Congress regularly
    misses this deadline. Once Congress passes a budget resolution, a member
    of Congress can raise a point of order to block a bill that would exceed
    a committee's allocation.
      Since the concurrent resolution on the budget is not a law, it does
    not require the President's approval. However, Congress considers the
    President's views in preparing budget resolutions, because legislation
    developed to meet congressional budget allocations does require the
    President's approval. In some years, the President and the joint
    leadership of Congress have formally agreed on plans to reduce the
    deficit or balance the

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    budget. These agreements were reflected in the budget resolution and
    legislation passed for those years.
      Once Congress approves the budget resolution, it turns its attention
    to enacting appropriations bills and authorizing legislation.
    Appropriations bills are initiated in the House. They provide the
    budgetary resources for the majority of Federal programs. The
    Appropriations Committee in each body has jurisdiction over annual
    appropriations. These committees are divided into subcommittees that
    hold hearings and review detailed budget justification materials
    prepared by the agencies within the subcommittee's jurisdiction. After a
    bill has been drafted by a subcommittee, the committee and the whole
    House, in turn, must approve the bill, usually with amendments to the
    original version. The House then forwards the bill to the Senate, where
    a similar review follows. If the Senate disagrees with the House on
    particular matters in the bill, which is often the case, the two bodies
    form a conference committee (consisting of Members of both bodies) to
    resolve the differences. The conference committee revises the bill and
    returns it to both bodies for approval. When the revised bill is agreed
    to, first in the House and then in the Senate, Congress sends it to the
    President for approval or veto.
      For 23 of the last 26 fiscal years, including 2007, some or all of the
    appropriations bills were not enacted by the beginning of the year. When
    this occurs, Congress usually enacts a joint resolution called a
    ``continuing resolution,'' which is an interim appropriations bill, to
    provide authority for the affected agencies to continue operations at
    some specified level up to a specific date or until the regular
    appropriations are enacted. In some years, a continuing resolution has
    funded a portion or all of the Government for the entire year.
      Most continuing resolutions instruct the Administration to take the
    most limited funding action permitted by the CR, so as not to impinge on
    the final funding prerogatives of the Congress. Congress must present
    these resolutions to the President for approval or veto. In some cases,
    Presidents have rejected continuing resolutions because they contained
    unacceptable provisions. Left without funds, Government agencies were
    required by law to shut down operations--with exceptions for some
    activities--until Congress passed a continuing resolution the President
    would approve. Shutdowns have lasted for periods of a day to several
    weeks.
      As regular appropriations acts are subsequently enacted, the Executive
    Branch agencies typically adopt operating plans that allow the Congress
    to enact subsequent across-the-board reductions in the final
    appropriations act. Every year since fiscal year 2002, the Congress has
    consistently taken actions in appropriations acts to cancel amounts
    appropriated in previous laws. Typically, these subsequent reductions
    have been enacted in the latest or last appropriation act. Sometimes the
    last act has been a consolidated, omnibus, or supplemental
    appropriations act. For fiscal year 2006, the across-the-board reduction
    was included in the last enacted appropriations bill, which was the
    Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address
    Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006.
      Congress also provides budget authority in laws other than
    appropriations acts. In fact, while annual appropriations acts control
    the spending for the majority of Federal programs, they only control
    about 35 percent of the total spending in a typical year. Authorizing
    legislation controls the rest of the spending. A distinctive feature of
    these laws is that they provide agencies with the authority to collect
    or to spend money without first requiring the Appropriations Committees
    to enact funding. This category of spending includes interest the
    Government pays on the public debt and the spending of several major
    programs, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, unemployment
    insurance, and Federal employee retirement. This chapter discusses the
    control of budget authority and outlays in greater detail under BUDGET
    AUTHORITY AND OTHER BUDGETARY RESOURCES, OBLIGATIONS, AND OUTLAYS.
      Almost all taxes and most other receipts result from authorizing laws.
    Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution provides that all bills for
    raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives. In the
    House, the Ways and Means Committee initiates tax bills; in the Senate,
    the Finance Committee has jurisdiction over tax laws.
      The budget resolution often includes reconciliation directives, which
    require authorizing committees to change laws that affect receipts and
    outlays. The budget resolution directs each designated committee to
    report amendments to the laws under the committee's jurisdiction that
    would achieve changes in the levels of receipts and reductions in direct
    spending controlled by the laws. The directives specify the dollar
    amount of changes that each designated committee is expected to achieve,
    but do not specify which laws are to be changed or the changes to be
    made. However, the Budget Committees' reports on the budget resolution
    frequently discuss assumptions about how the laws would be changed. Like
    other assumptions in the report, they do not bind the committees of
    jurisdiction but may influence their decisions. A reconciliation
    instruction may also specify the total amount by which the statutory
    limit on the public debt is to be changed.
      The committees subject to reconciliation directives draft the
    implementing legislation. Such legislation may, for example, change the
    tax code, revise benefit formulas or eligibility requirements for
    benefit programs, or authorize Government agencies to charge fees to
    cover some of their costs. Congress typically enacts an omnibus budget
    reconciliation act, which combines the amendments to implement
    reconciliation directives in a single act.
      Such a large and complicated bill would be difficult to enact under
    normal legislative procedures because it usually involves changes to tax
    rates or to popular social programs in order to achieve budgetary
    savings.

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    The Senate considers such omnibus reconciliation acts under expedited
    procedures that limit total debate on the bill. As a result, there are
    significant restrictions with respect to the substantive content of the
    reconciliation measure itself, as well as permissible amendments to the
    measure. Any material in the bill or amendment to the bill that is not
    germane, would add extraneous material, would cause deficit levels to
    increase, or that contains changes to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors
    Insurance and the Federal Disability Insurance programs are not in order
    under expedited reconciliation procedures.
      Reconciliation acts, together with appropriations acts for the year,
    often implement agreements between the President and the Congress. They
    may include other matters, such as laws providing the means for
    enforcing these agreements, as described below.

                               Budget Enforcement

      The Budget Enforcement Act (BEA), first enacted in 1990 and extended
    in 1993 and 1997, significantly amended the laws pertaining to the
    budget process, including the Congressional Budget Act, the Balanced
    Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, and the laws pertaining to the
    President's budget (see PRINCIPAL BUDGET LAWS, later in the chapter).
    The BEA constrained legislation enacted through 2002 that would increase
    spending or decrease spending.
      The BEA divided spending into two types--discretionary spending and
    direct spending. Discretionary spending is controlled through annual
    appropriations acts. Direct spending, which is more commonly referred to
    as mandatory spending, is controlled by authorizing laws. However, the
    BEA required budget authority provided in annual appropriations acts for
    certain specifically identified programs to be treated as mandatory.
    This is because the authorizing legislation in these cases entitles
    beneficiaries to receive payment or otherwise obligates the Government
    to make payment, even though the payments are funded by a subsequent
    appropriation. Since the authorizing legislation effectively determines
    the amount of budget authority required, the BEA classified it as
    mandatory.
      The BEA defined categories of discretionary spending and specified
    dollar limits known as caps on the amount of spending in each category.
    If the amount of budget authority or outlays provided in appropriations
    acts for a given year exceeded the cap for that category, the BEA
    required a procedure, called sequestration, for reducing the spending in
    the category.
      The BEA did not cap mandatory spending. Instead, it required that all
    laws that affected mandatory spending or receipts be enacted on a pay-
    as-you-go (PAYGO) basis. That meant that if such a law increased the
    deficit or reduced a surplus in the budget year or any of the four
    following years, another law had to be enacted with an offsetting
    reduction in spending or increase in receipts for each year that was
    affected. Otherwise, a sequestration would be triggered in the fiscal
    year in which the deficit would be increased.
      Chapter 24, ``Budget System and Concepts and Glossary,'' pages 460-461
    in the Analytical Perspectives volume of the 2004 Budget, discusses the
    Budget Enforcement Act in more detail.
      The BEA expired at the end of 2002. The Administration proposes to
    extend the BEA's mechanisms for limiting discretionary spending and to
    establish mandatory spending controls. The Administration also proposes
    to establish a new mechanism to measure the Federal Government's long-
    term unfunded obligations and to prohibit increases in those
    obligations. These proposals are discussed in more detail in Chapter 15
    of this volume, ``Budget Reform Proposals.''

                                Budget Execution

      Government agencies may not spend or obligate more than Congress has
    appropriated, and they may use funds only for purposes specified in law.
    The Antideficiency Act prohibits them from spending or obligating the
    Government to spend in advance of an appropriation, unless specific
    authority to do so has been provided in law. Additionally, the Act
    requires the President to apportion the budgetary resources available
    for most executive branch agencies. The President has delegated this
    authority to OMB. Some apportionments are by time periods (usually by
    quarter of the fiscal year), some are by projects or activities, and
    others are by a combination of both. Agencies may request OMB to
    reapportion funds during the year to accommodate changing circumstances.
    This system helps to ensure that funds are available to cover operations
    for the entire year.
      During the budget execution phase, the Government sometimes finds that
    it needs to spend more money than Congress has appropriated for the
    fiscal year because of unanticipated circumstances. For example, more
    money might be needed to respond to a severe natural disaster. Under
    such circumstances, Congress may enact a supplemental appropriation.
      On the other hand, the President may initiate the withholding of
    funds. Amounts that are withheld are apportioned as ``deferred'' or
    ``withheld pending rescission'' on the OMB approved apportionment form.
    Agencies are instructed not to withhold funds without the prior approval
    of OMB. When OMB approves a withholding, the Impoundment Control Act
    requires that the President transmit a ``special message'' to the
    Congress. The historical reason for the special message is to inform
    Congress that the President has unilaterally withheld funds that were
    enacted in regular appropriations acts. The notification allows the
    Congress to overturn the deferral or proposed rescission. The last time
    the President initiated the withholding of funds was six years ago.

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                                                                         Budget Calendar

      The following timetable highlights the scheduled dates for significant budget events during the year:

    Between the 1st Monday in January and the 1st Monday in February...................  President transmits the budget.

    Six weeks later....................................................................  Congressional committees report budget estimates to Budget
                                                                                          Committees.

    April 15...........................................................................  Action to be completed on congressional budget resolution.

    May 15.............................................................................  House consideration of annual appropriations bills may begin.

    June 15............................................................................  Action to be completed on reconciliation.

    June 30............................................................................  Action on appropriations to be completed by House.

    July 15............................................................................  President transmits Mid-Session Review of the Budget.

    October 1..........................................................................  Fiscal year begins.

                             COVERAGE OF THE BUDGET

                      Federal Government and Budget Totals

          Table 26-1.  TOTALS FOR THE BUDGET AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
                            (In billions of dollars)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Estimate
                                                     2006  -----------------
                                                    actual    2007     2008
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Budget authority:
      Unified....................................    2,842    2,799    2,941
      On-budget..................................    2,411    2,340    2,470
      Off-budget.................................      431      460      471

    Receipts:
      Unified....................................    2,407    2,540    2,662
      On-budget..................................    1,799    1,906    1,988
      Off-budget.................................      608      634      674

    Outlays:
      Unified....................................    2,655    2,784    2,902
      On-budget..................................    2,233    2,333    2,439
      Off-budget.................................      422      451      463

    Surplus/Deficit(-):
      Unified....................................     -248     -244     -239
      On-budget..................................     -434     -427     -451
      Off-budget.................................      186      183      212
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

      The budget documents provide information on all Federal agencies and
    programs. However, because the laws governing Social Security (the
    Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability
    Insurance trust funds) and the Postal Service Fund exclude the receipts
    and outlays for those activities from the budget totals and from the
    calculation of the deficit or surplus, the budget presents on-budget and
    off-budget totals. The off-budget totals include the transactions
    excluded by law from the budget totals. The on-budget and off-budget
    amounts are added together to derive the totals for the Federal
    Government. These are sometimes referred to as the unified or
    consolidated budget totals.
      It is not always obvious whether a transaction or activity should be
    included in the budget. Where there is a question, OMB normally follows
    the recommendation of the 1967 President's Commission on Budget Concepts
    to be comprehensive of the full range of Federal agencies, programs, and
    activities. In recent years, for example, the budget has included the
    transactions of the Universal Service Fund, the Public Company
    Accounting Oversight Board, Guaranty Agencies Reserves, the National
    Railroad Retirement Investment Trust, the United Mine Workers Combined
    Benefits Fund, the Telecommunications Development Fund, and the
    transactions of Electric Reliability Organizations (EROs) established
    pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
      The budget also reclassifies as governmental the collections and
    spending by the affordable housing program (AHP) funds created by the
    Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989
    (FIRREA) and includes them in the budget totals. FIRREA requires each of
    the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) to contribute at least 10 percent
    of its previous year's net earnings to an AHP fund to be used to
    subsidize owner-occupied and rental housing for low-income families and
    individuals and to provide assistance to certain first-time homebuyers.
    Since 1990, the FHLBs have contributed $2.7 billion to the AHP funds, of
    which $1.9 billion has been spent. Although the funds remain in the
    possession of the FHLBs, the deposit of specific amounts into the AHP
    funds is compulsory, and the expenditures are to meet specific
    governmental purposes.
      In contrast, the budget excludes tribal trust funds that are owned by
    Indian tribes and held and managed by the Government in a fiduciary
    capacity on the tribes' behalf. These funds are not owned by the
    Government, the Government is not the source of their capital, and the
    Government's control is limited to the exercise of fiduciary duties.
    Similarly, the transactions of Government-sponsored enterprises, such as
    the FHLBs are not included in the on-budget or off-budget totals.
    Federal laws established these enterprises for public policy purposes,
    but they are privately owned and operated corporations. Because of their
    public charters, the budget discusses them and reports summary financial
    data in the budget Appendix and in some detailed tables.

    [[Page 396]]

      The Appendix includes a presentation for the Board of Governors of the
    Federal Reserve System for information only. The amounts are not
    included in either the on-budget or off-budget totals because of the
    independent status of the System within the Government. However, the
    Federal Reserve System transfers its net earnings to the Treasury, and
    the budget records them as receipts.

                            Functional Classification

      The functional classification arrays budget authority, outlays, and
    other budget data according to the major purpose served--such as
    agriculture, income security, and national defense. There are nineteen
    major functions, most of which are divided into subfunctions. For
    example, the Agriculture function comprises the subfunctions Farm Income
    Stabilization and Agricultural Research and Services. The functional
    array meets the Congressional Budget Act requirement for a presentation
    in the budget by national needs and agency missions and programs.
      The following criteria are used in establishing functional categories
    and assigning activities to them:
        A function encompasses activities with similar purposes,
              emphasizing what the Federal Government seeks to accomplish
              rather than the means of accomplishment, the objects
              purchased, the clientele or geographic area served, or the
              Federal agency conducting the activity (except in the case of
              subfunction 051 in the National Defense function, which is
              used only for defense activities under the Department of
              Defense--Military).
        A function must be of continuing national importance, and
              the amounts attributable to it must be significant.
        Each basic unit being classified (generally the
              appropriation or fund account) usually is classified according
              to its primary purpose and assigned to only one subfunction.
              However, some large accounts that serve more than one major
              purpose are subdivided into two or more subfunctions.
      Detailed functional tables, which provide information on government
    activities by function and subfunction, appear this year on the
    Analytical Perspectives CD ROM as Table 27.

             Agencies, Accounts, Programs, Projects, and Activities

      Various summary tables in the Analytical Perspectives volume of the
    budget provide information on budget authority, outlays, and offsetting
    collections and receipts arrayed by Federal agency. A table that lists
    budget authority and outlays by budget account within each agency and
    the totals for each agency of budget authority, outlays, and receipts
    that offset the agency spending totals appears this year on the
    Analytical Perspectives CD ROM as Table 28. The Appendix provides
    budgetary, financial, and descriptive information about programs,
    projects, and activities by account within each agency.

                                 Types of Funds

      Agency activities are financed through Federal funds and trust funds.
      Federal funds comprise several types of funds. Receipt accounts of the
    general fund, which is the greater part of the budget, record receipts
    not earmarked by law for a specific purpose, such as income tax
    receipts. The general fund also includes the proceeds of general
    borrowing. General fund appropriation accounts record general fund
    expenditures. General fund appropriations draw from general fund
    receipts and borrowing collectively and, therefore, are not specifically
    linked to receipt accounts. Special funds consist of receipt accounts
    for Federal fund receipts that laws have earmarked for specific purposes
    and the associated appropriation accounts for the expenditure of those
    receipts. Public enterprise funds are revolving funds used for programs
    authorized by law to conduct a cycle of business-type operations,
    primarily with the public, in which outlays generate collections.
    Intragovernmental funds are revolving funds that conduct business-type
    operations primarily within and between Government agencies. The
    collections and the outlays of revolving funds are recorded in the same
    budget account.
      Trust funds account for the receipt and expenditure of monies by the
    Government for carrying out specific purposes and programs in accordance
    with the terms of a statute that designates the fund as a trust fund
    (such as the Highway Trust Fund) or for carrying out the stipulations of
    a trust where the Government itself is the beneficiary (such as any of
    several trust funds for gifts and donations for specific purposes).
    Trust revolving funds are trust funds credited with collections
    earmarked by law to carry out a cycle of business-type operations.
      The Federal budget meaning of the term ``trust,'' as applied to trust
    fund accounts, differs significantly from its private sector usage. In
    the private sector, the beneficiary of a trust usually owns the trust's
    assets, which are managed by a trustee who must follow the stipulations
    of the trust. In contrast, the Federal Government owns the assets of
    most Federal trust funds, and it can raise or lower future trust fund
    collections and payments, or change the purposes for which the
    collections are used, by changing existing laws. There is no substantive
    difference between a trust fund and a special fund or between a trust
    revolving fund and a public enterprise revolving fund. However, in some
    instances, the Government does act as a true trustee of assets that are
    owned or held for the benefit of others. For example, it maintains
    accounts on behalf of individual Federal employees in the Thrift Savings
    Fund, investing them as directed by the individual employee. The
    Government accounts for such funds in deposit funds, which are not
    included in the budget. (Chapter 22 of this volume, ``Trust Funds and
    Federal Funds,'' provides more information on this subject.)

    [[Page 397]]

                            Budgeting for Full Costs

      A budget is a financial plan for allocating resources--deciding how
    much the Federal Government should spend in total, program by program,
    and for the parts of each program and deciding how to finance the
    spending. The budgetary system provides a process for proposing
    policies, making decisions, implementing them, and reporting the
    results. The budget needs to measure costs accurately so that decision
    makers can compare the cost of a program with its benefit, the cost of
    one program with another, and the cost of alternative methods of
    reaching a specified goal. These costs need to be fully included in the
    budget up front, when the spending decision is made, so that executive
    and congressional decision makers have the information and the incentive
    to take the total costs into account for setting priorities.
      The budget includes all types of spending, including both current
    operating expenditures and capital investment, and to the extent
    possible, both are measured on the basis of full cost. Questions are
    often raised about the measure of capital investment. The present budget
    provides policymakers the necessary information regarding investment
    spending. It records investment on a cash basis, and it requires
    Congress to provide budget authority before an agency can obligate the
    Government to make a cash outlay. By these means, it causes the total
    cost of capital investment to be compared up front in a rough and ready
    way with the total expected future net benefits. Since the budget
    measures only cost, the benefits with which these costs are compared,
    based on policy makers' judgment, must be presented in supplementary
    materials. Such a comparison of total costs with benefits is consistent
    with the formal method of cost-benefit analysis of capital projects in
    government, in which the full cost of a capital asset as the cash is
    paid out is compared with the full stream of future benefits (all in
    terms of present values). (Chapter 6 of this volume, ``Federal
    Investment,'' provides more information on capital investment.)
      There have been a number of proposals to change the basis for
    measuring capital investment in the budget. Many of these would
    undermine effective consideration and control of costs by spreading the
    real cost of the project over time and record as a current operating
    expense the annual depreciation for each year of an asset's life. No
    depreciation would be recorded until after the asset was put into
    service. This could be several years after the initial expenditure, in
    which case the budget would record no expenses at all in the budget year
    or several years thereafter, even though the Government is legally
    obligated to buy the asset, and the asset is being constructed or
    manufactured. Recording the annual depreciation in the budget each year
    would provide little control over the decision about whether to invest
    in the first place. Control can only be exercised up front when the
    Government commits itself to the full sunk cost. Spreading the costs
    over time would make the cost of a capital asset appear very cheap when
    decisions were being made that compared it to alternative expenditures.
    As a result, the Government would have an incentive to purchase capital
    assets with little regard for need, and also with little regard for the
    least-cost method of acquisition. Chapter 7, ``Federal Investment
    Spending and Capital Budgeting,'' pages 157-165 in the Analytical
    Perspectives volume of the 2004 Budget, discusses alternative capital
    budget and capital expenditure presentations in more detail.

            RECEIPTS, OFFSETTING COLLECTIONS, AND OFFSETTING RECEIPTS

                                   In General

      The budget records money collected by Government agencies two
    different ways. Depending on the nature of the activity generating the
    collection and the law that established the collection, they are
    recorded as either:
        Governmental receipts, which are compared in total to
              outlays (net of offsetting collections and receipts) in
              calculating the surplus or deficit; or
        Offsetting collections or offsetting receipts, which are
              deducted from gross outlays to calculate net outlay figures.

                              Governmental receipts

      Governmental receipts are collections that result from the
    Government's exercise of its sovereign power to tax or otherwise compel
    payment and from gifts of money to the Government. Sometimes they are
    called receipts, Federal receipts, or Federal revenues. They consist
    mostly of individual and corporation income taxes and social insurance
    taxes, but also include excise taxes, compulsory user charges,
    regulatory fees, customs duties, court fines, certain license fees, and
    deposits of earnings by the Federal Reserve System. Total receipts for
    the Federal Government include both on-budget and off-budget receipts
    (see Table 26-1, ``Totals for the Budget and the Federal Government,''
    which appears earlier in this chapter.) Chapter 17 of this volume,
    ``Federal Receipts,'' provides more information on receipts.

                 Offsetting Collections and Offsetting Receipts

      Offsetting collections and offsetting receipts are recorded as offsets
    to (deductions from) spending, not as additions on the receipt side of
    the budget. As explained below, they are recorded as offsets to spending
    so that the budget totals represent governmental rather than market
    activity and reflect the Government's net transactions with the public.
    They are recorded in one of two ways, based on interpretation of laws
    and longstanding budget concepts and practice. They are offsetting
    collections when the collections are authorized by

    [[Page 398]]

    law to be credited to expenditure accounts. Otherwise, they are
    deposited in receipt accounts and called offsetting receipts.
      Offsetting collections and offsetting receipts result from one of the
    following types of transactions:
        Business-like transactions or market-oriented activities
              with the public--collections from the public in exchange for
              goods or services, such as the proceeds from the sale of
              postage stamps, the fees charged for admittance to recreation
              areas, and the proceeds from the sale of Government-owned
              land. The budget records these amounts as offsetting
              collections from non-Federal sources (for offsetting
              collections) or as proprietary receipts (for offsetting
              receipts). The amounts are deducted from gross budget
              authority and outlays, rather than added to receipts. This
              treatment produces budget totals for receipts, budget
              authority, and outlays that represent governmental rather than
              market activity.
        Intragovernmental transactions--collections from other
              Federal Government accounts. The budget records collections by
              one Government account from another as offsetting collections
              from Federal sources (for offsetting collections) or as
              intragovernmental receipts (for offsetting receipts). For
              example, the General Services Administration rents office
              space to other Government agencies and records their rental
              payments as offsetting collections from Federal sources in the
              Federal Buildings Fund. These transactions are exactly
              offsetting and do not affect the surplus or deficit. However,
              they are an important accounting mechanism for allocating
              costs to the programs and activities that cause the Government
              to incur the costs. Intragovernmental offsetting collections
              and receipts are deducted from gross budget authority and
              outlays so that the budget totals measure the transactions of
              the Government with the public.
        Offsetting governmental transactions--collections from the
              public that are governmental in nature (e.g., tax receipts,
              regulatory fees, compulsory user charges, custom duties,
              license fees) but required by law to be misclassified as
              offsetting. The budget records amounts from non-Federal
              sources that are governmental in nature as offsetting
              governmental collections (for offsetting collections) or as
              offsetting governmental receipts (for offsetting receipts).
      A table in Chapter 21 of this volume, ``Outlays to the Public, Gross
    and Net,'' shows the effect of offsetting collections and receipts on
    gross outlays for each major Federal agency.

                             Offsetting Collections

      Some laws authorize agencies to credit collections directly to the
    account from which they will be spent and, usually, to spend the
    collections for the purpose of the account without further action by
    Congress. Most revolving funds operate with such authority. For example,
    a permanent law authorizes the Postal Service to use collections from
    the sale of stamps to finance its operations without a requirement for
    annual appropriations. The budget records these collections in the
    Postal Service Fund (a revolving fund) and records budget authority in
    an amount equal to the collections. In addition to revolving funds, some
    agencies are authorized to charge fees to defray a portion of costs for
    a program that are otherwise financed by appropriations from the general
    fund and usually to spend the collections without further action by
    Congress. In such cases, the budget records the offsetting collections
    and resulting budget authority in the program's general fund expenditure
    account. Similarly, intragovernmental collections authorized by some
    laws may be recorded as offsetting collections and budget authority in
    revolving funds or in general fund expenditure accounts.
      Sometimes appropriations acts or provisions in other laws limit the
    obligations that can be financed by offsetting collections. In those
    cases, the budget records budget authority in the amount available to
    incur obligations, not in the amount of the collections.
      Offsetting collections credited to expenditure accounts automatically
    offset the outlays at the expenditure account level. Where accounts have
    offsetting collections, the budget shows the budget authority and
    outlays of the account both gross (before deducting offsetting
    collections) and net (after deducting offsetting collections). Totals
    for the agency, subfunction, and budget are net of offsetting
    collections.

                               Offsetting Receipts

      Collections that are offset against gross outlays but are not
    authorized to be credited to expenditure accounts are credited to
    receipt accounts and are called offsetting receipts. Offsetting receipts
    are deducted from budget authority and outlays in arriving at total
    budget authority and outlays. However, unlike offsetting collections
    credited to expenditure accounts, offsetting receipts do not offset
    budget authority and outlays at the account level. In most cases, they
    offset budget authority and outlays at the agency and subfunction
    levels.
      Proprietary receipts from a few sources, however, are not offset
    against any specific agency or function and are classified as
    undistributed offsetting receipts. They are deducted from the
    Government-wide totals for budget authority and outlays. For example,
    the collections of rents and royalties from outer continental shelf
    lands are undistributed because the amounts are large and for the most
    part are not related to the spending of the agency that administers the
    transactions and the subfunction that records the administrative
    expenses.
      Similarly, two kinds of intragovernmental transactions--agencies'
    payments as employers into Federal employee retirement trust funds and
    interest received by trust funds--are classified as undistributed
    offsetting receipts. They appear instead as special deductions in
    computing total budget authority and outlays for the Government rather
    than as offsets at the agency

    [[Page 399]]

    level. This special treatment is necessary because the amounts are large
    and would distort measures of the agency's activities if they were
    attributed to the agency.

                                  User Charges

      User charges are fees assessed on individuals or organizations for the
    provision of Government services and for the sale or use of Government
    goods or resources. The payers of the user charge must be limited in the
    authorizing legislation to those receiving special benefits from, or
    subject to regulation by, the program or activity beyond the benefits
    received by the general public or broad segments of the public (such as
    those who pay income taxes or customs duties). Policy regarding user
    charges is established in OMB Circular A-25, ``User Charges'' (July 8,
    1993). The term encompasses proceeds from the sale or use of government
    goods and services, including the sale of natural resources (such as
    timber, oil, and minerals) and proceeds from asset sales (such as
    property, plant, and equipment). User charges are not necessarily
    earmarked for the activity they finance and may be credited to the
    general fund of the Treasury.
      The term ``user charge'' does not refer to a separate budget category
    for collections. User charges are classified in the budget as receipts,
    offsetting receipts, or offsetting collections according to the
    principles explained above.
      See Chapter 18, ``User Charges and Other Collections,'' for more
    information on the classification of user charges.

    BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OTHER BUDGETARY RESOURCES, OBLIGATIONS, AND OUTLAYS

      Budget authority, obligations, and outlays are the primary benchmarks
    and measures of the budget control system. Congress enacts laws that
    provide agencies with spending authority in the form of budget
    authority. Before agencies can use the resources, OMB must approve their
    spending plans. After the plans are approved, agencies can enter into
    binding agreements to purchase items or services or to make grants or
    other payments. These agreements are recorded as obligations of the
    United States and deducted from the amount of budgetary resources
    available to the agency. When payments are made, the obligations are
    liquidated and outlays recorded. These concepts are discussed more fully
    below.

                 Budget Authority and Other Budgetary Resources

      Budget authority is the authority provided in law to enter into legal
    obligations that will result in immediate or future outlays of the
    Government. In other words, it is the amount of money that agencies are
    allowed to commit to be spent in current or future years. Government
    officials may obligate the Government to make outlays only to the extent
    they have been granted budget authority.
      The budget records new budget authority as a dollar amount in the year
    when it first becomes available. When permitted by law, unobligated
    balances of budget authority may be carried over and used in the next
    year. The budget does not record these balances as budget authority
    again. They do, however, constitute a budgetary resource that is
    available for obligation. In some cases, a provision of law (such as a
    limitation on obligations or a benefit formula) precludes the obligation
    of funds that would otherwise be available for obligation. In such
    cases, the budget records budget authority equal to the amount of
    obligations that can be incurred. A major exception to this rule is for
    the highway and mass transit programs financed by the Highway Trust
    Fund, where budget authority is measured as the amount of contract
    authority (described below) provided in authorizing statutes, even
    though the obligation limitations enacted in annual appropriations acts
    restrict the amount of contract authority that can be obligated.
      In deciding the amount of budget authority to request for a program,
    project, or activity, agency officials estimate the total amount of
    obligations they will need to incur to achieve desired goals and
    subtract the unobligated balances available for these purposes. The
    amount of budget authority requested is influenced by the nature of the
    programs, projects, or activities being financed. For current operating
    expenditures, the amount requested usually covers the needs for the
    year. For major procurement programs and construction projects, agencies
    generally must request sufficient budget authority in the first year to
    fully fund an economically useful segment of a procurement or project,
    even though it may be obligated over several years. This full funding
    policy is intended to ensure that the decision-makers take into account
    all costs and benefits fully at the time decisions are made to provide
    resources. It also avoids sinking money into a procurement or project
    without being certain if or when future funding will be available to
    complete the procurement or project.
      Budget authority takes several forms:
        Appropriations, provided in annual appropriations acts or
              authorizing laws, permit agencies to incur obligations and
              make payment;
        Borrowing authority, usually provided in permanent laws,
              permits agencies to incur obligations but requires them to
              borrow funds, usually from the general fund of the Treasury,
              to make payment;
        Contract authority, usually provided in permanent law,
              permits agencies to incur obligations in advance of a separate
              appropriation of the cash for payment or in anticipation of
              the collection of receipts that can be used for payment; and
        Spending authority from offsetting collections, usually
              provided in permanent law, permits

    [[Page 400]]

              agencies to credit offsetting collections to an expenditure
              account, incur obligations, and make payment using the
              offsetting collections.
      Because offsetting collections and receipts are deducted from gross
    budget authority, they are referred to as negative budget authority for
    some purposes, such as Congressional Budget Act provisions that pertain
    to budget authority.
      Authorizing statutes usually determine the form of budget authority
    for a program. The authorizing statute may authorize a particular type
    of budget authority to be provided in annual appropriations acts, or it
    may provide one of the forms of budget authority directly, without the
    need for further appropriations.
      An appropriation may make funds available from the general fund,
    special funds, or trust funds, or authorize the spending of offsetting
    collections credited to expenditure accounts, including revolving funds.
    Borrowing authority is usually authorized for business-like activities
    where the activity being financed is expected to produce income over
    time with which to repay the borrowing with interest. The use of
    contract authority is traditionally limited to transportation programs.
      New budget authority for most Federal programs is normally provided in
    annually enacted appropriations acts. However, new budget authority for
    more than half of all outlays is made available through permanent
    appropriations under existing laws and does not require current action
    by Congress. Much of the permanent budget authority is for trust funds,
    interest on the public debt, and the authority to spend offsetting
    collections credited to appropriation or fund accounts. For most trust
    funds, the budget authority is automatically appropriated under existing
    law from the available balance of their receipts and equals the
    estimated annual obligations of the funds. For interest on the public
    debt, budget authority is automatically provided under a permanent
    appropriation enacted in 1847 and equals interest outlays.
      Annual appropriations acts generally make budget authority available
    for obligation only during the fiscal year to which the act applies.
    However, they frequently allow budget authority for a particular purpose
    to remain available for obligation for a longer period or indefinitely
    (that is, until expended or until the program objectives have been
    attained). Typically, budget authority for current operations is made
    available for only one year, and budget authority for construction and
    some research projects is available for a specified number of years or
    indefinitely. Budget authority provided in authorizing statutes, such as
    for most trust funds, is available indefinitely. Only another law can
    extend a limited period of availability (see ``Reappropriation'' below).
      Budget authority that is available for more than one year and not
    obligated in the year it becomes available is carried forward for
    obligation in a following year. In some cases, an account may carry
    forward unobligated budget authority from more than one year. The sum of
    such amounts constitutes the account's unobligated balance. Most of this
    budget authority is earmarked for specific uses and is not available for
    new programs. A small part may never by obligated or spent, primarily
    amounts provided for contingencies that do not occur or reserves that
    never have to be used.
      Budget authority that has been obligated but not paid constitutes the
    account's unpaid obligations. For example, in the case of salaries and
    wages, one to three weeks elapse between the time of obligation and the
    time of payment. In the case of major procurement and construction,
    payments may occur over a period of several years after the obligation
    is made. Unpaid obligations net of the accounts receivable and unfilled
    customers orders are defined by law as the obligated balances. Obligated
    balances of budget authority at the end of the year are carried forward
    until the obligations are paid or the balances are canceled. (A general
    law cancels the obligated balances of budget authority that was made
    available for a definite period five years after the end of the period,
    and then other resources must be used to pay the obligations.) Due to
    such flows, a change in the amount of budget authority available in any
    one year may change the level of obligations and outlays for several
    years to come. Conversely, a change in the amount of obligations
    incurred from one year to the next does not necessarily result from an
    equal change in the amount of budget authority available for that year
    and will not necessarily result in an equal change in the level of
    outlays in that year. \2\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      \2\ A separate report, ``Balances of Budget Authority,'' provides
    additional information on balances. The National Technical Information
    Service, Department of Commerce makes the report available shortly after
    the budget is transmitted.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Congress usually makes budget authority available on the first day of
    the fiscal year for which the appropriations act is passed.
    Occasionally, the appropriations language specifies a different timing.
    The language may provide an advance appropriation--budget authority that
    does not become available until one year or more beyond the fiscal year
    for which the appropriations act is passed. Forward funding is budget
    authority that is made available for obligation beginning in the last
    quarter of the fiscal year (beginning on July 1st) for the financing of
    ongoing grant programs during the next fiscal year. This kind of funding
    is used mostly for education programs, so that obligations for grants
    can be made prior to the beginning of the next school year. For certain
    benefit programs funded by annual appropriations, the appropriation
    provides for advance funding --budget authority that is to be charged to
    the appropriation in the succeeding year but which authorizes
    obligations to be incurred in the last quarter of the current fiscal
    year if necessary to meet benefit payments in excess of the specific
    amount appropriated for the year. When such authority is used, an
    adjustment is made to increase the budget authority for the fiscal year
    in which it is used and to reduce the budget authority of the succeeding
    fiscal year.
      Provisions of law that extend the availability of unobligated amounts
    that have expired or would otherwise

    [[Page 401]]

    expire are called reappropriations. Reappropriations of expired balances
    that are newly available for obligation in the current or budget year
    count as new budget authority in the fiscal year in which the balances
    become newly available. For example, if a 2007 appropriations act
    extends the availability of unobligated budget authority that expired at
    the end of 2006, new budget authority would be recorded for 2007.
      For purposes of the Budget Enforcement Act (discussed earlier under
    ``Budget Enforcement''), the budget classifies budget authority as
    discretionary or mandatory. This classification indicates whether
    appropriations acts or authorizing legislation control the amount of
    budget authority that is available. Generally, budget authority is
    discretionary if provided in an annual appropriations act and mandatory
    if provided in authorizing legislation. However, the BEA requires the
    budget authority provided in annual appropriations acts for certain
    specifically identified programs to be classified as mandatory. This is
    because the authorizing legislation for these programs entitles
    beneficiaries to receive payment or otherwise legally obligates the
    Government to make payment and effectively determines the amount of
    budget authority required, even though the payments are funded by a
    subsequent appropriation. Sometimes, budget authority is characterized
    as current or permanent. Current authority requires congressional
    appropriations action on the request for new budget authority for the
    year involved. Permanent authority becomes available pursuant to
    standing provisions of law without further appropriations action by
    Congress after transmittal of the budget for the year involved.
    Generally, budget authority is current if an annual appropriations act
    provides it and permanent if authorizing legislation provides it. By and
    large, the current/permanent distinction has been replaced by the
    discretionary/mandatory distinction, which is similar, but not
    identical. Outlays are also classified as discretionary or mandatory
    according to the classification of the budget authority from which they
    flow (see ``Outlays,'' below).
      The amount of budget authority recorded in the budget depends on
    whether the law provides a specific amount or specifies a variable
    factor that determines the amount. It is considered definite if the law
    specifies a dollar amount (which may be an amount not to be exceeded).
    It is considered indefinite if, instead of specifying an amount, the law
    permits the amount to be determined by subsequent circumstances. For
    example, indefinite budget authority is provided for interest on the
    public debt, payment of claims and judgments awarded by the courts
    against the U.S. and many entitlement programs. Many of the laws that
    authorize collections to be credited to revolving, special, and trust
    funds make all of the collections available for expenditure for the
    authorized purposes of the fund, and such authority is considered to be
    indefinite budget authority.

                              Obligations Incurred

      Following the enactment of budget authority and the completion of
    required apportionment action, Government agencies incur obligations to
    make payments (see earlier discussion under ``Budget Execution'').
    Agencies must record obligations when they enter into binding agreements
    that will result in immediate or future outlays. Such obligations
    include the current liabilities for salaries, wages, and interest; and
    contracts for the purchase of supplies and equipment, construction, and
    the acquisition of office space, buildings, and land. For Federal credit
    programs, obligations are recorded in an amount equal to the estimated
    subsidy cost of direct loans and loan guarantees (see FEDERAL CREDIT
    below).

                                     Outlays

      Outlays are the measure of Government spending. They are payments that
    liquidate obligations (other than the repayment of debt). The budget
    records them when obligations are paid, in the amount that is paid.
      Agency, function and subfunction, and Government-wide outlay totals
    are stated net of offsetting collections and offsetting receipts for
    most budget presentations. (Offsetting receipts from a few sources do
    not offset any specific function, subfunction, or agency, as explained
    previously, but only offset Government-wide totals.) Outlay totals for
    accounts with offsetting collections are stated both gross and net of
    the offsetting collections credited to the account. However, the outlay
    totals for special and trust funds with offsetting receipts are not
    stated net of the offsetting receipts.
      The Government usually makes outlays in the form of cash (currency,
    checks, or electronic fund transfers). However, in some cases agencies
    pay obligations without disbursing cash, and the budget records outlays
    nevertheless for the equivalent method. For example, the budget records
    outlays for the full amount of Federal employees' salaries, even though
    the cash disbursed to employees is net of Federal and state income taxes
    withheld, retirement contributions, life and health insurance premiums,
    and other deductions. (The budget also records receipts for the
    deductions of Federal income taxes and other payments to the
    Government.) When debt instruments (bonds, debentures, notes, or
    monetary credits) are used in place of cash to pay obligations, the
    budget records outlays financed by an increase in agency debt. For
    example, the budget records the acquisition of physical assets through
    certain types of lease-purchase arrangements as though a cash
    disbursement were made for an outright purchase. The transaction creates
    a Government debt, and the cash lease payments are treated as repayments
    of principal and interest.
      The measurement of interest varies. The budget records outlays for the
    interest on the public issues of Treasury debt securities as the
    interest accrues, not when the cash is paid. A small portion of this
    debt consists of inflation-indexed securities, which feature monthly
    adjustments to principal for inflation and semi

    [[Page 402]]

    annual payments of interest on the inflation-adjusted principal. As with
    fixed-rate securities, the budget records interest outlays as the
    interest accrues. The monthly adjustment to principal is recorded,
    simultaneously, as an increase in debt outstanding and an outlay of
    interest.
      Most Treasury debt securities held by trust funds and other Government
    accounts are in the Government account series (special issues). The
    budget normally states the interest on these securities on a cash basis.
    When a Government account is invested in Federal debt securities, the
    purchase price is usually close or identical to the par (face) value of
    the security. The budget records the investment at par value and adjusts
    the interest paid by Treasury and collected by the account by the
    difference between purchase price and par, if any. However, two trust
    funds in the Department of Defense, the Military Retirement Trust Fund
    and the Education Benefits Trust Fund, routinely have relatively large
    differences between purchase price and par. For these funds, the budget
    records the holdings of debt at par but records the differences between
    purchase price and par as adjustments to the assets of the funds that
    are amortized over the life of the security. The budget records interest
    as the amortization occurs.
      For Federal credit programs, outlays are equal to the subsidy cost of
    direct loans and loan guarantees and are recorded as the underlying
    loans are disbursed (see FEDERAL CREDIT below).
      The budget records refunds of receipts that result from overpayments
    (such as income taxes withheld in excess of tax liabilities) as
    reductions of receipts, rather than as outlays. However, the budget
    records payments to taxpayers for refundable tax credits (such as earned
    income tax credits) that exceed the taxpayer's tax liability as outlays.
    Refunds of overpayments by the Government are recorded as offsetting
    collections or offsetting receipts.
      Not all of the new budget authority for 2008 will be obligated or
    spent in 2008. Outlays during a fiscal year may liquidate obligations
    incurred in the same year or in prior years. Obligations, in turn, may
    be incurred against budget authority provided in the same year or
    against unobligated balances of budget authority provided in prior
    years. Outlays, therefore, flow in part from budget authority provided
    for the year in which the money is spent and in part from budget
    authority provided in prior years. The ratio of a given year's outlays
    resulting from budget authority enacted in that or a prior year to the
    original amount of that budget authority is referred to as the spendout
    rate for that year.
      As shown in the following chart, $2,313 billion of outlays in 2008 (80
    percent of the outlay total) will be made from that year's $2,941
    billion total of proposed new budget authority (a first-year spendout
    rate of 79 percent). Thus, the remaining $589 billion of outlays in 2008
    (20 percent of the outlay total) will be made from budget authority
    enacted in previous years. At the same time, $628 billion of the new
    budget authority proposed for 2008 (21 percent of the total amount
    proposed) will not lead to outlays until future years. In general, the
    total budget authority for a particular year is not directly indicative
    of that year's outlays since it combines various types of budget
    authority that have different short-term and long-term implications for
    budget obligations and outlays.

    [[Page 403]]

      As described earlier, the budget classifies budget authority and
    outlays as discretionary or mandatory for the purposes of the BEA. This
    classification of outlays measures the extent to which actual spending
    is controlled through the annual appropriations process. Typically, only
    a little over one-third ($1,017 billion in 2006) of total outlays for a
    fiscal year are discretionary and the remaining nearly two-thirds
    ($1,639 billion in 2006) are mandatory spending and net interest. Such a
    large portion of total spending is nondiscretionary because authorizing
    legislation determines net interest ($227 billion in 2006) and the
    spending for a few programs with large amounts of spending each year,
    such as Social Security ($544 billion in 2006) and Medicare ($325
    billion in 2006).
      The bulk of mandatory outlays flow from an equal amount of budget
    authority recorded in the same fiscal year. This is not the case for
    discretionary budget authority and outlays. For most major construction
    and procurement projects and long-term contracts, for example, the
    budget authority covers the entire cost estimated when the projects are
    initiated even though the work will take place and outlays will be made
    over a period extending beyond the year for which the budget authority
    is enacted. Similarly, discretionary budget authority for most education
    and job training activities is appropriated for school or program years
    that begin in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. Most of these funds
    result in outlays in the year after the appropriation.

                                 FEDERAL CREDIT

      Some Government programs make direct loans or loan guarantees. A
    direct loan is a disbursement of funds by the Government to a non-
    Federal borrower under a contract that requires repayment of such funds
    with or without interest. The term includes equivalent transactions such
    as selling a property on credit terms in lieu of receiving cash up
    front. A loan guarantee is any guarantee, insurance, or other pledge
    with respect to the payment of all or a part of the principal or
    interest on any debt obligation of a non-Federal borrower to a non-
    Federal lender. The Federal Credit Reform Act (FCRA) prescribes the
    budget treatment for Federal credit programs. Under this treatment, the
    budget records the net cost to the Government (subsidy cost) when the
    loans are disbursed, rather than the cash flows year-by-year over the
    term of the loan, so direct loans and loan guarantees can be compared to
    each other and to other methods of delivering benefits, such as grants,
    on an equivalent basis.
       The cost of direct loans and loan guarantees, sometimes called the
    ``subsidy cost,'' is estimated as the present value of expected
    disbursements over the term of the loan less the present value of
    expected collections. \3\ As for most other kinds of programs, agencies
    can make loans or guarantee loans only if Congress has appropriated
    funds sufficient to cover the subsidy costs or provided a limitation on
    the amount of direct loans or loan guarantees that can be made in annual
    appropriations acts.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      \3\ Present value is a standard financial concept that allows for the
    time value of money, that is, for the fact that a given sum of money is
    worth more at present than in the future because interest can be earned
    on it.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      The budget records the estimated long-term cost to the Government
    arising from direct loans and loan guarantees in credit program
    accounts. When a Federal agency disburses a direct loan or when a non-
    Federal lender disburses a loan guaranteed by a Federal agency, the
    program account outlays an amount equal to the cost to a non-budgetary
    credit financing account. The financing accounts record the actual
    transactions with the public. For a few programs, the estimated cost is
    negative, because the present value of expected collections exceeds the
    present value of expected disbursements over the term of the loan \3\.
    In such cases, the financing account makes a payment to the program's
    receipt account, where it is recorded as an offsetting receipt. In a few
    cases, the receipts are earmarked in a special fund established for the
    program and are available for appropriation for the program.
      The agencies responsible for credit programs must reestimate the cost
    of the outstanding direct loans and loan guarantees each year. If the
    estimated cost increases, the program account makes an additional
    payment to the financing account. If the estimated cost decreases, the
    financing account makes a payment to the program's receipt account,
    where it is recorded as an offsetting receipt. The FCRA provides
    permanent indefinite appropriations to pay for upward reestimates.
      If the Government modifies the terms of an outstanding direct loan or
    loan guarantee in a way that increases the cost, as the result of a law
    or the exercise of administrative discretion under existing law, the
    program account records obligations for an additional amount equal to
    the increased cost and outlays the amount to the financing account. As
    with the original cost, agencies may incur modification costs only if
    Congress has appropriated funds to cover them. A modification may also
    reduce costs, in which case the financing account makes a payment to the
    program's receipt account.
      Credit financing accounts record all cash flows to and from the
    Government arising from direct loan obligations and loan guarantee
    commitments. These cash flows consist mainly of direct loan
    disbursements and repayments, loan guarantee default payments, fees and
    interest from the public, the receipt of subsidy cost payments from
    program accounts, and interest paid to or received from Treasury.
    Separate financing accounts record the cash flows of direct loans and of
    loan guarantees for programs that provide both types of credit. The
    budget totals exclude the transactions of financing accounts because
    they are not a cost to the Government. However, since financing accounts
    record cash

    [[Page 404]]

    flows to and from the Government, they affect the means of financing a
    budget surplus or deficit (see ``Credit Financing Accounts'' in the next
    section). The budget documents display the transactions of the financing
    accounts, together with the related program accounts, for information
    and analytical purposes.
      The FCRA, which was enacted in 1990, grandfathered direct loan
    obligations and loan guarantee commitments made prior to 1992. The
    budget records these on a cash basis in credit liquidating accounts, the
    same as they were recorded before FCRA was enacted. However, this
    exception ceases to apply if the direct loans or loan guarantees are
    modified as described above. In that case, the budget records a
    modification subsidy cost or savings, as appropriate, and begins to
    account for the associated transactions as the FCRA prescribes for
    direct loan obligations and loan guarantee commitments made in 1992 or
    later.

                BUDGET DEFICIT OR SURPLUS AND MEANS OF FINANCING

      When outlays exceed receipts, the difference is a deficit, which the
    Government finances primarily by borrowing. When receipts exceed
    outlays, the difference is a surplus, and the Government uses the
    surplus primarily to reduce debt. The Government's debt (debt held by
    the public) is approximately the cumulative amount of borrowing to
    finance deficits, less repayments from surpluses. Borrowing is not
    exactly equal to the deficit, and debt repayment is not exactly equal to
    the surplus, because of the other means of financing such as those
    discussed under this heading. The factors included in the other means of
    financing can either increase or decrease the Government's borrowing
    needs (or decrease or increase its ability to repay debt). For example,
    the change in the Treasury operating cash balance is a factor included
    in other means of financing. Holding receipts and outlays constant,
    increases in the cash balance increase the Government's need to borrow
    or reduce the Government's ability to repay debt, and decreases in the
    cash balance decrease the need to borrow or increase the ability to
    repay debt. In some years, such as 2003, the net effect of the other
    means of financing is minor relative to the borrowing or debt repayment;
    in other years, such as 2002, the net effect may be significant.

                          Borrowing and Debt Repayment

      The budget treats borrowing and debt repayment as a means of
    financing, not as receipts and outlays. If borrowing were defined as
    receipts and debt repayment as outlays, the budget would be virtually
    balanced by definition. This rule applies both to borrowing in the form
    of Treasury securities and to specialized borrowing in the form of
    agency securities (including the issuance of debt securities to
    liquidate an obligation and the sale of certificates representing
    participation in a pool of loans).
      Two alternative financing methods employed by the Tennessee Valley
    Authority (TVA) to finance the acquisition of TVA assets are considered
    to be agency debt. The budget records the cash proceeds from a contract
    to lease some recently-constructed power generators to private investors
    and simultaneously lease them back and the cash proceeds from
    prepayments for power that TVA sells to its power distributors as a type
    of borrowing from the public. These transactions are discussed in more
    detail in Chapter 16 of this volume, ``Federal Borrowing and Debt.''
      In 2006, the Government borrowed $237 billion from the public. This
    financed nearly all of the $248 billion deficit in that year. The rest
    of the deficit was financed by the net effect of the other means of
    financing, such as changes in cash balances and other accounts discussed
    below. At the end of 2006, the debt held by the public was $4,829
    billion.
      In addition to selling debt to the public, the Treasury Department
    issues debt to Government accounts, primarily trust funds that are
    required by law to invest in Treasury securities. Issuing and redeeming
    this debt does not affect the means of financing, because these
    transactions occur between one Government account and another and thus
    do not raise or use any cash for the Government as a whole.
      (See Chapter 16 of this volume, ``Federal Borrowing and Debt,'' for a
    fuller discussion of this topic.)

                           Exercise of Monetary Power

      Seigniorage is the profit from coining money. It is the difference
    between the value of coins as money and their cost of production.
    Seigniorage adds to the Government's cash balance, but unlike the
    payment of taxes or other receipts, it does not involve a transfer of
    financial assets from the public. Instead, it arises from the exercise
    of the Government's power to create money and the public's desire to
    hold financial assets in the form of coins. Therefore, the budget
    excludes seigniorage from receipts and treats it as a means of financing
    other than borrowing from the public. The budget also treats profits
    resulting from the sale of gold as a means of financing, since the value
    of gold is determined by its value as a monetary asset rather than as a
    commodity.

                            Credit Financing Accounts

      The budget records the net cash flows of credit programs in credit
    financing accounts. They are excluded from the budget because they are
    not allocations of resources by the Government (see FEDERAL CREDIT
    above). However, even though they do not affect the surplus or deficit,
    they can either increase or decrease the Government's need to borrow.
    Therefore, they are recorded as a means of financing.
      Financing account disbursements to the public increase the requirement
    for Treasury borrowing in the same way as an increase in budget outlays.
    Financing account receipts from the public can be used to finance

    [[Page 405]]

    the payment of the Government's obligations and therefore reduce the
    requirement for Treasury borrowing from the public in the same way as an
    increase in budget receipts.

                          Deposit Fund Account Balances

      The Treasury uses non-budgetary accounts, called deposit funds, to
    record cash held temporarily until ownership is determined (for example,
    earnest money paid by bidders for mineral leases) or cash held by the
    Government as agent for others (for example, State and local income
    taxes withheld from Federal employees' salaries and not yet paid to the
    State or local government or the Thrift Savings Fund, a defined
    contribution pension fund held and managed in a fiduciary capacity by
    the Government). Deposit fund balances may be held in the form of either
    invested or uninvested balances. To the extent that they are not
    invested, changes in the balances are available to finance expenditures
    and are recorded as a means of financing other than borrowing from the
    public. To the extent that they are invested in Federal debt, changes in
    the balances are reflected as borrowing from the public in lieu of
    borrowing from other parts of the public and are not reflected as a
    separate means of financing.

              Exchanges with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

      Under the terms of its participation in the IMF, the U.S. transfers
    dollars to the IMF and receives Special Drawing Rights (SDR's) in
    return. The SDR's are interest-bearing monetary assets and may be
    exchanged for foreign currency at any time. These transfers are like
    bank deposits and withdrawals, where the government exchanges one type
    of financial asset (cash) for another (bank deposit), with no change in
    total financial assets. Following a recommendation of the 1967
    President's Commission on Budget Concepts, the budget excludes these
    transfers from budget outlays or receipts. In contrast, the budget
    records interest paid by the IMF on U.S. deposits as an offsetting
    receipt in the general fund of the Treasury. It also records outlays for
    foreign currency exchanges to the extent there is a realized loss in
    dollars terms and offsetting receipts to the extent there is a realized
    gain in dollar terms.

                      Railroad Retirement Board Investments

      Under longstanding rules, the budget treats investments in non-Federal
    securities as a purchase of an asset, recording an obligation and an
    outlay in an amount equal to the purchase price in the year of the
    purchase. Since investments in non-Federal securities consume cash, fund
    balances (of funds available for obligation) normally exclude the value
    of non-Federal securities. However, the Railroad Retirement and
    Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-90) requires
    purchases or sales of non-Federal assets by the National Railroad
    Retirement Investment Trust to be treated as a means of financing in the
    budget.
      Earnings on investments by the National Railroad Retirement Investment
    Trust in private assets pose special challenges for budget projections.
    Equities and private bonds earn a higher return on average than the
    Treasury rate, but that return is subject to greater uncertainty. Sound
    budgeting principles require that estimates of future trust fund
    balances reflect both the average return and the cost of risk associated
    with the uncertainty of that return. (The latter is particularly true in
    cases where individual beneficiaries have not made a voluntary choice to
    assume additional risk.) Estimating both of these separately is quite
    difficult. While the additional returns that these assets have received
    in the past are known, it is quite possible that these premiums will
    differ in the future. Furthermore, there is no existing procedure for
    the budget to record separately the cost of risk from such an
    investment, even if it could be estimated accurately. Economic theory
    suggests, however, that the difference between the expected return of a
    risky liquid asset and the Treasury rate is equal to the cost of the
    asset's additional risk as priced by the market. Following through on
    this insight, the best way to project the rate of return on the Fund's
    balances is to use a Treasury rate. This will mean that assets with
    equal economic value as measured by market prices will be treated
    equivalently, avoiding the appearance that the budget could benefit if
    the Government bought private sector assets.
      The actual and estimated returns to private securities are recorded in
    subfunction 909, other investment income. The actual year returns
    include interest, dividends, and capital gains and losses on private
    equities and other securities. The Fund's portfolio of these assets is
    revalued at market prices at the end of the actual year to determine
    capital gains or losses. As a result, the Fund's end-of-year balance
    reflects the current market value of resources available to the
    Government to finance benefits. Earnings for the current and future
    years are estimated using the 10-year Treasury rate and the value of the
    Fund's portfolio at the end of the actual year. No estimates are made of
    gains and losses for the current year or subsequent years.

                               FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT

      The budget includes information on civilian and military employment.
    It also includes information on related personnel compensation and
    benefits and on staffing requirements at overseas missions. Chapter 24
    of this volume, ``Federal Employment and Compensation,'' provides two
    different measures of Federal employment levels-actual positions filled
    and full-time equivalents (FTE). Agency FTEs are the measure of the
    total number of hours worked by an agency's Federal employees divided by
    the total number of workhours in one fiscal

    [[Page 406]]

    year. In the budget Appendix, only the FTE measure is used because it
    takes into account part-time employment, temporary employment, and
    vacancies during the year.

                            BASIS FOR BUDGET FIGURES

                             Data for the Past Year

      The past year column (2006) generally presents the actual transactions
    and balances as recorded in agency accounts and as summarized in the
    central financial reports prepared by the Treasury Department for the
    most recently completed fiscal year. Occasionally the budget reports
    corrections to data reported erroneously to Treasury but not discovered
    in time to be reflected in Treasury's published data. In addition, in
    certain cases the Budget has a broader scope and includes financial
    transactions that are not reported to Treasury (see Chapter 20 of this
    volume, ``Comparison of Actual to Estimated Totals,'' for a summary of
    these differences).

                            Data for the Current Year

      The current year column (2007) includes estimates of transactions and
    balances based on the amounts of budgetary resources that were available
    when the budget was transmitted, including amounts appropriated for the
    year. For accounts that are funded by appropriations bills that have not
    been enacted, the current year estimates are the annualized amount
    provided by Public Law 109-289, Division B, as amended.

                            Data for the Budget Year

      The budget year column (2008) includes estimates of transactions and
    balances based on the amounts of budgetary resources that are estimated
    to be available, including new budget authority requested under current
    authorizing legislation, and amounts estimated to result from changes in
    authorizing legislation and tax laws.
      The budget Appendix generally includes the appropriations language for
    the amounts proposed to be appropriated under current authorizing
    legislation. In a few cases, this language is transmitted later because
    the exact requirements are unknown when the budget is transmitted. The
    Appendix generally does not include appropriations language for the
    amounts that will be requested under proposed legislation; that language
    is usually transmitted later, after the legislation is enacted. Some
    tables in the budget identify the items for later transmittal and the
    related outlays separately. Estimates of the total requirements for the
    budget year include both the amounts requested with the transmittal of
    the budget and the amounts planned for later transmittal.

                              Data for the Outyears

      The budget presents estimates for each of the four years beyond the
    budget year (2009 through 2012) in order to reflect the effect of budget
    decisions on longer term objectives and plans.

                                   Allowances

      The budget may include lump-sum allowances to cover certain
    transactions that are expected to increase or decrease budget authority,
    outlays, or receipts but are not, for various reasons, reflected in the
    program details. For example, the budget might include an allowance to
    show the effect on the budget totals of a proposal that would actually
    affect many accounts by relatively small amounts, in order to avoid
    unnecessary detail in the presentations for the individual accounts.

                                    Baseline

      The budget baseline is an estimate of the receipts, outlays, and
    deficits or surpluses that would occur if no changes were made to
    current laws during the period covered by the budget. The baseline
    assumes that receipts and mandatory spending, which generally are
    authorized on a permanent basis, will continue in the future as required
    by current law. The baseline assumes that the future funding for
    discretionary programs, which generally are funded annually, will equal
    the most recently enacted appropriation, adjusted for inflation. For
    accounts that are funded by appropriations bills that have not been
    enacted, the baseline estimates are based on the annualized amount
    provided by Public Law 109-289, Division B, as amended.
      The baseline represents the amount of resources, in real terms, that
    would be used by the Government over the period covered by the budget on
    the basis of laws currently enacted. (Chapter 25 of this volume,
    ``Current Services Estimates,'' provides more information on the
    baseline.)
      The baseline serves several useful purposes:
        It may warn of future problems, either for Government fiscal
              policy as a whole or for individual tax and spending programs.
        It provides a starting point for formulating the President's
              budget.
        It provides a ``policy-neutral'' benchmark against which the
              President's budget and alternative proposals can be compared
              to assess the magnitude of proposed changes.

                              PRINCIPAL BUDGET LAWS

      The following basic laws govern the Federal budget process:
        Article 1, section 8, clause 1 of the Constitution, which
              empowers the Congress to collect taxes.

    [[Page 407]]

        Article 1, section 9, clause 7 of the Constitution, which
              requires appropriations in law before money may be spent from
              the Treasury and the publication of a regular statement of the
              receipts and expenditures of all public money.
        Antideficiency Act (codified in Chapters 13 and 15 of Title
              31, United States Code), which prescribes rules and procedures
              for budget execution.
        Chapter 11 of Title 31, United States Code, which prescribes
              procedures for submission of the President's budget and
              information to be contained in it.
        Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
              (Public Law 93-344), as amended. This Act comprises the:
         --Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended, which prescribes
             the congressional budget process; and
         --Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which controls certain aspects
             of budget execution.
        Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985
              (Public Law 99-177), as amended, which prescribes rules and
              procedures (including ``sequestration'') designed to eliminate
              excess spending.
        Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (Title XIII, Public Law 101-
              508), which significantly amended key laws pertaining to the
              budget process, including the Congressional Budget Act and the
              Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act. The Budget
              Enforcement Act of 1997 (Title X, Public Law 105-33) extended
              the BEA requirements through 2002 and altered some of the
              requirements. The requirements, generally referred to as BEA
              requirements (discretionary spending limits, pay-as-you-go,
              sequestration, etc.), are part of the Balanced Budget and
              Emergency Deficit Control Act. The BEA expired at the end of
              2002.
        Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as amended (2 USC 661-
              661f), a part of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, which
              amended the Congressional Budget Act to prescribe the budget
              treatment for Federal credit programs.
        Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Public Law
              103-62, as amended) which emphasizes managing for results. It
              requires agencies to prepare strategic plans, annual
              performance plans, and annual performance reports.

                            GLOSSARY OF BUDGET TERMS

      Accrual Method of Measuring Cost means an accounting method that
    records cost when the liability is incurred. As applied to Federal
    employee retirement benefits, cost is recorded when the benefits are
    earned rather than when they are paid at some time in the future.
      Advance appropriation means appropriations of new budget authority
    that become available one or more fiscal years beyond the fiscal year
    for which the appropriation act was passed.
      Advance funding means appropriations of budget authority provided in
    an appropriations act to be used, if necessary, to cover obligations
    incurred late in the fiscal year for benefit payments in excess of the
    amount specifically appropriated in the act for that year, where the
    budget authority is charged to the appropriation for the program for the
    fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the appropriations act
    is passed.
      Agency means a department or other establishment of the Government.
      Allowance means a lump-sum included in the budget to represent certain
    transactions that are expected to increase or decrease budget authority,
    outlays, or receipts but that are not, for various reasons, reflected in
    the program details.
      Balances of budget authority means the amounts of budget authority
    provided in previous years that have not been outlayed.
      Baseline means an estimate of the receipts, outlays, and deficit or
    surplus that would result from continuing current law through the period
    covered by the budget.
      Budget means the Budget of the United States Government, which sets
    forth the President's comprehensive financial plan for allocating
    resources and indicates the President's priorities for the Federal
    Government.
      Budget authority (BA) means the authority provided by law to incur
    financial obligations that will result in outlays. (For a description of
    the several forms of budget authority, see ``Budget Authority and Other
    Budgetary Resources'' earlier in this chapter.)
      Budget totals mean the totals included in the budget for budget
    authority, outlays, receipts, and the surplus or deficit. Some
    presentations in the budget distinguish on-budget totals from off-budget
    totals. On-budget totals reflect the transactions of all Federal
    Government entities except those excluded from the budget totals by law.
    The off-budget totals reflect the transactions of Government entities
    that are excluded from the on-budget totals by law. Under current law,
    the off-budget totals include the Social Security trust funds (Federal
    Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust
    Funds) and the Postal Service Fund. The budget combines the on- and off-
    budget totals to derive unified or consolidated totals for Federal
    activity.
      Budgetary resources mean amounts available to incur obligations in a
    given year. The term comprises new budget authority and unobligated
    balances of budget authority provided in previous years.
      Cap means the legal limits for each fiscal year under the Budget
    Enforcement Act on the budget authority and outlays provided by
    discretionary appropriations.

    [[Page 408]]

      Cash equivalent transaction means a transaction in which the
    Government makes outlays or receives collections in a form other than
    cash or the cash does not accurately measure the cost of the
    transaction. (For examples, see the section on ``Outlays'' earlier in
    this chapter.)
      Collections mean money collected by the Government that the budget
    records as either a receipt, an offsetting collection, or an offsetting
    receipt.
      Continuing resolution means an appropriation act that provides for the
    ongoing operation of the Government in the absence of enacted
    appropriations.
      Credit program account means a budget account that receives and
    obligates appropriations to cover the subsidy cost of a direct loan or
    loan guarantee and disburses the subsidy cost to a financing account.
      Current services estimate--see baseline.
      Debt Held by the Public means the cumulative amount of money the
    Federal Government has borrowed from the public and not repaid.
      Debt Held by Government Accounts means the debt the Treasury
    Department owes to accounts within the Federal Government. Most of it
    results from the surpluses of the Social Security and other trust funds,
    which are required by law to be invested in Federal securities.
      Debt Limit means the maximum amount of Federal debt that may legally
    be outstanding at any time. It includes both the debt held by the public
    and the debt held by Government accounts. When the debt limit is
    reached, the Government cannot borrow more money until the Congress has
    enacted a law to increase the limit.
      Deficit means the amount by which outlays exceed receipts in a fiscal
    year. It may refer to the on-budget, off-budget, or unified budget
    deficit.
      Direct loan means a disbursement of funds by the Government to a non-
    Federal borrower under a contract that requires the repayment of such
    funds with or without interest. The term includes the purchase of, or
    participation in, a loan made by another lender. The term also includes
    the sale of a Government asset on credit terms of more than 90 days
    duration as well as financing arrangements for other transactions that
    defer payment for more than 90 days. It also includes loans financed by
    the Federal Financing Bank (FFB) pursuant to agency loan guarantee
    authority. The term does not include the acquisition of a federally
    guaranteed loan in satisfaction of default or other guarantee claims or
    the price support loans of the Commodity Credit Corporation. (Cf. loan
    guarantee.)
      Direct spending--see mandatory spending.
      Discretionary spending means budgetary resources (except those
    provided to fund mandatory spending programs) provided in appropriations
    acts. (Cf. mandatory spending.)
      Entitlement refers to a program in which the Federal Government is
    legally obligated to make payments or provide aid to any person who
    meets the legal criteria for eligibility. Examples include Social
    Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Food Stamps.
      Emergency appropriation means an appropriation that the President and
    the Congress have designated as an emergency requirement. Such spending
    is not subject to the limits on discretionary spending, if it is
    discretionary spending, or the pay-as-you-go rules, if it is mandatory.
      Federal funds group refers to the moneys collected and spent by the
    Government through accounts other than those designated as trust funds.
    Federal funds include general, special, public enterprise, and
    intragovernmental funds. (Cf. trust funds.)
      Financing account means a non-budgetary account (its transactions are
    excluded from the budget totals) that records all of the cash flows
    resulting from post-1991 direct loan obligations or loan guarantee
    commitments. At least one financing account is associated with each
    credit program account. For programs that make both direct loans and
    loan guarantees, there are separate financing accounts for the direct
    loans and the loan guarantees. (Cf. liquidating account.)
      Fiscal year means the Government's accounting period. It begins on
    October 1st and ends on September 30th, and is designated by the
    calendar year in which it ends.
      Forward funding means appropriations of budget authority that are made
    for obligation in the last quarter of the fiscal year for the financing
    of ongoing grant programs during the next fiscal year.
      General fund means the accounts for receipts not earmarked by law for
    a specific purpose, the proceeds of general borrowing, and the
    expenditure of these moneys.
      Intragovernmental fund--see revolving fund.
      Liquidating account means a budget account that records all cash flows
    to and from the Government resulting from pre-1992 direct loan
    obligations or loan guarantee commitments. (Cf. financing account.)
      Loan guarantee means any guarantee, insurance, or other pledge with
    respect to the payment of all or a part of the principal or interest on
    any debt obligation of a non-Federal borrower to a non-Federal lender.
    The term does not include the insurance of deposits, shares, or other
    withdrawable accounts in financial institutions. (Cf. direct loan.)
      Mandatory spending means spending controlled by laws other than
    appropriations acts (including spending for entitlement programs) and
    spending for the food stamp program. Although the Budget Enforcement Act
    uses the term direct spending to mean this, mandatory spending is
    commonly used instead. (Cf. discretionary spending.)
      Means of financing refers to borrowing, the change in cash balances,
    and certain other transactions involved in financing a deficit. The term
    is also used to refer to the debt repayment, the change in cash
    balances, and certain other transactions involved in using a surplus. By
    definition, the means of financing are not treated as receipts or
    outlays.

    [[Page 409]]

      Obligated balance means the cumulative amount of budget authority that
    has been obligated but not yet outlayed. (Cf. unobligated balance.)
      Obligation means a binding agreement that will result in outlays,
    immediately or in the future. Budgetary resources must be available
    before obligations can be incurred legally.
      Off-budget--see budget totals.
      Offsetting collections mean collections that, by law, are credited
    directly to expenditure accounts and deducted from gross budget
    authority and outlays of the expenditure account, rather than added to
    receipts. Usually, they are authorized to be spent for the purposes of
    the account without further action by Congress. They result from
    business-like transactions or market-oriented activities with the public
    and other Government accounts. The authority to spend offsetting
    collections is a form of budget authority. (Cf. receipts and offsetting
    receipts.)
      Offsetting receipts mean collections that are credited to offsetting
    receipt accounts and deducted from gross budget authority and outlays,
    rather than added to receipts. They are not authorized to be credited to
    expenditure accounts. The legislation that authorizes the offsetting
    receipts may earmark them for a specific purpose and either appropriate
    them for expenditure for that purpose or require them to be appropriated
    in annual appropriation acts before they can be spent. Like offsetting
    collections, they result from business-like transactions or market-
    oriented activities with the public and other Government accounts. (Cf.
    receipts, undistributed offsetting receipts, and offsetting
    collections.)
      On-budget--see budget totals.
      Outlay means a payment to liquidate an obligation (other than the
    repayment of debt principal). Outlays generally are equal to cash
    disbursements but also are recorded for cash-equivalent transactions,
    such as the issuance of debentures to pay insurance claims, and in a few
    cases are recorded on an accrual basis such as interest on public issues
    of the public debt. Outlays are the measure of Government spending.
      Outyear estimates means estimates presented in the budget for the
    years beyond the budget year (usually four) of budget authority,
    outlays, receipts, and other items (such as debt).
      Pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) means the requirements of the Budget Enforcement
    Act that result in a sequestration if the estimated combined result of
    legislation affecting mandatory spending or receipts is a net cost for a
    fiscal year.
      Public enterprise fund--see revolving fund.
      Receipts mean collections that result from the Government's exercise
    of its sovereign power to tax or otherwise compel payment and gifts of
    money to the Government. They are compared to outlays in calculating a
    surplus or deficit. (Cf. offsetting collections and offsetting
    receipts.)
      Revolving fund means a fund that conducts continuing cycles of
    business-like activity, in which the fund charges for the sale of
    products or services and uses the proceeds to finance its spending,
    usually without requirement for annual appropriations. There are two
    types of revolving funds: Public enterprise funds, which conduct
    business-like operations mainly with the public, and intragovernmental
    revolving funds, which conduct business-like operations mainly within
    and between Government agencies.
      Scorekeeping means measuring the budget effects of legislation,
    generally in terms of budget authority, receipts, and outlays for
    purposes of the Budget Enforcement Act.
      Sequestration means the cancellation of budgetary resources provided
    by discretionary appropriations or mandatory spending legislation,
    following various procedures prescribed by the Budget Enforcement Act. A
    sequestration may occur in response to a discretionary appropriation
    that causes discretionary spending to exceed the discretionary spending
    caps set by the Budget Enforcement Act or in response to net costs
    resulting from the combined result of legislation affecting mandatory
    spending or receipts (referred to as a ``pay-as-you-go'' sequestration).
      Special fund means a Federal fund account for receipts or offsetting
    receipts earmarked for specific purposes and the expenditure of these
    receipts. (Cf. trust fund.)
      Subsidy means the estimated long-term cost to the Government of a
    direct loan or loan guarantee, calculated on a net present value basis,
    excluding administrative costs and any incidental effects on
    governmental receipts or outlays.
      Surplus means the amount by which receipts exceed outlays in a fiscal
    year. It may refer to the on-budget, off-budget, or unified budget
    surplus.
      Supplemental appropriation means an appropriation enacted subsequent
    to a regular annual appropriations act, when the need for funds is too
    urgent to be postponed until the next regular annual appropriations act.
      Trust fund refers to a type of account, designated by law as a trust
    fund, for receipts or offsetting receipts earmarked for specific
    purposes and the expenditure of these receipts. Some revolving funds are
    designated as trust funds, and these are called trust revolving funds.
    (Cf. special fund and revolving fund.)
      Trust funds group refers to the moneys collected and spent by the
    Government through trust fund accounts. (Cf., Federal funds group.)
      Undistributed offsetting receipts mean offsetting receipts that are
    deducted from the Government-wide totals for budget authority and
    outlays instead of offset against a specific agency and function. (Cf.
    offsetting receipts.)
      Unified budget includes receipts from all sources and outlays for all
    programs of the Federal Government, including both on- and off-budget
    programs. It is the most comprehensive measure of the Government's
    finances.

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      Unobligated balance means the cumulative amount of budget authority
    that is not obligated and that remains available for obligation under
    law.
      User charges are charges assessed for the provision of Government
    services and for the sale or use of Government goods or resources. The
    payers of the user charge must be limited in the authorizing legislation
    to those receiving special benefits from, or subject to regulation by,
    the program or activity beyond the benefits received by the general
    public or broad segments of the public (such as those who pay income
    taxes or custom duties).