Budget and Appropriations 101

Presentation on theme: "Budget and Appropriations 101"— Presentation transcript:

1 Budget and Appropriations 101
CDCs Budget and Appropriations 101 Tess Hembree

2 NAHRO Staff Tess Hembree thembree@nahro.org 202-580-7225
Webinar recording, slides available at

3 Budget and Appropriations 101 in Five Steps
Step One- State of the Union Step Two- President’s Budget Step Three- Congressional Budgets Step Four- Appropriations Process Step Five- New Fiscal Year Tess Hembree

4 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Common Terms FY= fiscal year, begins on October 1 and ends on September 30 302(a)= Topline discretionary spending level for entire federal government 302(b)= Topline spending level for individual appropriations bill Tess Hembree

5 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Common Terms President’s Budget- Spending proposal released annually by the president Budget resolution- Non-binding bill that sets House and Senate spending priorities and limits (302a) Concurrent budget resolution- Negotiated document merging the House and Senate budget resolutions, passed by both chambers, but not signed by President Tess Hembree

6 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Common Terms Appropriations- Authorization process that allows the government to spend money- 12 bills fund all departments and agencies within the government THUD- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill is the appropriations bill that provides funding for HUD Tess Hembree

7 Budget and Appropriations Timeline
John Bohm ● Tess Hembree

8 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

9 State of the Union Address Advocacy
NAHRO- Live Tweet during the speech NAHRO- Response statement You- Letter to the President, Twitter, Facebook, Letter to the Editor Tess Hembree

10 Step Two February: President’s Budget Release

11 February: President’s Budget Release
Released first Monday in February Political document Not legally binding Specific funding levels and implementation information for policy goals for the year Tess Hembree

12 February: President’s Budget Release
Contains: Specific funding levels for all programs in all departments and agencies Detailed explanation of recommendations for all departments and agencies Proposes changes to programs Proposes new programs and policies Tess Hembree

13 February: President’s Budget Release
View budgets, past and current : Tess Hembree

14 February: President’s Budget Release
FY 2015 Budget Release- March 4 and March 11 Visit NAHRO’s homepage for our policy team’s coverage In-person budget coverage at NAHRO’s Legislative Conference in Washington, DC Tess Hembree

15 President Budget Advocacy
NAHRO- Detailed summaries of the proposal NAHRO- Funding recommendations You- NAHRO Advocacy Action Center to send NAHRO-drafted letter to legislators You- Letter to the President, Twitter, Facebook, Letter to the Editor Tess Hembree

16 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Questions? Tess Hembree

17 March/April: Concurrent Budget Resolution
Step Three March/April: Concurrent Budget Resolution Tess Hembree

18 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Overview- Congressional Budget Resolutions and Concurrent Budget Resolution House and Senate Budget Committees draft, approve budget resolutions House and Senate debate, approve budget resolutions Budget resolutions negotiated in conference committee Conference committee drafts, approves concurrent budget resolution House, Senate approve concurrent budget resolution Tess Hembree

19 March: Congressional Budget Resolutions
House and Senate Budget Committees draft their own budget resolutions Document that sets goals and priorities for spending Also establishes overall amount appropriators are allowed to spend in the year- known as a “302(a)” FY15 302(a) has already been set at $1.014 trillion Tess Hembree

20 March/April: Congressional Budget Resolution
House and Senate debate, pass budget resolutions out of Budget Committee House and Senate both approve their budget resolution on the floor This process should be finished by April 15 Tess Hembree

21 April: Concurrent Budget Resolution
Both approved resolutions brought to conference committee Negotiations yield one concurrent budget resolution with one 302(a) Passed in both House and Senate Tess Hembree

22 April: Concurrent Budget Resolution
Concurrent budget resolution is binding, but does not have force of law President not required to sign Sets spending goals for appropriators Most importantly- sets topline spending level for appropriators (302a) Tess Hembree

23 Congressional Budget Resolution Advocacy
NAHRO- Legislative and Regulatory Agenda You- NAHRO Advocacy Action Center to send NAHRO-drafted letter (if warranted) You- Letter to the Budget Committee chairs, Twitter, Facebook, Letter to the Editor, Letters to Legislators Tess Hembree

24 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Questions? Tess Hembree

25 March-September: Appropriations
Step Four March-September: Appropriations Tess Hembree

26 Overview: Appropriations
302(b) Funding levels set by Chair House and Senate Subcommittees draft bills House and Senate Subcommittees debate and approve bills House and Senate Appropriations Committees debate and approve bills House and Senate approve bills House and Senate bills conferenced House and Senate approve conferenced bill Tess Hembree

27 March- September: Appropriations
March: House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees begin holding informational hearings Once a 302(a) is set by concurrent budget resolution, appropriators allocate funding levels for each of the 12 bills- 302(b) Tess Hembree

28 March- September: Appropriations
In FY 2014, THUD’s 302(b) is $50.8 billion THUD’s 302(b) level is critical to securing higher funding for HUD programs Tess Hembree

29 March- September: Appropriations Advocacy
NAHRO- Partner with other organizations funded by THUD to push for highest possible 302(b) NAHRO- Organize national sign-on letter to push for highest possible 302(b) funding You- 302(b) letter- Tess Hembree

30 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Questions? Tess Hembree

31 March-September: Appropriations Subcommittee
Once 302b levels set, appropriations subcommittees draft bills Senate, House each have 12 appropriations subcommittees draft 12 bills Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill funds HUD programs Tess Hembree

32 March-September: Appropriations Subcommittee
THUD Appropriations Bill provides funding for all HUD, discretionary transportation programs within government Traditionally does not include authorization language or major policy changes Absence of action from authorizing committees (Financial Services, Banking) has forced appropriators to include policy language Tess Hembree

33 March-September: Appropriations Subcommittee
Subcommittee bill draft released Subcommittee debates bill Subcommittee approves bill Passes bill to full Appropriations Committee Tess Hembree

34 March- September: Appropriations Subcommittee Advocacy
NAHRO- Meet with appropriators to push for specific HUD funding levels while bills are drafted NAHRO- Legislative and regulatory agenda NAHRO- Technical memo You- Advocacy Action Center letter, reach out to legislators to personalize the impact of HUD programs in their states/districts You- Tweet, Facebook messages to appropriators, your legislators You- Time to act is now BEFORE draft of bill is released Tess Hembree

35 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Questions? Tess Hembree

36 March-September: Appropriations Committee
Passes bill to full Appropriations Committee Full Appropriations Committee debates, approves bill Bill moves to floor for final vote Tess Hembree

37 March- September: Appropriations Advocacy
NAHRO- Push for necessary changes to bill by working with legislators to introduce amendments NAHRO- Communications with legislators and staff urging support or rejection of bills, amendments You- Closely watch NAHRO Advocacy Action Center- critical time to take action and events change quickly You- Be ready to call your legislators offices, Tweet and Facebook to lawmakers Tess Hembree

38 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Questions? Tess Hembree

39 July- September: Conference Committee
Once House and Senate approve their THUD bill (or other appropriations bill), conference committee is formed Conference committee negotiates differences between bills, creates one single THUD bill Conference Committee approves bill House, Senate approve conferenced bill Tess Hembree

40 Conference Committee Advocacy
NAHRO- Direct communication to conferees NAHRO- Communication to legislators urging them to support/reject conferenced bill You- Check if any of your legislators are conferees You- Watch Advocacy Action Center for alerts Tess Hembree

41 Appropriations Subcommittee Advocacy
Are you represented by a member of the Appropriations Committee or THUD Subcommittee? House Appropriations resources- appropriations.house.gov Senate Appropriations resources- appropriations.senate.gov Tess Hembree

42 October 1, New Fiscal Year Begins
Step 5 October 1, New Fiscal Year Begins Ideally, Congress has approved all 12 appropriations bills to fund the government in the new fiscal year Realistically, Congress has not completed the appropriations process Tess Hembree

43 October 1, New Fiscal Year Begins
Step 5 October 1, New Fiscal Year Begins If Congress has not completed appropriations process: - Omnibus: bills that were close to approval packaged together and approved together - Continuing Resolution (CR): extends funding levels of previous fiscal year in new fiscal year for specific amount of time - Combination of omnibus and CR - Failure to approve any spending bill results in government shut down Tess Hembree

44 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)
Questions? Tess Hembree

45 NAHRO Staff Tess Hembree thembree@nahro.org 202-580-7225
Webinar recording, slides available at