# 99066. The Moneyspeak-to-English Dictionary

```

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- The president's fiscal 2000 defense budget 
goes to Congress Feb. 1, and with it will go much media 
coverage and some confusion.

To help you sort through the process, here are some common 
budget terms and phrases:

Apportionment -- The Office of Management and Budget 
distributes funds to federal agencies for obligation. An 
agency may not obligate more funds than it receives.

Appropriation Bill -- Passed by Congress, this bill tells 
an agency how much it can spend on a program. When the 
president signs the bill it becomes the Appropriation Act. 
The act actually gives the agency the funds to pay its 
bills.

Authorization Bill -- This provides an agency with the 
legal authority to operate. It recommends policy guidelines 
and funding levels and must be passed by Congress. When the 
president signs the bill it becomes the Authorization Act. 
The Authorization Act allows the agency to spend money, but 
does not actually provide funds.

Balanced budget -- A budget in which the money coming in is 
equal to or greater than the money going out. The U.S. 
government in fiscal 1998 had its first balanced budget 
since the Nixon administration.

Budget authority -- The value of the annual new authority 
to incur obligations.

Budget resolution -- Congressional budget committees come 
up with this legislation, basically an outline, which 
determines ceilings for an agency's budget authority and 
spending outlays. It is not legally binding.

Continuing resolution -- If the appropriation bill is not 
signed by Oct. 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, this 
legislation allows an agency to continue operating at the 
previous year's spending level. A continuing resolution has 
a set expiration date.

Deficit -- What happens when you spend more than you take 
in during a fiscal year.

DoD budget -- This budget contains funding for DoD 
programs, including personnel and services. It does not 
contain funding for Department of Energy security programs.

Fiscal year -- The federal budget cycle. Fiscal 2000 runs 
from Oct. 1, 1999 to Sept. 30, 2000.

Future Years Defense Program -- Often abbreviated FYDP, 
this program charts the budget through six years. The 
fiscal 2000 FYDP, for example, runs through fiscal 2005.

Gross National Product -- The total monetary value of all 
final goods and services produced in a country during one 
year.

National Defense Budget -- Drafted by the administration, 
this budget covers spending requested for DoD, civil 
defense and Department of Energy national security 
programs.

Obligations -- A binding agreement with a supplier for 
goods or services.

Operations and maintenance -- Often abbreviated as O&M, 
this account funds allocations for maintenance and repair 
of equipment, utilities, upkeep, training, fuel and spare 
parts.

Outlays -- Actual expenditures or the net checks issued by 
an agency.

Real growth or decline -- The growth or decline of a budget 
after considering inflation. The fiscal 2000 defense budget 
request seeks the first real growth since 1985.

Topline -- Shorthand for total amount of money available to 
an agency.

Total obligation authority -- The value of an agency's 
entire operation for each fiscal year regardless of how it 
is financed. This dollar figure, for instance, can include 
proceeds from the sale of items and money available from 
prior years.

##end##
```