On October 18, 2005, the FY2006 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act ( P.L. 109-90 ) was signed into law. The House approved the conference report ( H.Rept. 109-241 ) on October 6, 2005 by a vote of 347-70, and the Senate approved the conference report on October 7, 2005 by voice vote. No amendments to the conference report were made during floor debate in either chamber. P.L. 109-90 provides a net appropriation of $31.9 billion for DHS for FY2006. This amount represents an increase of $1.3 billion or 4% compared to the FY2005 enacted level; and an increase of $1.2 billion or nearly 4% compared to the FY2006 request. On September 29, 2005, the conference committee approved and filed the conference report ( H.Rept. 109-241 ) to H.R. 2360 , the FY2006 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act. The conferees agreed to recommend a net appropriation of $31.9 billion for DHS for FY2006. This amount represents an increase of $1.3 billion or 4% compared to the FY2005 enacted level; and an increase of $1.2 billion or nearly 4% compared to the FY2006 request. On July 14, the Senate passed H.R. 2360 96-1. The Senate version of H.R. 2360 recommends a net appropriation of $31.9 billion for DHS for FY2006. This amount includes $30.8 billion in discretionary budget authority. This amount represents an increase of $1.3 billion or 4% compared to the FY2005 enacted level; and an increase of $1.2 billion or nearly 4% compared to the FY2006 request. On May 17, 2005, the House passed H.R. 2360 424-1. The bill provides a net appropriation of $31.9 billion for DHS. This amount includes $30.8 billion in discretionary budget authority, which represents an increase of $1.3 billion, or 4%, compared to the baseline FY2005 enacted level (without advance or emergency appropriations); and an increase of $1.2 billion, or nearly 4%, compared to the FY2006 request. The President's budget request for FY2006 was submitted to Congress on February 7, 2005. The Administration requested $41.1 billion in gross budget authority for FY2006 (including mandatories, fees, and funds). The Administration is requesting a net appropriation of $30.6 billion in net budget authority for FY2006, of which $29.6 billion is discretionary budget authority, and $1 billion is mandatory budget authority. The FY2005 enacted net appropriated budget authority for DHS was $40.2 billion, including an advance appropriation of $2.058 billion for Bioshield and $7.145 billion in emergency appropriations; without Bioshield or the emergency appropriations, the FY2005 net appropriated budget authority for DHS was $30.6 billion. Without including Bioshield, the FY2006 request for an appropriation of $30.6 in net budget authority represents no increase over the FY2005 enacted amount. Table 1 summarizes the legislative status of DHS appropriations for FY2006. Data used in this report include data from the President's Budget Documents, the FY2006 DHS Congressional Budget Justifications , the FY2006 DHS Budget in Brief , and the House Appropriations Committee Homeland Security tables of May 20, 2005. Data used in Table 3 and Table 12 are taken from various sections of the FY2006 President's Budget. These amounts do not correspond to amounts presented in Tables 4-11 , which are based on data from tables supplied by the Appropriations Subcommittees and from the FY2006 DHS Congressional Budget Justifications in order to best reflect the amounts that will be used throughout the congressional appropriations process. The most recent update of this report uses amounts contained in: the House-passed version of H.R. 2360 , and the attached report ( H.Rept. 109-79 ); the Senate-passed version of H.R. 2360 , and the attached report ( S.Rept. 109-83 ); the conference-approved version of H.R. 2360 and the attached report ( H.Rept. 109-241 ); and P.L. 109-90 . FY2006 enacted amounts shown in the tables in this final version of the report may not match amounts listed in P.L. 109-90 , as the tables include changes enacted by P.L. 109-148 , the Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act of 2006 . The tables do not reflect the 1% across-the-board rescission that was also enacted by P.L. 109-148 . At the time of the final update of this paper it was unclear at to how this rescission would be applied across DHS discretionary accounts. This report describes the President's FY2006 request for funding for DHS programs and activities, as submitted to Congress on February 7, 2005. This report compares the enacted FY2005 amounts to the request for FY2006. This report will also track legislative action and congressional issues related to the FY2006 DHS appropriations bill, with particular attention paid to discretionary funding amounts. However, this report does not follow specific funding issues related to mandatory funding—such as retirement pay—nor does the report systematically follow any legislation related to the authorization or amendment of DHS programs. The maximum budget authority for annual appropriations (including DHS) are determined through a two-stage congressional budget process. In the first stage, Congress sets overall spending totals in the annual concurrent resolution on the budget. Subsequently, these amounts are allocated among the various appropriations committees, usually through the statement of managers for the conference report on the budget resolution. These amounts are known as the 302(a) allocations. They include discretionary totals available to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations for enactment in annual appropriations bills through the subcommittees responsible for the development of the bills. In the second stage of the process, the appropriations committees allocate the 302(a) discretionary funds among their subcommittees for each of the appropriations bills. These amounts are known as the 302(b) allocations. These allocations must add up to no more than the 302(a) discretionary allocation, and form the basis for enforcing budget discipline, since any bill reported with a total above the ceiling is subject to a point of order. 302(b) allocations may be adjusted during the year as the various appropriations bills progress towards final enactment. The Senate budget resolution, S.Con.Res. 18 was introduced on March 11, 2005, and passed the Senate on March 17, 2005. S.Con.Res. 18 provides $848.8 billion in discretionary spending. The House budget resolution, H.Con.Res. 95 , was introduced on March 11, 2005, and passed the House on March 17, 2005. H.Con.Res. 95 proposed $843 billion in discretionary budget authority. On April 28, 2005 the conference committee reported, and both the House and Senate passed, H.Rept. 109-62 providing $843 billion in discretionary budget authority for FY2006. The House Appropriations Committee revised its 302(b) allocations on November 11, 2005, which allocates $30.8 billion in discretionary budget authority for homeland security. The Senate Appropriations Committee revised its 302(b) allocation on November 18, 2005, and reported S.Rept. 109-184 which allocates $30.8 billion in discretionary budget authority for DHS. Federal government spending involves a multi-step process that begins with the enactment of a budget authority by Congress in an appropriations act. Federal agencies then obligate funds from the enacted budget authority to pay for their activities. Finally, payments are made to liquidate those obligations; the actual payment amounts are reflected in the budget as outlays. Budget authority is established through appropriations acts or direct spending legislation and determines the amounts that are available for federal agencies to spend. The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from obligating more funds than the budget authority that was enacted by Congress. Budget authority may be indefinite, however, when Congress enacts language providing "such sums as may be necessary" to complete a project or purpose. Budget authority may be available on a one-year, multi-year, or no-year basis. One-year budget authority is only available for obligation during a specific fiscal year; any unobligated funds at the end of that year are no longer available for spending. Multi-year budget authority specifies a range of time during which funds can be obligated for spending; no-year budget authority is available for obligation for an indefinite period of time. Obligations are incurred when federal agencies employ personnel, enter into contracts, receive services, and engage in similar transactions in a given fiscal year. Outlays are the funds that are actually spent during the fiscal year. Because multi-year and no-year budget authorities may be obligated over a number of years, outlays do not always match the budget authority enacted in a given year. Additionally, budget authority may be obligated in one fiscal year but spent in a future fiscal year; especially with certain contracts. In sum, budget authority allows federal agencies to incur obligations and authorizes payments, or outlays, to be made from the Treasury. Discretionary agencies and programs, and appropriated entitlement programs, are funded each year in appropriations acts. Gross budget authority, or the total funds available for spending by a federal agency, may be composed of discretionary and mandatory spending.