Congressional Commissions: Funding and Expenditures
Released: 2019-07-24T00:00:00

Introduction

Congress establishes advisory commissions for a variety of purposes. These include informing Congress, providing expert advice on complex or controversial issues, and generating policy recommendations. To aid Congress, commissions are generally authorized to hold hearings, conduct research, analyze data, and/or make field visits as they carry out their duties. Most complete their work by delivering their findings, recommendations, or advice in the form of a written report to Congress. For example, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission) was created to "examine and report upon the facts and causes relating to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001," and to "investigate and report to the President and Congress on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures that can be taken to prevent acts of terrorism." The commission ultimately submitted a final report to Congress and the President containing its findings and conclusions, along with 48 policy recommendations. Commissions also may be established to help commemorate an individual, group, or event.

Commissions generally require funding to help meet their statutory goals. When designing a commission, therefore, policymakers may wish to consider both how the commission will be funded, as well as how much funding the commission will be authorized to receive.

How commissions are funded and the amounts that they receive vary considerably. Several factors can contribute to overall commission costs. These factors might include hiring staff, contracting with outside consultants, and engaging administrative support, among others. Additionally, most commissions reimburse the travel expenditures of commissioners and staff, and some compensate their members. The duration of a commission can also significantly affect its cost; past congressional commissions have been designed to last anywhere from several months to several years.

This report analyzes methods used to fund past congressional commissions; amounts provided for commissions in appropriations acts; and how selected commissions have utilized provided funds.

Congressional Commissions: Funding Mechanisms, Appropriations, and Expenditure Patterns

Identifying Congressional Commissions

While no formal definition exists, for the purposes of this report a congressional commission is defined as a multimember independent entity that

is established by Congress; exists temporarily; serves in an advisory capacity; is appointed in part or whole by Members of Congress; and reports to Congress.

This definition differentiates a congressional commission from a presidential commission, an executive branch commission, or other bodies with "commission" in their names, while including most entities that fulfill the role commonly associated with commissions: studying policy problems or organizing commemorative activities, and reporting findings to Congress.

To identify congressional commissions, CRS searched Congress.gov for terms and phrases related to commissions within the text of laws enacted between the 101 st (1989-1990) and 115 th (2017-2018) Congresses. Each piece of legislation returned was examined to determine if (1) the legislation established a commission, and (2) the commission met the five criteria outlined above. If the commission met the criteria, its name, public law number, Statutes-at-Large citation, date of enactment, and other information were recorded. This approach identified 153 congressional commissions established by statute between 1989 and 2018.

For each commission identified, CRS analyzed the commission's statute to assess whether the law authorized the appropriation of funds. This approach captures only the funding method provided in the commission's original legislation. If a commission's statute was amended by subsequent legislation, that amendment is not reflected in this report.

Commission Types: Commemorative and Noncommemorative

Congressional commissions may be established for a variety of purposes. In general, commissions generally fall into one of two broad categories: commemorative and noncommemorative commissions.

Noncommemorative commissions typically conduct studies, perform investigations, and/or provide expert advice on public policy issues. Such commissions have been created to investigate the September 11 attacks, examine the causes of the financial crisis, develop recommendations to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and to review advances in artificial intelligence, among many other issues. The majority of commissions identified (134 of 153, or approximately 88%) are noncommemorative in nature.

A smaller number of congressional commissions identified (19 of 153, or approximately 12%) have been created to oversee the commemoration of a person, group, or event. Commemorative commissions often "coordinate celebrations, scholarly events, public gatherings, and other activities, often to coincide with a milestone or event."

Although commemorative and noncommemorative commissions generally share many of the same structural features, the scope and nature of the duties assigned often differ considerably in ways that may affect the amount of funding that Congress may wish to provide. For example, a commission created to investigate a national emergency may require a different length of time, or different levels of staff and other resources to satisfactorily accomplish its duties than a commission designed to commemorate an event. Accordingly, figures contained in this report on commission funding mechanisms and authorized or appropriated levels are broken out separately for commemorative and noncommemorative commissions.

Funding Mechanisms Specified in Authorizing Statutes

Congressional commissions have been funded in a variety of ways. Commissions generally receive specific authorizations of appropriations, receive funding from a federal agency, or rely on private donations. Some commissions are funded in multiple ways. For example, certain commissions are authorized to receive both appropriations and private donations.

Of the 153 commissions identified, the majority of commission statutes (118, or approximately 77%) state how the commission shall be funded. When establishing how a commission is to be funded, such statutes generally either

authorize appropriations to be provided in separate legislation for commission expenses; provide that commission expenses shall be paid from appropriations otherwise available to a department or agency official; or direct that the commission should be funded solely by private donations.

Table 1 shows the number and percentage of commissions falling into each category, broken down by commission type. Each category is discussed in more detail below, along with examples of statutory language.

Commission statutes that prescribe a funding mechanism may vary substantially in the level of detail provided. For example, some statutes specify a dollar amount that is authorized to be appropriated in separate legislation or otherwise made available to the commission; others may identify a source of funding without specifying a dollar value. Similarly, some statutes limit the time period during which funds may be made available to a commission, while others do not.

Authorization of Appropriations

Sixty-four of 153 commission statutes identified (approximately 42%) authorized appropriations for commission expenses. Of these, a majority authorized a specific dollar amount, while a smaller number authorized "such sums" as may be necessary. Provisions authorizing appropriations were included for a slightly larger percentage of noncommemorative commissions (approximately 43%) than for commemorative commissions (approximately 37%). Authorizations of appropriations do not themselves provide funds for commissions; funding may be provided in appropriations acts.

Some statutes identify specific fiscal years in which appropriations were authorized, and others do not. For example, the statute creating the Antitrust Modernization Commission stated that "[t]here is authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 to carry out this subtitle." By contrast, the statute creating the Census Monitoring Board provided that "[t]here is authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1998 through 2001 to carry out this section."

Authorize Use of Otherwise Appropriated Funds

Some commission statutes authorize the use of otherwise appropriated funds for commission expenses. Most often, such statutes either authorize the use of funds appropriated for a particular agency, or instruct a specified agency official to make funds available for commission expenses. A smaller number explicitly authorize a transfer to the commission of funds from a particular account. As shown in Table 1 , this approach is relatively common among noncommemorative commissions, but less common among commemorative commissions.

As with commission statutes that authorize appropriations, these statutes may or may not identify a specific dollar amount that will be provided for the commission. Statutes that do specify a dollar amount for commission expenses may further specify that "up to" or "not more than" a particular amount be made available. For example, the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 created the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, and specified that up to $10 million be provided to the commission from amounts authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Defense:

(d) FUNDING.âOf the amounts authorized to be appropriated by this Act for fiscal year 2019 for the Department of Defense, not more than $10,000,000 shall be made available to the Commission to carry out its duties under this subtitle. Funds made available to the Commission under the preceding sentence shall remain available until expended.

By contrast, the legislation creating the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make funds available for commission expenses, but did not identify a dollar figure. The statute read:

(a) IN GENERAL.âThe Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, upon the request of the chairman of the commission, make available to the commission such amounts as the commission may require to carry out its duties under this title.

Donated Funds

Some commissions are expected to operate using nonappropriated funds and so are authorized to receive private donations. This approach is more common among commemorative commissions. For example, the act establishing the 400 Years of African-American History Commission authorized the commission to "solicit, accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or devises of money or other property," to accept and use voluntary and uncompensated services, and provided that "[a]ll expenditures of the Commission shall be made solely from donated funds." Similarly, the act creating the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission provided the commission with the authority to accept and use gifts of money, services, and property, and further stated that "[n]o Federal funds may be obligated to carry out this Act."

Commissions are often authorized to accept and use donations, including donations of money, property, volunteer service, and other items, even when private monetary donations are not the sole source of a commission's funding. P.L. 102-343 , for example, provided the Thomas Jefferson Commemoration Commission the authority to accept and use donated funds to carry out the commission's duties; it also authorized the appropriation of $312,500 over two fiscal years for commission expenses. The authority to receive donations may also be provided to commissions to facilitate their commemorative functions. For example, the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Commission was authorized to accept and use donations of "money, personal services, and real or personal property related to Benjamin Franklin on the occasion of the tercentenary of his birth."

Appropriations for Congressional Commissions

Although statutes establishing commissions typically specify a method by which the commission is to be funded, most do not themselves provide funds for the commission. A statute that authorizes appropriations for a commission, for example, might be followed by an appropriations act that provides funding for the commission. For other commissions, there may be an authorization of appropriations, but an appropriation may not subsequently be made.

Actual funding levels provided for congressional commissions have ranged from several hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars. A commission's need for funds may depend on such factors as the commission's scope and duties, staff compensation, payments to consultants, administrative support, travel expenses, and commissioner compensation, among others. The availability of funding and other resources may affect a commission's ability to satisfactorily accomplish its duties. Accordingly, funding levels for previous commissions may be of interest to policymakers and staff.

As commissions have been funded in a variety of ways, no single data source comprehensively documents the amounts made available to commissions. To better understand the range of funding levels provided to past congressional commissions, this section provides data on amounts specified in appropriations acts for commission expenses.

Methodology

As discussed previously, many commission statutes authorize appropriations for commission expenses. To identify any actual appropriations made for congressional commissions, CRS searched for the name of each of the 153 identified commissions within the text of appropriations acts enacted since the 101 st Congress. Each identified appropriations act was analyzed to determine whether the bill provided some specified dollar amount for an identified commission. When identified, each dollar amount associated with the commission was recorded, in addition to the public law number and fiscal year of the relevant appropriations act.

Data Limitations

Although CRS was able to identify a number of appropriations made for commissions, there are several limitations to the data and subsequent interpretations. As a result, the amounts listed may in some cases be an approximation of the amount received by the commission, rather than a precise amount. These limitations include the following:

Amounts identified for commissions in appropriations acts do not necessarily reflect the total amount available for any particular commission. Some commissions may be funded through a combination of appropriations and other sources. For example, the Thomas Jefferson Commemoration Commission was provided the authority to receive donations of money and volunteer services to carry out its functions, and was also provided funds in two subsequent appropriations acts. As discussed previously, commissions have been funded in a variety of ways, including appropriations, private donations, authorization of the use of funds within a lump-sum provided for an account, and the transfer or reprogramming of appropriated funds. The data presented below on amounts contained in appropriations acts should not be considered exhaustive of all funding received by congressional commissions over time, as commissions that did not receive a specific appropriation will necessarily be excluded. Committee reports that accompany appropriations bills may provide details regarding committee expectations about how certain appropriated funds are to be spent. Because this search was conducted within the text of appropriations acts, directions for commission appropriations within committee reports are not included. When making amounts available to commissions, appropriations acts may cite the statute creating the commission rather than the name of the commission. For example, P.L. 105-78 directed that "$900,000 shall be for carrying out section 4021 of Public Law 105-33." Section 4021 of P.L. 105-33 established the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. Because CRS's search was conducted using the name of the commission, similar results may be excluded. Along similar lines, continuing resolutions generally provide funding to continue governmental activities without explicitly referencing specific activities by name. Because CRS's search was conducted using the name of the commission, any amounts made available to commissions by continuing resolutions may be omitted. In some cases, an appropriations act may place a maximum on the level of funding available. For example, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY1994 provided that, of funds appropriated for a particular account, "not more than $1,800,000" be made available for expenses of the Commission on the Social Security "Notch" Issue. In such cases, the amount of funding ultimately received by the commission may be less than the specified amount.

Data

Table 2 and Table 3 display data on amounts specified in appropriations acts for noncommemorative and commemorative commissions, respectively. For commissions where amounts in appropriations bills were identified, each table contains the name of the commission and a citation to the public law that created it, as well as the dollar amount identified. For every dollar amount, the fiscal year and public law number of the relevant appropriations act are included. Amounts are provided in both nominal as well as constant 2019 dollars. Any identifiable rescissions of commission funding contained in appropriations acts are shown in parentheses.

As shown in Table 2 and Table 3 below, amounts made available to commissions vary widely. Some commissions receive a single appropriation; others receive multiple appropriations over several fiscal years. Amounts provided range from several hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars, and may or may not be equal to any amounts explicitly authorized to be appropriated for commission expenses in the commission's original authorizing statute.

Analysis of Expenditures, Selected Commissions

Generally, a commission may utilize its funds to pay commissioners and staff, hire consultants, and reimburse travel expenses, in addition to other administrative costs. Understanding how commissions utilize funds may be of interest to policymakers wishing to design new commissions or oversee existing commissions.

As with commission funding, no single data source contains comprehensive information on commission expenditures. Congress has required some commissions to periodically submit financial reports that detail commission expenditures, but for most identified congressional commissions, expenditure data are not publicly available.

To better understand how commissions have used funds provided to them, this report analyzes data for the subset of congressional commissions that reported their expenditures in the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) database.

Methodology

FACA requires formal reporting, administration, and oversight procedures for committees or commissions advising the executive branch. Whether FACA requirements apply to a particular advisory commission may depend on a number of factors, including whether most appointments to the commission are made by members of the legislative or the executive branch, and to which branch of government the commission must issue its report, findings, or recommendations. Although many congressional commissions are exempt from FACA, some are subject to FACA and report their expenditures to the General Services Administration (GSA).

GSA collects and reports advisory commission operational data, including information on commission expenditures, in the FACA database. Within the FACA database, CRS searched for the name of the 153 congressional commissions identified to locate commissions that reported expenditures. Twenty of 153 identified commissions appeared in the database and reported expenditures during one or more fiscal years.

FACA committees report their expenditures across several categories, including personnel costs, travel and per diem costs, and "other" costs. Personnel and travel costs are both further disaggregated by whether those costs were attributable to federal commission members, nonfederal commission members, federal staff, or consultants. CRS calculated the total reported expenditures of each commission, as well as the percentage of commission expenditures attributable to commissioner pay; staff pay; consultant pay; total travel and per diem expenses of all members, staff, and consultants; and "other" expenses.

Data Limitations

Congressional commissions that are subject to FACA and appear in the FACA database may differ from commissions that are not subject to FACA in ways that might affect their overall costs and expenditure patterns. Consequently, figures on cost and expenditures presented below may not be representative of costs and expenditures of all congressional commissions. The accuracy and completeness of expenditure data contained in the FACA database have not been independently verified by CRS.

Data

Table 4 contains data on the reported expenditures of 20 congressional commissions that appeared in the FACA database. Specifically, Table 4 contains the commission name and statute establishing the commission; fiscal years during which the commission reported expenditures; the total amount spent, in both nominal and constant 2019 dollars; and the percentage of reported expenditures attributable to commissioner pay, federal staff pay, consultant pay, travel and per diem expenditures, and other expenditures.

The total amount spent by the selected commissions varied from a low of $286,851 to a high of $13,855,998 (between $388,480 and $17,117,361 in constant 2019 dollars). Among the commissions analyzed, expenditures on federal staff and consultant pay often constituted a significant portion of reported spending; expenditures attributable to federal staff and consultant pay constituted a majority of spending for more than half of the commissions identified. Total travel and per diem expenditures ranged from a low of approximately 2% to a high of approximately 34% of commission spending.

Many congressional commissions do not compensate their members. Consistent with this finding, many commissions listed in Table 4 report zero expenditures on the pay of federal and nonfederal commission members. Among commissions that report payments to members, these payments constituted as much as approximately 29% of commission spending, though most constituted less than 10%.

Concluding Remarks

Congressional commissions have been established for a variety of purposes, and can help serve a critical role by informing Congress, providing expert advice on complex or controversial issues, generating policy recommendations, or organizing commemorative activities. These commissions have been funded in a variety of ways, and their total cost has varied considerably. The cost of any particular commission may depend on its scope, duties, and duration, among other factors, and the degree to which it can satisfactorily accomplish its duties may depend in part on the resources made available to it.

No single data source comprehensively documents either the funds made available for congressional commissions, or how commissions have utilized the funds available to them. More complete and reliable data on commission funding and expenditure patterns may benefit policymakers who wish to use such data to guide the creation of future commissions, or to facilitate the oversight of such entities.

If Congress wished to systematize the collection of information on commission funding or expenditures, a number of options are available. Congress has on several occasions required commissions to submit periodic financial reports that detail any income and expenditures. Similar approaches that require commissions to submit periodic financial reports, to include funding and expenditure data within the commission's final report, or otherwise make financial data publicly available, may assist Congress in keeping informed of commission operations and ensure that a commission is utilizing its resources in a desired manner. On the other hand, such reporting requirements may place additional burdens on limited commission time and resources.