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## 

## The Money Monitor

#### **The only document that tracks the costs of bills [as they pass the House]{.underline}**

### 

### **Week of October 2-6, 2006 **The House was out of session this week.

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Five-year cost of authorizations passed by the House *this
[week]{.underline}*:

**\$0.00**

Five-year cost of authorizations passed by the House *this
[year]{.underline}*:

**\$776,661,460,000.00\***

\* This figure does not include the authorizations in the 21st Century
Emergency Communications Act (**H.R. 5852**), for which CBO is not doing
a cost estimate, or for the Secure Fence Act (**H.R. 6061**), the Jean
Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve Boundary Adjustment Act
(**H.R. 1515**), or the bill to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and
Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to participate in the Los Angeles County Water Supply
Augmentation Demonstration Project (**H.R. 4545**), for which CBO cost
estimates are not yet available. The RSC will update the *Money Monitor*
accordingly when such cost estimates become available.

Five-year change in mandatory spending passed by the House *this
[week]{.underline}*:

**\$0.00**

Five-year change in mandatory spending passed by the House *this
[year]{.underline}*:

**-\$36,636,300,000.00^\#^**

^\#^ This figure does not include the mandatory spending implications of
the More Border Patrol Agents Now Act (**H.R. 6160**), for which a CBO
cost estimate is not yet available. The RSC will update the *Money
Monitor* accordingly when such cost estimate becomes available.

One-year cost of appropriations passed by the House *this
[week]{.underline}*:

######## Fiscal Year 2005: \$0.00

######## Fiscal Year 2006: \$0.00

######## Fiscal Year 2007: \$0.00

######## Fiscal Year 2008: \$0.00

One-year cost of appropriations passed by the House *this
[year]{.underline}*:

######## Fiscal Year 2005: \$0.00

######## Fiscal Year 2006: \$91,949,000,000.00

**Fiscal Year 2007: \$780,415,000,000.00**

######## Fiscal Year 2008: \$4,300,000,000.00

Five-year change in revenue passed by the House *this
[week]{.underline}*:

**\$0.00**

Five-year change in revenue passed by the House *this
[year]{.underline}*:

**-\$131,106,300,000.00**

**[GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS IN THE MONEY MONITOR]{.underline}**

[Authorization]{.underline}: An authorization (otherwise known as
"discretionary spending") explicitly [allows]{.underline}, but does not
actually provide, funding for a certain program, and/or directs a
federal agency to take a certain action. Authorizations express the
House's *[intent]{.underline}* to spend, however, actual funding is
provided through the annual appropriations process. Think of an
authorization like your credit card's credit limit. If it's \$10,000,
that doesn't mean you've spent \$10,000, but it does mean that you're
*allowed* to spend \$10,000. Further action by you is needed for the
money to actually be spent.

[Mandatory Spending]{.underline}: Mandatory spending (otherwise known as
"direct spending") directly provides for funding. No subsequent action
is required for the money to be spent. Think of mandatory spending like
signing up for an automatic-bill-payment program. The very act of
signing up provides for the payments from your credit card or bank
account without further action from you.

[Appropriation]{.underline}: An appropriation is an amount of money that
Congress orders to be set aside for a certain purpose, function, or
entity. The "appropriations process" commonly refers to passing the
composite bills that provide discretionary funds to various federal
agencies (see "Authorization" above). Think of an appropriation like an
individual purchase on your credit card.

[Revenue]{.underline}: Revenue refers to the amount of money that the
federal government receives in taxes, fees, sales of property, and other
sources of *incoming* funds. Think of revenue like the income from your
job, the sale of your car, etc.

**[NOTES ON PROCEDURES & ASSUMPTIONS IN THE MONEY MONITOR]{.underline}**

[Neither the costs of conference reports nor the costs of bills that
have already been recorded under substantively similar House-passed
legislation this year are recorded here]{.underline}. "The Money
Monitor," which operates as an annual document, only accounts for the
costs of bills as they [first]{.underline} pass the House (unless the
prior bills related to such reports and bills have not come to the floor
during this calendar year or unless they contain significant cost
changes BEFORE going to the Senate). **[In short, "The Money Monitor"
primarily tracks the House's *original* monetary intent each calendar
year]{.underline}.**

##### 

Authorizations with no [net]{.underline} cost, bills that would result
in no significant [net]{.underline} change in mandatory spending or
federal revenue, and private-sector costs from federal mandates are not
reported here.

The figures for revenue changes are from **"static"** estimates by the
Joint Committee on Taxation or the Congressional Budget Office. That is,
they do not take into account the stimulative effects that certain tax
cuts and certain other revenue reductions have on the national economy.

All numbers in "The Money Monitor" are positive unless otherwise
indicated.

Most estimates are provided by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO),
though some are provided by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the
referring House committee, or RSC staff calculations.

##### Staff contact: Paul Teller, [paul.teller@mail.house.gov]{.underline}, 202-226-9718