About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

Estimated Impact of Automatic Budget Enforcement Procedures Specified in the Budget Control Act 1 (September 12, 2011)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo10586 and id is 1 raw text is: CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Estimated Impact of Automatic Budget Enforcement Procedures Specified in the Budget Control Act September 12, 2011 The Budget Control Act of 2011 (enacted on August 2 as Public Law 112-25) made several changes to federal programs and established budget enforcement mecha- nisms-including caps on future discretionary appropriations-that were estimated to reduce federal budget deficits by a total of at least $2.1 trillion over the 2012-2021 period.' The caps on discretionary appropriations will decrease spending (including debt-service costs) by an estimated $0.9 trillion during that period, compared with what such spending would have been if annual appropriations had grown at the rate of inflation. At least another $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction was anticipated from provisions related to a newly established Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. That committee is charged with proposing legislation to trim bud- get deficits by at least $1.5 trillion between 2012 and 2021. However, if legislation originating from the committee and estimated to produce at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction (including an allowance for interest savings) is not enacted by Janu- ary 15, 2012, automatic procedures for cutting both discretionary and mandatory spending will take effect.2 The magnitude of those cuts would depend on any shortfall in the estimated effects of such legislation relative to the $1.2 trillion amount. The automatic reductions-if triggered-would take the form of equal cuts (in dollar terms) in defense and nondefense spending starting in fiscal year 2013. Those cuts would be achieved by lowering the caps on discretionary budget authority specified in the Budget Control Act and by automatically cancelling budgetary resources (a pro- cess known as sequestration) for some programs and activities financed by mandatory spending.3 The law exempts a significant portion of mandatory spending from 1. For an analysis of the new law, see Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable John A. Boehner and the Honorable Harry Reid estimating the impact on the deficit of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (August 1, 2011). 2. Discretionary spending refers to outlays from budget authority that is provided and controlled by appropriation acts. Mandatory spending refers to outlays from budget authority that is pro- vided by laws other than appropriation acts. (Budget authority is the authority provided by law to incur financial obligations that will result in immediate or future outlays of federal government funds; it may be provided in an appropriation act or an authorization act.) 3. Budgetary resources consist of all sources of authority provided to federal agencies that permit them to incur financial obligations, including new budget authority, unobligated balances, direct spending authority, and obligation limitations.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most