LegiStorm Blog
Caught Our Eye
Weekly Updates
LegiStorm Blog
SOCIAL MEDIA
Budget "Sequestration" and Selected Program Exemptions and Special Rules - CRS Report
| Release Date: | Revised March 22, 2013 |
| Report Number: | R42050 |
| Source Agency: | Congressional Research Service |
| Pages: | 29 |
 
|
|
|
Older Revisions:
Summary: Revised Jan. 10, 2013 Revised Oct. 2, 2012 Revised Aug. 9, 2012 April 27, 2012 Sequestration is a process of automatic, largely across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently canceled to enforce certain budget policy goals. It was first authorized by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA, Title II of P.L. 99-177, commonly known as the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Sequestration is of current interest because it has been triggered as an enforcement tool under the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25). Sequestration can also occur under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Statutory PAYGO, Title I of P.L. 111-139). In either case, certain programs are exempt from sequestration, and special rules govern the effects of sequestration on others. Most of these provisions are found in Sections 255 and 256 of BBEDCA, as amended. Two provisions were included in the BCA that could result in automatic sequestration: Establishment of discretionary spending limits, or caps, for each of FY2012FY2021. If Congress appropriates more than allowed under these limits in any given year, sequestration would cancel the excess amount. Failure of Congress to enact legislation developed by a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, by January 15, 2012, to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. The BCA provided that such failure would trigger a series of automatic spending reductions, including sequestration of mandatory spending in each of FY2013-FY2021, a one-year sequestration of discretionary spending for FY2013, and lower discretionary spending limits for each of FY2014-FY2021. |
|
