FY2011 Appropriations: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Key Proposals and Enacted Legislation
Released: 2011-09-12T00:00:00

Introduction

The extended appropriations process for FY2011 began with the Obama Administration's FY2011 budget requested in February 2010 and culminated with the enactment of P.L. 112-10 on April 15, 2011. During that time, Congressional debate centered around two proposals, H.R. 1 , which was approved by the House on February 19, 2011, and S.Amdt. 149 , offered as a substitute proposal during Senate consideration of H.R. 1 . Although both proposals were rejected by the Senate on March 9, they were viewed by some as the starting point of final negotiations between House and Senate leaders that eventually led to the compromise embodied by P.L. 112-10 . Between the start of FY2011 on October 1, 2010, and the enactment of P.L. 112-10 on April 15, 2011, the federal government was funded through a series of resolutions continuing funding at FY2010 levels, with adjustments and exceptions.

This report is intended to facilitate comparative analysis of the key proposals in the now completed FY2011 appropriations process. The report begins with a brief analysis of how each proposal could be expected to impact the federal budget deficit, which was a consideration of great importance to many lawmakers. This is followed by a table depicting discretionary funding levels provided in each of the three proposals by appropriations subcommittee and bill title, and comparing the FY2010 and FY2011 enacted appropriations. The table reflects the most recent estimates of FY2011 appropriations, which remain subject to change. This will be the final update of this report.

FY2011 Funding Proposals and the Budget Deficit2

A key issue in the FY2011 appropriations debate was the impact of discretionary federal spending on the nation's budget deficit. The budget deficit represents the level of spending, as measured by outlays, in excess of revenues. Appropriations acts, like those detailed in this report, provide budget authority. The outlays for a fiscal year result from the budget authority provided in that fiscal year as well as some budget authority provided in previous fiscal years. Included in the outlay level are all types of spending (i.e., emergency, non-emergency, overseas contingency operations) occurring during the fiscal year.

Under the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) March 2011 baseline, the last CBO baseline estimate published prior to the enactment of P.L. 112-10 , the budget deficit for FY2011 was estimated at $1,399 billion. In that baseline, CBO assumes a full-year continuation of funding in FY2011 at roughly FY2010 levels. The proposals analyzed in this report provide annualized discretionary outlay levels as follows:

FY2011 President's Budget (February 2010)—$1,415 billion CBO Baseline—$1,361 billion H.R. 1 —$1,356 billion S.Amdt. 149 —$1,372 billion P.L. 112-10 —$1,365 billion

H.R. 1 , the proposal which proposed the greatest reduction to budget authority relative to current levels, would result in a discretionary outlay level that is $5 billion under the CBO March 2011 baseline level of discretionary outlays. This reduction in discretionary outlays comprises 0.4% of the deficit estimated under the CBO baseline. Savings from other proposals that would produce smaller reductions in discretionary outlays would correspondingly represent a smaller fraction of the CBO March 2011baseline deficit. The proposal that was ultimately enacted, P.L. 112-10 , is expected to result in a discretionary outlay level that is $4 billion above the CBO March 2011 baseline level of discretionary outlays. Some reductions in discretionary spending could also affect the level of mandatory or net interest spending or the amount of revenue collected, potentially impacting the ultimate deficit level for FY2011. For a more detailed look at the broad budgetary impact on FY2011 spending proposals, see CRS Report R41771, FY2011 Appropriations in Budgetary Context , by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].

Title-by-Title Comparison of Discretionary FY2011 Proposals with FY2010 Appropriations

The table below is intended to provide a sense of how funding for federal departments and agencies would be impacted by the different proposals, rather than the impact of each proposal on overall budget numbers. The data represent discretionary appropriations as provided in the respective proposals, by bill title. The final column compares the FY2010 and FY2011enacted funding levels. The title and bill totals do not include scorekeeping adjustments. Rescissions of prior year funding are noted as separate line items and are not deducted from the title totals.