CONTENTS

Letter of transmittal__

A Description of Budget Terms, Memorandum from John Baker, Con-
sultant to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry to Sen-
ator Metcalf, February 2, 1973-----

Text of S. 40, the "Federal Act to Control Expenditures and Upgrade
Priorities," by Senator Brock

News Release of Senator Bill Brock of Tennessee, Including His Intro-

ductory Remarks on S. 40..........

Text of S. 565, the "Expenditure Control Act of 1973," by Senator Nunn.
Introductory Remarks of Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia on S. 565--
Text of S. 703, the "Fiscal Responsibility Act," by Senator Bellmon..
Introductory Remarks of Senator Henry Bellmon on S. 703-

Text of S. 758, the "Congressional Budget Control and Oversight Im-
provement Act," by Senator Beall....

Introductory Remarks of Senator J. Glenn Beall, Jr., of Maryland, on

S. 758.

Text of S. 846, Amending Title II of the Legislative Reorganization Act

of 1970, Adding a New Part 6-Congressional Budget Process, by

Senator Percy..

Introductory Remarks of Senator Charles H. Percy of Illinois, on S. 846.

Remarks of Senator Alan Cranston of California, on S. 846_.

Text of S. 905, the "Congressional Budgetary Review Reform Act," by

Senator Stevenson..

85

Introductory Remarks of Senator Adlai E. Stevenson, III, of Illinois, on

S. 905

100

Text of S. 1030, the "Fiscal and Budgetary Reform Act of 1973," by

Senator Humphrey...

107

Introductory Remarks of Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota..

Text of S. 1213, the "Federal Spending Control Act of 1973," by Senator

Schweiker..

137

142

Introductory Remarks of Senator Richard S. Schweiker, of Pennsyl-

vania, on S. 1213..

154

Text of S. 1215, the "Federal Fiscal and Budgetary Information Act of

1973," by Senator Metcalf_...

157

Introductory Remarks of Senator Lee Metcalf, of Montana, on S. 1215_

Brief Outline of Budget Related Senate Bills (93d Cong.).

164

Proposed Budget and Appropriation Reform Legislation (89th through

92d Congresses).

List of Senate and House Bills on the Budget and Appropriations, 93d

Congress

"Improving Congressional Control Over Budgetary Outlay and Receipt

Totals," Interim Report, Joint Study Committee on Budget Control,

February 7, 1973.

Statement of Hon. Elmer R. Staats, Comptroller General of the United

States, Before the Joint Study Committee on Budget Control, March 7,

1973...

Analysis of Proposals To Improve Congressional Control of Spending, by
Allen Shick, Senior Specialist, Congressional Research Service, Library
of Congress, January 10, 1973.

Proposals for a Legislative Budget, by Louis Fisher, Congressional Research

Service, Library of Congress

Experience With A Legislative Budget (1947-49), by Louis Fisher, Congres-

sional Research Service, Library of Congress, January 30, 1973.

Five-year Budget Projections, by Walter Ŏleszek, Congressional Research

Service, Library of Congress..

165

167

173

174

208

217

236

249

252

A Three-Year Limit On Authorization Bills-An Analysis of Title III,

S. 3984 (92d Cong.) by Allen Schick, Congressional Research Service,

Library of Congress, November 30, 1972__

The Pilot Testing of New Programs-An Analysis of Title IV, S. 3984,

92d Cong., by Allen Schick, Congressional Research Service, Library

of Congress, December 6, 1972.

Requirement of Annual Appropriations, by Allen Schick, Congressional

Research Service, Library of Congress, January 9, 1973

"Spending Ceiling: Still An Issue For Nixon and Congress", Congressional

Quarterly, Vol. 30, November 4, 1972_

"Administration and Congressional Views on Legislation To Put Ceiling

On Spending," Congressional Quarterly, Vol. 30, November 4, 1972-

Backdoor Spending Authority, by Allen Schick, Congressional Research

Service, Library of Congress, February 19, 1973.

"Administrative Organization-Financial Administration”, Excerpt from

The Book of the States, 1972-73, Vol. XIX.......

Table showing State Budgetary Practices, by States...

Table Showing Elements of State Financial Organization, by_States_

The California Legislative Budget System, by Clay H. Wellborn, Congres-

sional Research Service, Library of Congress, March 14, 1973..

Implementation of the Budgetary and Fiscal Information Provisions of the

Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, by Financial and General Man-

agement Studies Division, U.S. General Accounting Office, March 7,
1973-

Comments on Second Annual Report of Treasury and OMB to Congress

on Progress in Developing Standard Classifications and Standardized

Information, by the Comptroller General of the United States, Feb-

ruary 7, 1973__

"Estimating Possibilities for Improvement In The Quality of Life in the

United States," National Planning Association Report, Looking Ahead,

Vol 20, January 1973, by Nestor E. Terleckyj, Director, NPA Goals

Accounting Study...

Comparative Data on the Federal Government Budget Estimates Sub-

mitted to Congress, and Final Budget Conditions Realized (1921-1974),

by George K. Brite, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress,

January 29, 1973.

"Improvement of Congressional and Executive Procedures", Part III,

The Budgetary Process in the United States, by Arthur Smithies, McGraw-

Hill Book Company, Inc., 1955-

"Proposals for Budget Control Reform", Chapter 5, Congressional Control

of Administration, by Joseph P. Harris, the Brookings Institution,

Washington, D.C., 1964

"Toward a Radical Incrementalism-A Proposal To Aid Congress in

Reform of the Budgetary Process", by Aaron Wildovsky, Twelve Studies

of the Organization of Congress, the American Enterprise Institute for

Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C., 1966- - - .

Congressional Budget Reform, A Select Bibliography, by Lewis Fisher,
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, December 15,

1972_

"The Need for Change", Chap. 7, Unused Power-the work of the Senate
Committee on Appropriations, by Stephen Horn, the Brookings Insti-
tution, Washington, D.C..

"Coordination of Federal Budgetary and Appropriations Procedures

Under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946", by Avery Leiserson,

National Tax Journal, Vol I. No 2., June 1948.

"The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1950", by Dalmus H. Nelson,

Journal of Politics, Vol. 15, No. 2, May 1953--

"A Strategy for Fiscal Reform-Goals, Limitations, and Recommen-

dations", IV, The Responsible Use of Power, by John S. Saloma, III,

American Enterprise Institute, 1974__

"The Budget Process Itself," Excerpt from Setting National Priorities-

The 1973 Budget, The Brookings Institution, Washington D.C..

The Federal Budget Process (Revised), by George K. Brite and Harriet J.

Halper, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress___

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Page

"The Impact of PPBS on the Congressional Appropriations Process",
from Information Support, Program Budgeting, and the Congress, New
York, Spartan Books, 1968, by Richard F. Fenn; Robert L. Chartrand,
Kenneth Janda, and Michael Hugo, editors...

Legislature Appropriations Process; Florida Profile, Florida House of
Representative Appropriations Committee..

California's Joint Legislature Budget Committee and Legislature Analyst,
prepared by Office of Legislature Analyst, January 1973-

621

628

633

IMPROVING CONGRESSIONAL CONTROL OVER

THE BUDGET

A DESCRIPTION OF BUDGET TERMS

To: Senator Metcalf.

MEMORANDUM

From: John Baker, consultant to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.

Date: February 2, 1973.

In an effort to keep the budget and appropriations' arguments clear in my own mind, I have set down several different terms that have different meanings and for each of which there is a different series of numbers. I thought it might be interesting, if not useful, to you in wading your way through the Budget.

There used to be something called "NOA" (New Obligational Authority). This was an authorization in an appropriation Act to spend money in the future for the appropriation item involved. The money thus authorized may or may not be actually spent in the year covered by the appropriation Act. In fact, it can, but may never, be actually disbursed.

Here is a partial list of terms that appear in the documents accompanying the President's Budget Message. Each has a different and distinct meaning, and for any particular fiscal year, it will only be an accident if the number that goes with one term as applied to a particular appropriation is identical to another of the terms as applied to the same item for the same year:

New obligation authority
Obligation

Budget authority (appropriation)
Outlays

Appropriations (adjusted)

Direct obligations

Reimburseable obligations:

Federal sources

Non-Federal sources

Change in selected resources

Obligations incurred, net

Permanent appropriations

Authority to make disbursements from-trust fund

Transferred to other accounts

Transferred from other accounts

Unobligated budget lapsing

Obligated balance at beginning of year

Obligated balance at end of year