#budget authority

[govtshutdown]

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/62029

For those that are interested, here's the first of the CBO scores. This is for H.R. 7148, consolidated appropriations combining Defense (Division A), Labor/HHS/Education (Division B), C was removed into the DHS bill, Transportation/HUD (Division D), various other matters (Divisions E, F, & H) and ICE/TSA (Division G)

[hprc-info]

Legislative Sessions

At this time of year legislatures are often gavelled into session with the hope that accompanies a new year. In some years, like this one, changing policy landscapes introduce a level of uncertainty that leaves citizens wondering what policy priorities are most likely to see the light of day.

The situations usually vary depending on the policy needs, which in turn vary depending on a host of other factors. First, federal realities are different from what goes on in states, which are in turn often very different from local situations. One common thread is often the budgetary outlook. In Maryland this year, for example, there is anxiety about making the dollars stretch now that a budget surplus from the previous year seems to have dissipated.

Budget hearings are often an excellent venue for citizens and policymakers to think about and deliberate policy priorities. At the state level, every state has to consider what to do about citizens who could lose their health insurance coverage if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed by the 115th Congress, given the vast number of patients with pre-existing conditions or chronic illnesses that need to be vigilantly managed. 

Citizens must weigh the value of how to spend emergency dollars to improve health, relative to the pressures of trying to meet the statutory requirement of balancing a state budget. If your state or county is facing a budget shortfall - how much should you spend on food assistance versus making sure your local hospital stays open?

These issues ultimately impact whether we eliminate health disparities, and how far down the road toward health equity we will travel in 2017.

In addition to the uncertainty surrounding the ACA, most states have to deal with crises like the opioid epidemic, which represent a growing substance use prevention, mental health, and law enforcement crisis all rolled into one. Incidentally, a lot of the funding for solving this problem is housed in Medicaid, the joint state and federal program that not only expands health insurance coverage to low income uninsured under the ACA, but is also the nation’s largest payer of mental health services. Citizens must be made aware of the overlapping nature of health policy challenges, and must develop a deeper appreciation for how important their voices are in deploying these tools to improve health outcomes.  

The National Conference of State Legislatures has compiled a useful summary of legislative activity for this year related to protecting health insurance exchanges, with an accompanying map. Please feel free to peruse by state.

Busy year ahead!

[nationalpriorities]

Budget term of the day - Budget Authority

Budget authority is the legal power given to a federal agency to spend money through “obligations” (I.e. enter into a binding contract).

Use it in a sentence!

$38.5 billion. That was the figure advertised when the compromise deal was announced and a shutdown was averted last week. It represents the overall cut in budget authority in fiscal year 2011 from fiscal year 2010. Had spending authority continued at last year’s levels, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the government would have $1,087,465,000,000 in budget authority; instead the final figure is $1,049,782. (Which is actually $37.6 billion, but close enough.) You might also hear a $78.5 billion figure, especially if you’re talking to a Republican trying to explain that they really got close to the $100 billion in spending cuts they promised in the 2010 campaign. That number reflects spending authority as compared to President Obama’s fiscal year 2011 budget request, which was never passed.

-Robert Schlesinger, The Numbers Behind the $38.5 Billion (or $352 Million) Budget Deal

More definitions here!