Omnibus Appropriations Acts: Overview of Recent Practices (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 14, 2016 |
| Report Number |
RL32473 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
James V. Saturno, Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
Omnibus appropriations acts have become a significant feature of the legislative process in recent years as Congress and the President have used them more frequently to bring action on the regular appropriations cycle to a close. Following a discussion of pertinent background information, this report reviews the recent enactment of such measures and briefly addresses several issues raised by their use.
For nearly two centuries, regular appropriations acts were considered by the House and Senate as individual measures and enacted as standalone laws. In 1950, the House and Senate undertook a one-time experiment in improving legislative efficiency by considering all of the regular appropriations acts for FY1951 in a single bill, the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1950. The following year, the House and Senate returned to the practice of considering the regular appropriations acts individually.
During the 31-fiscal year period covering FY1986-FY2016, a total of 390 regular appropriations acts were enacted or covered by full-year continuing appropriations. Of these, 191 (48.9%) were enacted as standalone measures, 170 (43.6%) were enacted in omnibus measures, and 29 (6.9%) were enacted in other forms (largely full-year continuing appropriations acts). Each year, a median of six regular appropriations acts were enacted as standalone measures, and 5.5 were enacted in omnibus measures.
During this period, 22 different omnibus measures were enacted for 19 different fiscal years. (Two separate omnibus appropriations acts were enacted for FY2001, FY2009, and FY2012.) Each of the omnibus acts funded between two and 13 regular appropriations acts (7.5 median).
Eighteen of the omnibus measures were bills or joint resolutions carrying the designation "omnibus," "consolidated," or "omnibus consolidated" appropriations in the title; seven were titled as continuing appropriations acts (FY1986, FY1987, FY1988, FY2009, the first for FY2012, FY2013; and FY2015); and one was the VA-HUD Appropriations Act for FY2001, which also included the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for FY2001.
In addition to the customary concernâof sacrificing the opportunity for debate and amendment for greater legislative efficiencyâthat arises whenever complex legislation is considered under time constraints, the use of omnibus appropriations acts has generated controversy for other reasons. These include whether adequate consideration was given to regular appropriations acts prior to their incorporation into omnibus appropriations legislation, the use of across-the-board rescissions, and the inclusion of significant legislative (rather than funding) provisions.
This report will be updated at the conclusion of the annual appropriations process.
