2 USC 651 – Budget-related legislation not subject to appropriations
(a) Controls on certain budget-related legislation not subject to appropriations
It shall not be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill or joint resolution (in the House of Representatives only, as reported), amendment, motion, or conference report that provides—
(1) new authority to enter into contracts under which the United States is obligated to make outlays;
(2) new authority to incur indebtedness (other than indebtedness incurred under chapter 31 of title 31) for the repayment of which the United States is liable; or
(3) new credit authority;
unless that bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report also provides that the new authority is to be effective for any fiscal year only to the extent or in the amounts provided in advance in appropriation Acts.
(b) Legislation providing new entitlement authority
Terms Used In 2 USC 651
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Budget authority: Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of Federal funds. Budget authority may be classified by the period of availability (one-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action (current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).
- Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
- Conference report: The compromise product negotiated by the conference committee. The "conference report" is submitted to each chamber for its consideration, such as approval or disapproval.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Outlays: Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
(1)
(2) If any committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate reports any bill or resolution which provides new entitlement authority which is to become effective during a fiscal year and the amount of new budget authority which will be required for such fiscal year if such bill or resolution is enacted as so reported exceeds the appropriate allocation of new budget authority reported under section 633(a) of this title in connection with the most recently agreed to concurrent resolution on the budget for such fiscal year, such bill or resolution shall then be referred to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate or may then be referred to the Committee on Appropriations of the House, as the case may be, with instructions to report it, with the committee’s recommendations, within 15 calendar days (not counting any day on which that House is not in session) beginning with the day following the day on which it is so referred. If the Committee on Appropriations of either House fails to report a bill or resolution referred to it under this paragraph within such 15-day period, the committee shall automatically be discharged from further consideration of such bill or resolution and such bill or resolution shall be placed on the appropriate calendar.
(3) The Committee on Appropriations of each House shall have jurisdiction to report any bill or resolution referred to it under paragraph (2) with an amendment which limits the total amount of new spending authority provided in such bill or resolution.
(c) Exceptions
(1) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to new authority described in those subsections if outlays from that new authority will flow—
(A) from a trust fund established by the Social Security Act (as in effect on July 12, 1974) [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.]; or
(B) from any other trust fund, 90 percent or more of the receipts of which consist or will consist of amounts (transferred from the general fund of the Treasury) equivalent to amounts of taxes (related to the purposes for which such outlays are or will be made) received in the Treasury under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C. 1 et seq.].
(2) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to new authority described in those subsections to the extent that—
(A) the outlays resulting therefrom are made by an organization which is (i) a mixed-ownership Government corporation (as defined in section 9101(2) of title 31), or (ii) a wholly owned Government corporation (as defined in section 9101(3) of title 31) which is specifically exempted by law from compliance with any or all of the provisions of chapter 91 of title 31, as of December 12, 1985; or
(B) the outlays resulting therefrom consist exclusively of the proceeds of gifts or bequests made to the United States for a specific purpose.
(3) In the House of Representatives, subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to new authority described in those subsections to the extent that a provision in a bill or joint resolution, or an amendment thereto or a conference report thereon, establishes prospectively for a Federal office or position a specified or minimum level of compensation to be funded by annual discretionary appropriations.