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

Sequestration Update Report: August 2012 1 (August 2012)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo10825 and id is 1 raw text is: AUGUST 2012 Sequestration Update Report: August 2012 By law, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is required to issue a report by August 15 each year that provides estimates of the caps on discretionary budget authority in effect for each fiscal year through 2021.1 No additional appropriations or substantive changes to the caps have occurred since CBO's previous sequestration report, which was published in January 2012, and no sequestration (cancellation of budgetary resources) was required this fiscal year.2 CBO continues to estimate that the discretionary appropriations provided for 2012 do not exceed the caps and thus that, as of now, no further cap adjustments pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011 will be required as a result of appropriation actions this year. Limits on Discretionary Budget Authority for 2012 The Budget Control Act set caps for 2012 on what it des- ignated as security and nonsecurity budget authority for the current fiscal year. The security category com- 1. The Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25) amended the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to reinstate caps on discretionary budget authority. Budget authority is the authority provided by law to incur financial obli- gations that will result in immediate or future outlays of federal government funds. Discretionary budget authority is provided and controlled by appropriation acts. All of the years referred to in this report are federal fiscal years, which run from October 1 to September 30. 2. See Congressional Budget Office, Fina S qttestntion Reportf r Fiscal Yea; 2012 (January 2012). Since that report was issued, CBO has lowered its estimate of the 2012 cap on budget authority for security programs by $1 million to match the amount calcu- lated by the Office of Management and Budget, which is responsi- ble for determining the caps. See Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2013: Analyti- cal Perspectives (February 2012), p. 160, wwwxwlhitehouse'gov/ omb/budget/AnilyticalPei-spectives. prises discretionary appropriations for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs; the National Nuclear Security Administration; the intelli- gence community management account (Treasury account 95-0401-0-1-054); and discretionary accounts related to international affairs (budget function 150). The nonsecurity category comprises all other discretion- ary appropriations. The Budget Control Act set the caps on budget authority for this year at $684 billion for secu- rity programs and $359 billion for nonsecurity programs. Under the law, those limits are adjusted when appropria- tions are provided for certain purposes. Specifically, bud- get authority designated as an emergency requirement or provided for overseas contingency operations (such as the war in Afghanistan) leads to an increase in the caps, as does budget authority provided for some types of disaster relief (up to an amount based on historical spending for that purpose) or provided for certain program integrity initiatives.3 To date, such adjustments to the caps on discretionary budget authority for 2012 have totaled $137.5 billion (see Table 1).4 Most of that amount-$126.5 billion resulted from an increase in the security cap to account for budget authority provided for overseas contingency operations. Other adjustments to the caps this year con- sisted of $10.5 billion for disaster relief and $0.5 billion for program integrity initiatives. 3. Such initiatives are aimed at reducing improper benefit payments by the Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program. 4. See Office of Management and Budget, OMB Final Sequestration Report to the President and Congress for Fiscal Year 2012 (January 2012), p. 5, vv,,vwitebiouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/ .egislative reports/sequestrati on/sequestration fnaI j i i2012pdf.

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