Congressional Action on FY2016 Appropriations Measures (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 23, 2015 |
| Report Number |
R44062 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Jessica Tollestrup, Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
This report provides information on the congressional consideration of the FY2016 regular appropriations bills and the FY2016 continuing resolution (CR). It also discusses the statutory and procedural budget enforcement framework for FY2016 appropriations. It will address the congressional consideration of FY2016 supplemental appropriations if any such consideration occurs.
For all types of appropriations measures, discretionary spending budget enforcement under the congressional budget process has two primary sources. The first is the discretionary spending limits that are derived from the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25). The second source of budget enforcement is associated with the budget resolution. It imposes limits on both the total spending under the jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committees (referred to as a "302(a) allocation") as well as spending under the jurisdiction of each of the Appropriations subcommittees (referred to as "302(b) suballocations"). Certain spending is effectively not subject to these statutory and procedural limits, such as spending which is designated as "Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism" (OCO/GWOT) and "disaster relief."
Disagreement over the appropriate level of discretionary spendingâas well as its distribution between defense and nondefense activitiesâhas significantly affected the focus of the FY2016 appropriations process. The FY2016 budget resolution (S.Con.Res. 11) that was adopted by Congress provided a 302(a) allocation for the Appropriations Committees that was consistent with the statutory discretionary spending limits set in the Budget Control Act. However, the budget resolution also allowed for those funds to be supplemented by additional OCO/GWOT spending at a higher level than the amount requested by the President. On November 2, new levels for discretionary spending were established through the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA 2015; H.R. 1314; P.L. 114-74). The BBA 2015 raises both the defense and nondefense statutory discretionary spending limits for FY2016 and FY2017 and specifies an expected level for the OCO/GWOT spending adjustment for each of those fiscal years.
As of the date of this report, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have reported all 12 regular appropriations bills for FY2016. The House has passed six of theseâEnergy-Water (H.R. 2028); Military Construction-VA (H.R. 2029); Legislative Branch (H.R. 2250); Commerce-Justice-Science (H.R. 2578); Transportation-HUD (H.R. 2577); and Defense (H.R. 2685). The Senate has passed one regular appropriations billâMilitary Construction-VA.
Because none of the regular appropriations bills was expected to become law by the start of the fiscal year, a CR was enacted to provide temporary appropriations until December 11 (H.R. 719; P.L. 114-53).
This report will be updated periodically during the FY2016 appropriations process.
For information on the current status of FY2016 appropriations measures, see the CRS Appropriations Status Table: FY2016, at http://www.crs.gov/Pages/AppropriationsStatusTable.aspx.
