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Sequestration Update Report: August 2015 1 (August 2015)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo2474 and id is 1 raw text is: t Sequestration Update Report: August 2015 The Congressional Budget Office is required by law to issue a report by August 15 of each year that provides esti- mates of the caps on discretionary budget authority in effect for each fiscal year through 2021.' CBO has updated its estimates of the caps for 2015 since it issued its previous report on the topic in January 2015.2 In that earlier report, CBO estimated that the appropriations for 2015 did not exceed the caps. CBO's assessment remains unchanged-the discretionary appropriations provided to date for 2015 do not exceed the caps, and thus, by CBO's estimates, a further sequestration (or cancellation of budgetary resources) will not be required as a result of appropriation actions this year. However, the authority to determine whether a sequestration is required and, if so, exactly how to make the necessary cuts in budget author- ity rests with the Administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). That agency, in a report issued in March after enactment of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 114-4), also found that, at that time, appropriations for 2015 were at or below the caps.3 1. Budget authority is the authority provided by law to incur financial obligations that will result in immediate or future outlays of federal 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, Final Sequestration Reportfor Fiscal Year 2015 (January 2015), www.cbo.gov/publication/ 49889. 3. See Shaun Donovan, Director, Office of Management and Budget, letter to the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, providing estimates for the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 (March 13, 2015), www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative-reports/ BEA-reports. Limits on Discretionary Budget Authority for 2015 The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (P.L. 113-67) modi- fied the caps on defense and nondefense funding for fiscal year 2015 that were established by the Budget Control Act of 2011. Public Law 113-67 reset those limits to total $1,013.6 billion-$521.3 billion for defense programs and $492.4 billion for nondefense programs. By law, however, the caps are adjusted upward when appropriations are provided for certain purposes. Specifically, budget authority designated as an emergency requirement or provided for overseas contingency opera- tions, such as military activities in Afghanistan, leads to an increase in the caps, as does budget authority provided for some types of disaster relief (as this report explains below) or for certain program integrity initiatives. CBO estimates that, to date, such adjustments to the caps on discretionary budget authority for 2015 have totaled $87.1 billion (see Table 1). Most of that amount, $64.4 billion, is an increase in the defense cap to account for budget authority provided for overseas contingency operations. An additional $0.1 billion of defense fund- ing-for responding to the outbreak of the Ebola virus, as well as for enhanced preparedness activities related to that outbreak-was designated as an emergency require- ment. Adjustments to the nondefense cap include $9.3 billion for overseas contingency operations, $6.5 billion for disaster relief, $5.3 billion in additional emergency funding for Ebola preparedness, and 4. Such initiatives may be aimed at reducing improper benefit payments in the Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

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