The authority for congressional review and approval of the District of Columbia's budget is derived from the Constitution and the District of Columbia Self-Government and Government Reorganization Act of 1973 (Home Rule Act). The Constitution gives Congress the power to "exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever" pertaining to the District of Columbia. In 1973, Congress granted the city limited home rule authority and empowered citizens of the District to elect a mayor and city council. However, Congress retained the authority to review and approve all District laws, including the District's annual budget. As required by the Home Rule Act, the city council must approve a budget within 56 days after receiving a budget proposal from the mayor. The approved budget must then be transmitted to the President, who forwards it to Congress for its review, modification, and approval. District of Columbia appropriations acts typically include the following three components: 1. S pecial federal payments appropriated by Congress to be used to fund particular initiatives or activities of interest to Congress or the Administration. 2. The District's operating budget , which includes funds to cover the day-to-day functions, activities, and responsibilities of the government, enterprise funds that provide for the operation and maintenance of government facilities or services that are entirely or primarily supported by user-based fees, and long-term capital outlays such as road improvements. District operating budget expenditures are paid for by revenues generated through local taxes (sales and income), federal funds for which the District qualifies, and fees and other sources of funds. 3. G eneral provisions are typically the third component of the District's budget reviewed and approved by Congress. These provisions can be grouped into several distinct but overlapping categories with the most predominant being provisions relating to fiscal and budgetary directives and controls. Other provisions include administrative directives and controls, limitations on lobbying for statehood or congressional voting representation, congressional oversight, and congressionally imposed restrictions and prohibitions related to social policy. On May 7, 2009, the Obama Administration released its detailed budget requests for FY2010. The Administration's proposed budget included $739.1 million in special federal payments to the District of Columbia, which was slightly lower than the District's FY2009 appropriation of $742.4 million. Approximately three-quarters ($544.1 million) of the President's proposed budget request for the District would have been targeted to the courts and criminal justice system. This included: $248.4 million in support of court operations; $52.2 million for Defender Services; $203.5 million for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia, an independent federal agency responsible for the District's pretrial services, adult probation, and parole supervision functions; $1.8 million for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council; $37.3 million for the public defender's office; and $500,000 to cover costs associated with investigating judicial misconduct complaints and recommending candidates to the President for vacancies to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia Superior Court. The President's budget request also included $109.5 million in support of education initiatives, including $74.4 million to support elementary and secondary education and $35.1 million for college tuition assistance. This represented 17% of the Administration's budget request. District revenues, like those of most local governments and states, have been negatively affected by the current economic recession. On March 20, 2009, the mayor of the District of Columbia submitted a proposed budget to the District of Columbia Council. On May 12, 2009, the council approved a FY2010 budget that included $8.9 billion in operating funds, $1.4 billion in enterprise funds, and $631.6 million in capital outlays. In June the District's chief financial officer issued 2009 revenue estimates that identified a projected $340 million budget gap, including a $190 million shortfall in FY2009 and a $150 million budget gap for FY2010. On July 16, 2009, the mayor noted that the projected budget shortfall had grown to $603 million, including a $453 million shortfall in FY2009 and a $150 million projected budget gap for FY2010. He also outlined proposals to address the FY2009 and FY2010 revenue shortfalls, including the reallocation or conversion of previous years' unspent dedicated tax revenues to local funds, agency spending reductions and savings, the use of federal stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the sale of District assets, and the use of the city's contingency reserve fund, which must be replenished within two years. Because of efforts to close the budget gap, District officials did not complete final action on the general fund budget for FY2010 until late into the fiscal year. On August 26, 2009, the mayor signed into law the District of Columbia Budget Request Act for FY2010, D.C. Act 18-188. While city officials developed a FY2010 budget to address the projected revenue shortfall, both the House and the Senate took up consideration of other components of the District of Columbia appropriations act, namely, special federal payments and general provisions. Congress not only appropriates federal payments to the District to fund certain activities, but also reviews, and may modify, the District's entire budget, including the expenditure of local funds as outlined in the District's Home Rule Act. Since FY2006, the District's appropriations act has been included in a multi-agency appropriations bill; before FY2006 the District budget was considered by the House and the Senate as a stand-alone bill. It is currently included in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. On June 25, 2009, a House subcommittee conducted a markup of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2010, H.R. 3170 , and forwarded the bill to the Appropriations Committee for its consideration. On July 10, 2009, the committee reported out the bill ( H.Rept. 111-202 ), which included $768.3 million in special federal payments to the District. This was $29.2 million more than requested by the Administration and $25.9 million more than appropriated for FY2009. The bill included a substantial increase ($20 million) above the amount requested by the Administration for court operations. The bill also would have directed $20 million in additional funding to support the District of Columbia Public Schools while reducing funding for school vouchers by almost $2 million. On July 16, 2009, the House approved H.R. 3170 by a vote of 219 to 208 (Roll no. 571). The House bill included several general provisions governing budgetary and fiscal operations and controls including prohibiting deficit spending within budget accounts, establishing restrictions on the reprogramming of funds, and allowing the transfer of local funds to capital and enterprise fund accounts. In addition, the bill would have required the city's Chief Financial Officer to submit a revised operating budgets for all District government agencies and the District public schools within 30 days after the passage of the bill. The House bill also included several general provisions relating to statehood or congressional representation for the District, including provisions that would have continue prohibiting the use of federal funds to: support or defeat any legislation being considered by Congress or a state legislature; cover salaries, expenses, and other costs associated with the office of Statehood Representative and Statehood Senator for the District of Columbia; and support efforts by the District of Columbia Attorney General or any other officer of the District government to provide assistance for any petition drive or civil action seeking voting representation in Congress for citizens of the District. In addition, the bill proposed significant changes in a number of controversial provisions (social riders) that city officials had sought to eliminate or modify, including those related to medical marijuana, needle exchange, and abortion services. Despite objections raised by Republican Members of the House, the bill was brought to the floor under a restrictive rule ( H.Res. 644 ) that did not allow Members to offer amendments on several controversial provisions related to same-sex marriage, medical marijuana, abortion, and needle exchange. As passed by the House, H.R. 3170 proposed retaining the prohibition on the use of federal funds, but recommended lifting the prohibition on the use of District funds to: provide abortion services; and regulate the medical use of marijuana. The bill also would called for eliminating the prohibition on the use of both federal and District funds to support a needle exchange program so long as the distribution of sterile hypodermic syringes was not conducted within 1,000 feet of certain public facilities or youth-oriented activity centers, including schools, colleges and universities, parks, playgrounds, and recreational centers. The House-passed provisions represented a lifting of restrictions on the use of District and federal funds that were put in place when Republicans controlled the House. Removal of these so-called social riders has been long sought by District officials who viewed them as antithetical to the concept of home rule. On July 8, 2009, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported S. 1432 , its version of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for FY2010, with an accompanying report ( S.Rept. 111-43 ). As reported, the bill recommended $727.4 million in special federal payments to the District. This was $40 million less than recommended by the House, and $12 million less than requested by the Administration. The bill included $10 million more in funding for court operations than recommended by the Administration. It would have appropriated an additional $21 million in funding to support the District of Columbia Public Schools while increasing funding for school vouchers by almost $1 million. The Senate bill's general provisions mirrored some of the language included in the House bill. Like the House bill, S. 1432 included provisions governing budgetary and fiscal operations and controls.